Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-15

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below gives information about the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US, 1960-2020

Student answer (Band 5.0)

The graph illustrates about the jobs for Americans in four departments of the economy in the year 1960 and 2020.

Overall, the jobs vacancies for Americans in agriculture field has been less in 2020 as compared to the previous years. Also, in 1980 there were many opportunities for Americans in manufacturing field but there was only few jobs available in this field in future. However, the retail and healthcare industry has seen a sharp jump in economy with huge amount of vacancies for Americans in future.

In healthcare field, there were only few jobs available earlier in 1960 which was around below 5 million vacancies. However, the vacancies have been rapidly increased in this field yearly and it has more than 15 million vacancies in 2020. Whereas in agriculture field, there was more than 5 million jobs for Americans available earlier in 1960 but vacancies have been reduced year wise. Now only around 2 million vacancies are available for this field in 2020. in retail industry there were only 6 million jobs opportunities available for US people, later there was a huge amount of rise in the vacancies in this field. It is something around more than 15 million vacancies are available in this field in the year 2020. However, the manufacturing field saw a sharp rise earlier in 1960 in job vacancies till 1980 then later there were less than 15 million jobs were left in 2020 in this field.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student attempts to address the task by reporting information on four economic sectors from the graph. However, there are notable inaccuracies and confusions in the data presentation. For instance, the opening sentence states the graph is for 'the year 1960 and 2020', missing the intermediate period, and phrases like 'there was only few jobs available in this field in future' are confusing regarding timeframes. While the response identifies key trends such as the decline in agriculture and the rise in healthcare and retail, the lack of precision in describing the timeline (e.g., mixing past trends with 'in future') limits the overall clarity. According to Band 6 descriptors, the response addresses the requirements, but some details are under-developed or unclear.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The text is organized into four paragraphs, following a standard introduction, overview, and body paragraph structure. However, paragraphing and logical progression are hindered by awkward transitions. For example, the overview contains repetitive phrasing and vague references, such as 'in future'. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or misused, as seen in the repeated, often contradictory use of 'However' ('However, the retail and healthcare industry...'). Referencing is occasionally unclear, making the flow bumpy. It meets the Band 5 to Band 6 threshold, leaning towards Band 5 due to mechanical cohesion and some lack of overall progression.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate vocabulary range to discuss general economic sectors, such as 'agriculture', 'manufacturing', 'retail', and 'healthcare'. However, there are frequent word choice and collocation errors, such as 'jobs vacancies' instead of 'job vacancies', 'agriculture field' instead of 'agricultural sector', and 'huge amount of rise' instead of 'substantial increase'. Additionally, there are awkward phrasing choices like 'sharp jump in economy'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but lexical control is limited, placing this response firmly in the Band 5 category due to noticeable errors that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complex structures frequently contain grammatical inaccuracies. Errors include subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'the retail and healthcare industry has seen', 'there was only few jobs'), incorrect articles ('in agriculture field' instead of 'in the agricultural field'), and tense confusion (mixing past data with future references like 'in future'). Punctuation is basic, and lowercase starting letters appear at the beginning of sentences (e.g., 'in retail industry'). These persistent errors restrict the score to Band 5, as they frequently cause reader difficulty.

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