Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The line graphs illustrates information regarding the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the usa from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, the trend shows that retail and healthcare rose up while manufacturing and agriculture ended with gradually fall.

in 1960 , manufacturing was the most jobs sector among others . It was climb peaked in 1980 at 20%, after that it gradually decreased and ended at around 13% in 2020.The second majority jobs sector in 1960 was retail and agricultural at 6%. Retail was rose up day by day and stode 16% in 2020, in contrast agricultural fall down till 2020 at 2%.On the other hand, healthcare sorge up from 2% to 16% between 1960 and 2020.At the ens retail and healthcare were standing on the top position while followed by manufacturing and agricultural respectively. In this 60 years of period , a huge changed notice in usa job sectors.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the four sectors across the given period, including relevant comparisons such as the contrasting trends between retail/healthcare and manufacturing/agriculture. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, outlining the overall trends successfully. However, there are some inaccuracies in the data reporting and units used; for instance, the student states manufacturing peaked at '20%' and retail/agriculture started at '6%', whereas the chart measures jobs in millions rather than percentages. Despite these minor misreadings of the chart axes, the main trends and relationships between the categories are adequately identified and supported.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response has a discernible overall structure, moving from an introduction to an overview, followed by the body details and a brief concluding sentence. However, paragraphing is somewhat weak, with almost all body details crammed into a single block of text. Cohesive devices are frequently misused or overly mechanical (e.g., 'after that', 'On the other hand', 'At the ens'). Referencing and transitions between sentences can be abrupt and unclear, such as the sudden shift between the description of manufacturing and retail. Progression is present, but the overall mechanical cohesion limits the score to a 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student attempts less common vocabulary related to trends, such as 'decreased', 'peaked', and 'gradually'. However, there are numerous word choice, collocation, and form errors throughout the response, such as 'It was climb peaked', 'agricultural fall down', 'healthcare sorge up' (surged), and 'the ens' (end). The misuse of units ('20%' instead of millions) also reflects lexical and task interpretation limitations. While the vocabulary is adequate to convey the basic meaning, the high frequency of errors places this firmly in the band 5 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is weak. There are frequent errors in verb forms, tense consistency, and voice, such as 'The line graphs illustrates', 'manufacturing was the most jobs sector', 'Retail was rose up', and 'a huge changed notice'. Capitalisation and punctuation are also neglected in places (e.g., lowercase letters at the start of sentences like 'in 1960', spacing errors around commas and periods). Because these frequent errors cause noticeable strain for the reader, the response warrants a band 5.

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