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)
Overall, the number of jobs changed gradually in different sectors, some dropped significantly like agriculture and manufacturing, whereas retail and healthcare increased throughout the given period of time. The number of jobs remained relatively stable between 1980 and 2000.
In 1960 in the US, the figure of manufacturing is highest, whereas the decreased number of jobs are in healthcare. Early, the number of jobs in manufacturing was roughly 15 million, whereas healthcare was around 2 million. The number of jobs in retail and agriculture were relatively the same. But agriculture declined in 1980 till 2020. Retail jobs increased gradually from 1980 to 2020.
The number of jobs in millions in 1960 in manufacturing was 15 million and in 1980 rose to 20 million, but declined to 16 million in 2000 and 13 million in 2020. The number of jobs in millions in 1960 in retail was 6 million and in 1980 rose to 10 million, 15 million in 2000, and remained constant with a lower increase to 16 million in 2020.
The number of jobs in millions in 1960 in agriculture was 6 million and in 1980 decreased to 3 million, remained constant in 2000, after a little decrease to 2 million in 2020. The number of jobs in millions in 1960 in Healthcare was 3 million and in 1980 rose to 10 million, 15 million in 2000, and 16 million jobs in 2020.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student successfully identifies the overall trends in the four economic sectors over the sixty-year period, noting the decline in agriculture and manufacturing alongside the growth in retail and healthcare. An overview is provided in the first paragraph, and key data points are cited to support the descriptions. However, there are some inaccuracies in the reported figures when compared against the visual data, such as stating that healthcare was 3 million in 1960 (when it was around 2 million) and misreporting the 2000 and 2020 figures for several categories. The response covers all parts of the prompt, but the data reporting lacks absolute precision in places, placing it firmly in the Band 6 territory.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a clear overall arrangement, dividing the overview, initial comparison, and detailed body paragraphs logically. Paragraphing is used appropriately to group information by categories. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or repetitive, relying heavily on formulas like 'The number of jobs in millions in [year] in [sector] was...' to introduce data points. Referencing and cohesive devices are generally functional but lack flexibility and smooth progression, which is characteristic of Band 6 performance.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully employing terms such as 'sector', 'gradually', 'significantly', 'rose', and 'declined'. However, there are noticeable limitations and occasional inaccuracies in word choice or collocation, such as 'the figure of manufacturing is highest' instead of 'manufacturing had the highest number of jobs', and 'with a lower increase' to describe plateauing figures. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lack of flexibility and occasional awkward phrasings keep the lexical score at Band 6.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating comparative structures such as 'whereas retail and healthcare increased' and 'whereas healthcare was around 2 million'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'The number of jobs in retail and agriculture were' and repetitive sentence frames. While punctuation is generally adequate and communication is not impeded, the frequent presence of grammatical slips limits the score to Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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