Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-19
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 given line chart illustrates job availability in four different sectors of the economy in the US within 1960 to 2020.
Overall, it was shown from the chart, that jobs in the manufacturing sector were in the highest demand, whereas the fewest people were in agriculture work. However, jobs in retail and healthcare showed massive popularity throughout the whole period.
In the manufacturing sector, over 15 million employment opportunities observed in 1960 followed by 20 million in 1980. However, these jobs went down steadily till 2020 reaching around 13 million. On the other hand retail and agriculture jobs were 2 million and 6 million respectively. This rapid jump observed and huge surge identified in these two sector which were reaching around 16 million till 2020.
Moreover, in the healthcare sector 6 million jobs were accessible in 1960 which were dramatically decreased from 1960 to 1980 and reached to around 4 million and remained stable till 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 | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons across the four sectors between 1960 and 2020. The student correctly identifies manufacturing as starting high, and agriculture as having the fewest jobs. However, there are some data inaccuracies: the student states that retail and agriculture jobs were 2 million and 6 million respectively in 1960, whereas the chart shows agriculture at 6 million and retail at 6 million. Furthermore, the description of the healthcare sector incorrectly states that it decreased to around 4 million and remained stable, whereas the chart clearly shows healthcare growing significantly from 2 million in 1960 to 16 million in 2020. Despite these misreadings, an overview is provided and the general trends are attempted.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a clear overall progression and is divided into logical paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs dedicated to specific sectors. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as "Overall," "However," and "On the other hand." However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in awkward transitions like "This rapid jump observed and huge surge identified in these two sector which were reaching around 16 million till 2020." Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different categories of information, but the logical flow within sentences is occasionally disrupted by awkward phrasing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as "employment opportunities," "popularity," and "surge." However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors, such as "fewest people were in agriculture work" instead of agricultural jobs, and mixing up retail and agriculture statistics in the third paragraph. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lexical control is limited by unnatural phrasing like "jobs went down steadily till 2020 reaching around 13 million" and frequent repetition of basic structures.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are several serious grammatical errors, particularly with passive voice and missing verbs, such as "over 15 million employment opportunities observed in 1960" (missing auxiliary verb) and "in the healthcare sector 6 million jobs were accessible in 1960 which were dramatically decreased... and reached to around 4 million" (misinterpretation of data combined with passive/active confusion). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent structural inaccuracies in complex sentences cause some difficulty for the reader.
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