Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-26

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 following graph depicts the amount of jobs affecting the economy of the US from 1960 till 2020. The four major sectors comprised of Manufacturing, Retail, Agriculture and Healthcare.

Highest number of jobs were seen in manufacturing in 1980 numbering 20 million opputunities for individuals, but a decline in the numbers can be seen after 1980 all the way to 2020, on the contrary Agriculture showed a downtrend overall in the given time, indicating the lowest amount of jobs in 2020.

Healthcare and Retail sector initially started with a decline in early 1960s and eventually gained numbers over the time, marking the same top at approximately 17 million jobs in total. The year 2020 is considered to be the most job generating year for these two sectors.

Overall the jobs across two sectors inclined while the numbers could be seen declining in Manufacturing and agriculture sector with the final estimate of 13 million and 3 million resepectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response covers all parts of the task well by identifying and comparing the key trends across the four economic sectors over the 60-year period. The overview in the final paragraph captures the main trajectory of the groups. However, there are a few minor inaccuracies in the data reporting, such as stating that Healthcare and Retail both reached a top of approximately 17 million jobs when Retail actually reached 16 million and Healthcare 16-17 million, and claiming Healthcare started with a decline in the early 1960s when it rose from 2 to 5 million. Despite these minor misreadings of the chart, the main features and comparisons are successfully reported and supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs dedicated to specific groupings or trends, and an overall concluding summary. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices are employed to connect clauses and sentences, such as 'on the contrary' and 'eventually gained numbers over the time'. However, referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical or abrupt, for instance in the third paragraph linking Healthcare and Retail together when their initial trajectories differed. Overall, clear logical progression is maintained throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an academic task, attempting less common items such as 'downtrend', 'opportunities', and 'resepectively' (with a spelling error). There are some noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'amount of jobs affecting the economy' instead of 'number of jobs' and 'most job generating year'. Spelling errors like 'opputunities' and 'resepectively' occur, but they do not impede overall communication. The lexical resource is sufficient to convey the main features of the chart.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including participial clauses and comparative structures. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings present, such as 'Highest number of jobs were seen' missing a determiner, 'comprised of' instead of the active 'comprised', and 'gained numbers over the time'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors persist, they rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the descriptions and comparisons easily.

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.