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 how job opportunities were available in four sectors of the economy in the US over a period of 60 years from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, the highest employment opportunities were identified in the manufacturing sector. People's interest in retail and healthcare jobs increased significantly over time. However, lowest employment rate observed in agriculture stream.

In 1960, 15 million jobs were available in manufacturing facilities which rose dramatically by 20 million in 1980. From 1980 to 2020 people showed less interest in this sector. whereas 7 million jobs were dropped till 2020. Few people took jobs in retail and healthcare industries initially which were 2 million and 6 million respectively. However, employment went up rapidly and reached to 16 million till 2020.

Moreover, there was similar interest among people in agriculture jobs as retail industries which were around 6 million in 1960. There was a drop in agriculture jobs of 4 million from 1960 to 1980. From 1980 to 2020 the jobs remained stable around 4 million.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview of the main trends and reporting key data from the chart. In the body paragraphs, the student highlights important features, such as manufacturing peaking in 1980 at 20 million before declining to 13 million, and the substantial growth in healthcare and retail to 16 million. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in data interpretation and phrasing, such as stating 'rose dramatically by 20 million in 1980' (it rose TO 20 million, or by 5 million) and stating agriculture jobs remained around 4 million from 1980 to 2020 (the chart shows it dropping to 3 and then 2 million). Nevertheless, the main features and overall comparisons are clearly presented.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is arranged into logical paragraphs, starting with an introduction, moving to an overview paragraph, and then dividing the body content logically by economic sectors. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader through the data, with transitional phrases like 'Overall', 'However', and 'Moreover'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or awkward, such as the transition 'whereas 7 million jobs were dropped till 2020', which feels mechanically linked rather than smoothly integrated. Paragraphing is used appropriately overall, but some sentences lack smooth logical progression.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common collocations such as 'employment opportunities', 'manufacturing facilities', and 'stable'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'how job opportunities were available' instead of 'the number of available jobs', 'lowest employment rate observed in agriculture stream' (missing auxiliary verb and incorrect term 'stream'), and confusing 'interest in jobs' with the actual availability of jobs. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lexical control is limited by these frequent slip-ups in collocation and word choice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and time clauses (e.g., 'over a period of 60 years from 1960 to 2020'). However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text, such as missing prepositions or articles ('lowest employment rate observed in agriculture stream'), incorrect verb tense usage ('were available' versus 'rose dramatically by 20 million'), and dangling modifiers ('as retail industries which were around 6 million'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from achieving a higher band.

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