Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-21

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 provided line graph demonstrates number of jobs vacancies in four sectors in America from 1960 to 2020. From the given graph it can be seen that manufacturing industry was dominat sector in 1960 and than it changes slightly and from 1980 ratil and healthcare started to g up and have large number of employment ratio in 2020.

The given line graph shows that manufacturing coorperation use to have major employement opportunties in 1960 with 15 millions of job seats it goes up to 20 million after 2 decades and than start declinig with 13 million job seats. On contrary, sectors of agriculture and retail was same in 1960 and then retail industry start rising up while agricultural industry started to go down till 1980 and stay still until 2020. On the other hand, healthcare department use to have least value of employment ratio in 1960. After that, it started to grow with and reaches to 16 million in 2020.

Overall, the provided graph illusrates that among all the four sectors of economy in the US manufacturing was dominant one in 1960 and In 2020 department of healthcare and retail have large number of job seats rather than any other sector.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers all parts of the task by reporting data for all four economic sectors across the given timeframe (1960 to 2020). An overview is provided, noting that manufacturing was dominant in 1960 while healthcare and retail led in 2020. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in reporting specific data points from the graph. For instance, manufacturing in 1960 started at 15 million, but the student states it went up to 20 million after 2 decades, which is correct, but the progression and end values contain some slight descriptive imprecisions. Key trends such as the steady decline of agriculture and the significant rise of healthcare are identified, though the development of ideas could be extended further to fully meet higher bands. Overall, the response addresses the prompt adequately, earning a band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is divided into logical paragraphs, including an introduction, body paragraphs for specific sector details, and a concluding overview. Cohesive devices such as 'On contrary', 'After that', and 'On the other hand' are employed to guide the reader through the data, although some transitional phrases are used mechanically or slightly inaccurately (e.g., 'than' instead of 'then', 'On contrary' instead of 'In contrast'). Referencing is mostly clear, but the logical progression within the body paragraph feels somewhat disjointed due to the heavy grouping of multiple sectors in a single dense block of text. Paragraphing is present and generally appropriate, placing the response solidly at band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'dominat', 'coorperation', 'employement opportunties', and 'declinig'. However, there are frequent spelling errors (e.g., 'dominat' for dominant, 'than' for then, 'ratil' for retail, 'coorperation' for cooperation, 'employement' for employment, 'opportunties' for opportunities, 'declinig' for declining, 'illusrates' for illustrates). Word choices are sometimes awkward or imprecise, such as using 'job seats' instead of 'jobs' or 'job opportunities'. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the basic message, the recurring spelling and lexical inaccuracies restrict the score to a band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as in the opening sentence ('The provided line graph demonstrates number of jobs vacancies...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors including missing articles ('demonstrates number of jobs', 'in 1960 manufacturing was dominant one'), tense inconsistencies ('use to have', 'start rising'), and run-on sentences joined poorly by conjunctions ('...and than it changes slightly and from 1980 ratil and healthcare started to g up...'). Punctuation is also lacking in places. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and prevent the grammar score from rising above a band 5.0.

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

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