Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-16
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 5.5)
The line graph illustrates the information about how employment trends of the economy in the United States changed in 60 years between [redacted phone].
Overall, in 1960 manufacturing trend is the highest group among all four which was roughly remained the same till 2020. Similarly, healthcare and retail spiked up it's peak crossing the level of construction by 2020. In contrast, farming reports to the lowest among all four career throughout the time period.
Regarding the construction, it was the largest group accounting for 15 million by 1960. Which rose up to 20 million in 1980 but showed a gradual decline and reached to 13 million by the end of 2020. While trade and services spiked to its peak in 2020 accounting for 16 million which was once recorded as the lowest in 1960 at 6 million and 2 million respectively.
Turning towards the agriculture field in 1960 its employment was recorded higher than healthcare at 6 million but with time they showed a steady decline in the numbers with passing years and reached to the lowest at 2 million in 2020.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response covers all four sectors shown in the graph and attempts to highlight the main trends, such as manufacturing remaining significant and healthcare rising. However, there are several inaccuracies regarding the data categories and figures. For instance, the student refers to 'construction' and 'trade and services', which are not the categories presented in the task (manufacturing, retail, agriculture, healthcare). Furthermore, manufacturing is misidentified as construction throughout the text. While an overview is attempted, these category confusions and misreadings prevent the response from achieving a higher band score, falling under Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The text is organized into four paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs that attempt to group information. Paragraphing is used, giving the essay a clear structure visually. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or inaccurate, such as 'Turning towards the agriculture field in 1960 its employment...' where punctuation and linking are flawed. Additionally, referencing is unclear due to confusion over the economic sectors. Overall arrangement exists, but logical progression is hindered by factual mix-ups, fitting the Band 5.5 descriptor.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common items such as 'employment trends', 'gradual decline', and 'steady decline'. However, there are notable lexical inaccuracies, most prominently the misuse of 'construction' instead of 'manufacturing', and referring to healthcare and retail as 'trade and services'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but word choice and category names are flawed, which restricts the lexical score to Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and subordinate structures like 'while trade and services spiked... which was once recorded...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'healthcare and retail spiked up it's peak' (possessive error) and punctuation mistakes, including sentence fragments ('Which rose up to 20 million in 1980'). Errors occasionally cause slight strain for the reader, aligning the response with a Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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