Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-22

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 line chart illustrates data about how the millions of jobs contribute to the economy in manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare in the United States changed over 60 years of periods, starting from 1960.

Overall, it can be seen that the manufacturing started from the highest number of jobs, and declined significantly. Whereas, others showed an upward trend except agriculture.

Looking at the chart in more detail, it is clear that the retail and healthcare reached at its peak compared to the other two sectors. Healthcare stooded from around 2 million then increased slightly into 5 million in 1980; by the year of 2000, it starts climbing from approximately 11 million and reached at about 16 million in 2020. While retail was almost 6 million in 1960 then surged to 10 & 15 million between 1980 to 2000, and in 2020 it showed a similar trend like healthcare, which was around 16 million.

Turning to the remaining data sets, it is evident that the manufacturing has the highest number of jobs, which was 15 million in 1960. By 1980 it rose to 20 million then dropped sharply around 17 million and 13 million in 2000 and 2020. Agriculture also starts from about 6 million by 1960. After falling into at about 3 million in 1980 it remained the same untill 2000. Then, it slightly decreased to approximately 2 million in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features, trends, and comparisons across the four sectors between 1960 and 2020. The student provides an adequate overview stating that manufacturing started highest and declined while other sectors generally showed an upward trend. Key data points, such as manufacturing peaking at 20 million in 1980 and healthcare/retail finishing at around 16 million in 2020, are correctly cited. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in reporting the timeline and intermediate values (e.g., stating healthcare 'starts climbing from approximately 11 million' in 2000 when it was around 5 million, and misinterpreting the progression of figures). Despite these minor misreadings of the chart's trajectory, the main features are sufficiently selected and reported to meet the requirements of a Band 6.5 descriptor, solidifying a score of 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overview, and then splitting the body details by sector groups (retail/healthcare and manufacturing/agriculture). Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'Overall', 'Looking at the chart in more detail', and 'Turning to the remaining data sets'. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, and referencing is not always clear (e.g., 'Whereas, others showed an upward trend except agriculture' is a fragmented and clumsy transition). Paragraphing is used appropriately to group related ideas, but the logical progression within the paragraphs occasionally feels slightly disjointed due to awkward phrasing. This performance aligns well with Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to trends and data such as 'declined significantly', 'upward trend', 'surged', and 'dropped sharply'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'how the millions of jobs contribute to the economy', 'Healthcare stooded', and 'trend like healthcare'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but word formation and collocation errors prevent the response from achieving a higher band. The vocabulary is minimally sufficient to convey the intended meaning, representing a solid Band 6 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, attempting relative clauses and subordinate conjunctions (e.g., 'which was around 16 million', 'while retail was almost 6 million'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with tense consistency, verb forms, and prepositions (e.g., 'manufacturing started from the highest number', 'reached at its peak', 'stooded from', 'starts from about 6 million by 1960', 'falling into at about 3 million'). Punctuation and sentence boundaries are also occasionally problematic, such as starting sentences with conjunctions or creating sentence fragments. Although these errors do not severely impede overall communication, their frequency keeps the score at a Band 5.5.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.