Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-17

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)

I have gone through the graph and the information I got from it is unbelieveable. It shows the rise and fall of the jobs in between 1960 and 2020. These jobs are divided into 4 sectors. First one is Manufacturing alongwith Retail, Agriculture and Healthcare. As I examined the graph I saw that the from 1960 to 1980, in these two decades the manufacturing jobs had a great rose up from 15 to 20 million and after 1980 it decreased to 13 million in 2020. Another one is the Retail job that had a great increase from 6 million in start to 16 million in 2020. Agriculture site decreased from 6 to 2 million. But the Healthcare had a certain increase from 6 to 16 million that is a great change. There is both ups and downs in the job sector in which some rose up and some decreased with a great change.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to cover all four sectors mentioned in the graph, citing figures such as manufacturing rising from 15 to 20 million and retail increasing to 16 million. However, the tone is overly conversational and inappropriate for an academic task (e.g., 'As I examined the graph I saw...'). Furthermore, there is no clear overall trend summary or overview paragraph, which is essential for Band 6 and above in Academic Task 1. Some data points are also vague or inaccurately reported, such as claiming healthcare rose from 6 million when the graph starts at 2 million. This places the task achievement at a Band 5.0 level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response lacks proper paragraphing, as it is written as a single dense block of text. There is also a lack of overall progression; the writer jumps between sectors without a clear logical structure or effective organizational plan. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, relying on phrases like 'Another one is' and 'First one is', which makes the flow mechanical. While referencing is generally understandable, the absence of clear structuring and paragraph breaks keeps this criterion at Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is somewhat limited and repetitive. The student uses basic terms like 'great rose up', 'great increase', and 'certain increase' repeatedly. There are noticeable awkward collocations and spelling errors, such as 'unbeliefable' instead of unbelievable, and 'Agriculture site' instead of the agricultural sector. While the vocabulary is adequate to convey the general message, the lack of precision and frequent repetition prevent the response from reaching a higher band, fitting the Band 5.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but attempts at complex structures often feature grammatical errors. For instance, phrases like 'the manufacturing jobs had a great rose up' contain tense and word-class errors ('rose' used as a noun). There are issues with prepositions and article use throughout the text (e.g., 'in start', 'the Healthcare'). Although the meaning is generally communicated despite these errors, the high frequency of grammatical inaccuracies places this at a Band 5.0.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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