Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The line graph illustrates number of employement in four different region of economy in US . The information is given of 6 decades and on x-axis it describes year and on y- axis it shows employement.

As an overview it can observed that agrivulture has been decreased through out the years while others has ups and down. In retail more people get job than in healthcare.After the year 1980, manufacturing has constantly decreased while agriculture remain constant for some period. In year 2020, both retail and healthcare are at equal position.

In the year 1960, manufacturing has 15million have employement and it increased to 20 million after 20 years. Agriculture has decreade from 5.2 to 0.7 approximately while other 3 sectors has made increament equally by 5million.Retail and healthcare increased by 5million while argiculture remain constant. in the year 2020, healthcare and retail has reached at same level of job which is 17million assuming.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to cover the main features of the graph, identifying general trends such as the decline in agriculture and manufacturing, and the growth in retail and healthcare. However, there are significant inaccuracies in reporting the data. For instance, the student states that 'in retail more people get job than in healthcare' and that both reach '17 million', whereas the visual data shows retail starting lower and ending at 16 million alongside healthcare. Additionally, some figures provided are imprecise or contradictory. While the overview is present, the inaccurate data reporting and lack of fully developed comparisons restrict the score to Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into paragraphs, including an introduction and body paragraphs, which gives it a basic organizational structure. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by awkward transitions and confusing statements. Cohesive devices are used minimally or repetitively (e.g., 'As an overview it can observed', 'In the year 1960'), and referencing is sometimes unclear, making it hard to follow the relationships between ideas. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion within paragraphs is weak. These issues place the response firmly in Band 5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is quite limited and repetitive, with frequent word-choice and spelling errors (e.g., 'employement' instead of employment, 'agrivulture', 'decreade', 'increament'). The student attempts some topic-specific vocabulary related to the economy, but control is poor, and incorrect forms are frequently employed (e.g., 'four different region of economy'). The range of vocabulary is barely adequate to communicate the task, resulting in a score of 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response displays a very limited range of grammatical structures. Simple sentences dominate, and attempts at more complex structures frequently result in serious grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('agriculture remain constant', 'healthcare and retail has reached') and tense confusion ('has been decreased'). Punctuation and word forms are also unreliable. Because errors occur frequently and occasionally impede the clarity of the message, this falls under Band 5.

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

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