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 chart illustrates the data about the number of employment in four sections of the economy in the United States from 1960 until 2020.

Overall, graph contains the information about the number of jobs in four major sectors that are manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare. All four segments have different trends. Retail and Healthcare sector grows rapidly between these year, however manufacturing and agriculture sector demands decreased.

To begin with the manufacturing sector, demand in this section spike from 1960 to 1980 and then trends decline continusally onwards till 2020, meanwhile the trends in healthcare and retail, it increases gradually between these years.

In the last, jobs in the agriculture sector fall drastically till 1980. From 1980 to 2000 trend remained constant and hereafter it dropped from 2000 to 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to cover the main features of the line graph showing job trends in four US economic sectors between 1960 and 2020. An overview is provided, noting that the sectors followed different trajectories. However, key data points are largely omitted, and specific figures (such as peak numbers or final figures) are not reported to support the comparisons. Furthermore, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 130 words. This under-length impacts the overall development of the task. Consequently, the response meets the criteria for a band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The text is divided into four paragraphs, including an introduction and a summary overview, which provides a basic structural framework. However, the progression between sentences and paragraphs is occasionally hindered by mechanical or repetitive cohesive devices, such as 'To begin with' and 'In the last'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the overall logical flow could be smoother. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of ideas lacks full coherence. Therefore, this performance aligns with a band 5.5 score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for discussing economic trends, such as 'sector', 'trends', 'decline', and 'gradual'. However, there are notable lexical errors and inappropriate word choices, such as writing 'the number of employment' instead of 'employment' or 'number of jobs', 'sections' instead of 'sectors', and 'spike' or 'grows' with inconsistent tense usage. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success. This lexical control reflects a band 5.5 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

A mix of simple and some complex sentence forms is attempted, such as 'Retail and Healthcare sector grows rapidly between these year, however manufacturing and agriculture sector demands decreased.' However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring tense inconsistencies (e.g., mixing present and past tenses like 'grows' and 'decreased'), pluralization errors ('these year' instead of 'these years'), and missing articles. These persistent errors cause some difficulty for the reader, fitting the band 5.0 descriptors.

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.