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)

This line graph presents available vacancies in four different departments of the economy from 1960 to 2020 in the US.

Overall, the numbers of jobs in the Manufacturing sector increased at first but, afterward it started to decrease. The Retail sector offered large numbers of jobs throughout the given period, in contrast to the Agriculture and Healthcare.

In 1960, vacancies in the Manufacturing and Retail sector soared to their peak value which was around 20 million for the Manufacturing and half of that for Retail. After this drastic increase, jobs in the Manufacturing sector started to decrease from 1980 to 2020 and,reached to its lowest value. However, the Retail jobs increased dramatically from 1980 to 2000, afterward this trend lowed down.

From 1960 to 1980, jobs in Healthcare rose at slow rate but, from 1980 to 2020 it surged to 15 millions. The Agriculture department offered limited seats in the given period, in 2020 it reached to lowest number of available jobs as compared to other departemnts.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student attempts to cover the main trends in all four economic sectors shown in the line graph, providing an overview and making some comparisons. However, there are significant factual errors in reading the data. For instance, the student states that vacancies in 1960 soared to their peak value of around 20 million for Manufacturing, whereas the graph shows Manufacturing started at 15 million in 1960 and peaked at 20 million in 1980. Furthermore, describing Healthcare as rising to 15 million from 1980 to 2020 is somewhat inaccurate as it reaches 16 million by 2020. While the general directions of trends are captured, the data inaccuracies prevent this from achieving a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is arranged into a logical structure with an introduction, an overall summary, and body paragraphs detailing specific data points. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'In 1960', 'After this drastic increase', and 'However' are employed to guide the reader through the text. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different time periods and sectors. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and referencing is occasionally imprecise due to the data misinterpretations, which slightly disrupts the logical flow and progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range to communicate ideas about economic sectors and employment trends, using terms like 'vacancies', 'sector', 'drastic increase', and 'dramatically'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'trend lowed down' instead of 'slowed down', 'limited seats' instead of 'fewer jobs', and 'departments' instead of 'sectors'. Spelling is generally accurate, but word choice errors occasionally cause mild ambiguity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses such as 'while the Retail sector offered...' and 'as compared to other departments'. There are, however, several grammatical errors throughout the response, including missing articles ('in Retail sector'), incorrect prepositions or prepositional phrasing ('reached to its lowest value'), and comma splices ('...rose at slow rate but, from 1980...'). Despite these errors, the meaning remains mostly clear, fitting the band 6 profile for grammar.

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