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)

The line chart illustrates the proportion of employment of the US economy in four sectors such as manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, the jobs in the manufacturing sector remains dominant throughout the period, while the number of agricultual jobs decreased . Moreover, the retail and healthcare sector was daramatically increased throughout the period.

In 1960, Retail sector workforce was just 7 million and it went up to16 Million in 2020. Similarly,the agriculture side also has make up the peak from 3 to 17 million by 2020.

In contrast, the manufacturing sector employee rate was increased from 15 to 20 million in 1980, afterwards it became decline 13 million in 2020. howeve, the agricultural sector also seen to be decline over a period from 6 million to 2 million in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The student attempts to cover the main trends in the chart, noting the overall dominance of manufacturing and changes in retail, agriculture, and healthcare. However, there are significant data inaccuracies. For instance, the student states that agriculture peaked from 3 to 17 million by 2020, which misreads the chart (agriculture actually declined to around 2 million, while retail/healthcare reached 16 million). Furthermore, the word count is 135 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum requirement. Consequently, Task Achievement is penalised for both data inaccuracies and under-length.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is divided into basic paragraphs, providing an overview followed by body details. However, logical progression is hindered by contradictory statements and mechanical linking. The expression 'howeve' contains a typo and transitional phrases like 'Moreover' and 'In contrast' are awkwardly handled. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the overall structure lacks smooth cohesion between ideas, leading to a disjointed reading experience.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is repetitive and contains multiple lexical errors and non-standard collocations. Examples include 'proportion of employment' instead of 'number of jobs', 'agricultual' (spelling error), 'daramatically' (spelling error), and 'employee rate' instead of 'employment figure' or 'number of workers'. While basic terms are present, the range is limited and inaccuracies such as 'make up the peak' or 'became decline' impede fluency.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The response shows a very limited range of grammatical structures. Simple sentences dominate, and attempts at complex structures are flawed, such as 'jobs in the manufacturing sector remains dominant' (subject-verb agreement error) and 'the agricultural sector also seen to be decline' (missing auxiliary/verb form). Punctuation and word forms are frequently faulty, leading to noticeable strain for the reader throughout.

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

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