Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-18

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 number of jobs in four sector of the economy in US between 1960 and 2020. The figures are presented in million.

Overall, it was clear that, Retail and Healthcare sectors was growing in given period whereas, Manufacturing and Agricultural sector despite a decline.

In 1960, There was 15 millions jobs in in manufacturing sector which increased to 20 million in 1980 after that they started fell down and decreased to near 13 million in 2020 In contrast, Retail sector stood at near 6 million in 1960, there and started increasing and reach at near 16 million in 2020.

In 1960, 6 million jobs were in the Agricultural sector which significantly decrease to approximately 3 million in 1980 despite a decline throughout the period and stood at near 2 million in 2020. While Healthcare sector experienced as gradual

increase, which is approximately 6 million of 1960 and increased to 15 million in 2000 and keep growing till 2020 to and make a 16 million jobs.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers all four sectors shown in the graph and attempts to highlight the main trends, satisfying the core requirements of Task 1. An overview is provided, noting that retail and healthcare grew while manufacturing and agriculture declined. However, there are several inaccuracies in data reporting. For instance, the student states that the healthcare sector started at 'approximately 6 million of 1960', whereas the chart clearly shows it started at 2 million. Additionally, the description of agricultural jobs contains contradictory phrasing ('significantly decrease... despite a decline'). While the main trends are captured, these data misreadings and minor confusions prevent the response from achieving a higher band. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, but more precision in reporting figures is needed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into four paragraphs, including an introduction and an overview, which provides a logical structure. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'In 1960', 'In contrast', and 'While'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, the transition 'there and started increasing' is grammatically awkward and disrupts the flow. Paragraphing is present, but the body paragraphs are dense and contain multiple clauses that make tracking the comparisons slightly difficult. Logical progression is maintained generally, but mechanical transitions and occasional referencing errors place this response solidly at Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, incorporating sector-specific terms such as 'manufacturing', 'retail', 'agricultural', and 'healthcare'. There are also successful attempts at less common verbs and phrases, such as 'experienced a gradual increase'. However, frequent word choice and collocation errors occur throughout the text, such as 'four sector' instead of 'sectors', 'in million' instead of 'in millions', and 'started fell down' instead of 'started to fall' or 'fell'. Additionally, spelling and morphological errors are noticeable ('Agricultural' versus 'agricultural', 'reach' instead of 'reached'). These inaccuracies limit the lexical score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using time markers and subordinate clauses like 'despite a decline throughout the period'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors that occasionally impede smooth reading. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('Retail and Healthcare sectors was growing'), incorrect verb forms ('started fell down', 'significantly decrease'), and missing articles or prepositions ('in US', 'in in manufacturing'). Complex structures are frequently faulty, leading to run-on sentences and punctuation slips. Because errors are frequent and affect readability, the response fits the Band 5 descriptor.

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

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