Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-20

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 given line chart illustrates the details about the figure of jobs in different department of the economic in the United State between 1960 and 2020. The units are mearured in millions.

Ata glance, it is evident that the trend showed fluctuations in all sectors. Manufacture had depicted the highest job in first year. The lowest job was in healthcare.

To commence with, after analysing the chart, it can bi clearly seen that around 15 millions of jobs was covered by manufacture which gradually increased to 20 millions in 1980 and declined in next all years from 20 millions to approximately 13 millions. Furthermore, the value of jobs in healthcare was almost 6 millions and slightly reduced in all years. Finally stopped at 2 millions in 2020.

Probing ahead to further details, both sectors retail and agriculture were started at 6 millions and 3 millions in 1960 respectively. After that, it slowly rose up during the period and lastly reached at 16 millions by both sectors.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to cover the main trends in the four economic sectors, but there are several inaccuracies regarding the data. For instance, the text states that agriculture 'started at 6 millions' when the graph shows it started at 3 million, and it confuses the trajectories of healthcare and agriculture towards the end of the period (stating healthcare stopped at 2 million when agriculture actually dropped to 2 million while healthcare rose to 16 million). An overview is provided ('trend showed fluctuations in all sectors'), but the misinterpretation of specific data points prevents a higher score. It fits the Band 5 descriptor for addressing the task partially with some inaccurate reporting.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is divided into four paragraphs, including an introduction and conclusion/body paragraphs. Cohesive devices and signposting language are attempted ('Ata glance', 'To commence with', 'Furthermore', 'Finally', 'Probing ahead to further details'), though some are awkward or unnatural in an academic context. There is a clear overall attempt at logical organisation, but the progression suffers due to the data confusion in the body paragraphs. Paragraphing is present, which lifts the score to a Band 5.5, though referencing is occasionally faulty.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive ('jobs', 'millions', 'sector', 'increased'). There are also several noticeable lexical and spelling errors, such as 'mearured', 'Ata' (for At a), 'department of the economic', and 'Manufacture' instead of 'Manufacturing'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success. The lexical range is minimally adequate for the task, placing it firmly at Band 5.0 due to the frequency of word-formation and spelling errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but grammatical accuracy is quite low. There are frequent errors in verb forms, articles, and prepositions, such as 'the details about the figure of jobs', 'around 15 millions of jobs was covered', 'declined in next all years', and 'both sectors retail and agriculture were started'. Punctuation is generally okay, but basic grammatical errors frequently occur and occasionally cause strain for the reader, aligning with Band 5.0 descriptors.

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

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