Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The line graph illustrate number of jobs in four different sectors of the economy in the US, showing changes millions between 1960 and 2020 year.

Overall, retail sector experienced a significant upward trend, whereas Agriculture followed a contrasting pattern. It is also noticeable that they both started in the same number of jobs in the year 1960.

At the beginning of the periof retail stood 1960 year before raising. It then continued to rise, eventually reaching the approx 15.2 million by 2020 year. Meanwhile, agriculture started at approx 5.2 million jobs and fell to approx 2.5 million jobs. Despite a decrease its overall trend was downward.

Turning to healthcare sector, the millions of jobs has been increased from approx 2.5 millions to 15 millions between 1960 and 2020 year. This was followed by a sharp rise with the 2.5 million jobs reaching 15 million jobs at the end of the period.

By comparison, Mnufacturing showed a different pattern changing from 15 million to 12 million jobs. Notably it was on its peak at the year 1980 of about 20 million jobs. Despite a continued fall over the period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all four economic sectors presented in the line graph, providing an overview and reporting main features and comparisons. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting the data. For instance, the student states that retail and agriculture started at the same number of jobs in 1960 (both at 6 million in reality, though the student writes approx 5.2 million for agriculture and gets confused about retail's initial point). Additionally, manufacturing is misreported as changing from 15 to 12 million when it ended around 13 million, and peaked at 20 million in 1980. The overview notes the upward trend of retail and downward trend of agriculture, but misses capturing the broader shifts across all sectors comprehensively. These data inaccuracies and minor omissions place this response at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overview, and separate body paragraphs addressing the sectors. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'Meanwhile', 'Turning to', and 'By comparison', which help guide the reader through the data. However, paragraphing is somewhat disjointed, and referencing or sentence linkages occasionally falter, such as the abrupt transition in the healthcare paragraph where the statistics are repeated ('the millions of jobs has been increased... This was followed by a sharp rise with the 2.5 million jobs reaching 15 million'). Logical progression is evident overall, but mechanical phrasing and awkward transitions restrict the score to Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate for a task 1 report, including terms like 'upward trend', 'contrasting pattern', 'peak', and 'fluctuate'. However, there are numerous lexical and collocation errors, such as 'The line graph illustrate', 'showing changes millions', 'at the beginning of the periof retail stood 1960 year before raising', and 'Mnufacturing'. Furthermore, awkward word choices like 'reaching the approx 15.2 million by 2020 year' reduce precision. While the vocabulary is adequate to convey the general message, the frequency of word-formation and spelling errors keeps the score at Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'whereas Agriculture followed a contrasting pattern' and 'Despite a decrease its overall trend was downward.' However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text, featuring frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('The line graph illustrate'), missing prepositions ('retail stood 1960 year'), incorrect verb forms ('before raising'), and awkward sentence fragments ('Despite a continued fall over the period'). These errors cause some confusion for the reader and prevent the response from achieving a higher band, making Band 5.0 an appropriate score.

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

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