Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The line graph illustrates the number of jobs in US economy during the time period of 1960 to 2020.

Overall, the is an increas in number of jobs in retail and healthcare sector, while agriculture sector shows the decline. Were as manufacturing sector shows increase in jobs initally with highest number of employees and then start decreasing gradually.

In 1960s manufacturing sector has most number of jobs followed by retail , agriculture and healthcare reapectively. Number of jobs in agriculture start decreasing gradually where as other three sectors shows increase in number of jobs till 1980s.

From 1980s to 2020, retail and health shows gradual increase in number of jobs where as other two shows steady decrease in number of jobs.

To conclude, initally health care ha most number of jobs but at the end of period retail and health care have most number of employees. Furthermore, agriculture sector shows steady decrease in number of jobs

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to cover all four sectors across the specified time period, presenting an overview and reporting main features and comparisons. However, there are significant factual inaccuracies in the data reporting. For instance, the conclusion incorrectly states that 'initially health care ha most number of jobs', whereas the visual data clearly shows manufacturing had the highest number (15 million) in 1960 and healthcare had only 2 million. Additionally, the overview contains slight contradictions regarding the manufacturing trend. While the main trends are generally identified, the errors in specific data points place this response within Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay is organized into distinct paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, which shows an attempt at logical progression. However, cohesion is often faulty or mechanical, with frequent misuse of transition markers such as 'Were as' and repetitive sentence openings. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and paragraphing could be improved to group related trends more logically. The overall arrangement is coherent enough to follow the general argument, matching Band 5 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with terms like 'manufacturing sector', 'gradual increase', and 'employees'. However, there are frequent spelling errors ('increas', 'initally', 'reapectively', 'health') and awkward word choices ('health' instead of 'healthcare'). The range of vocabulary is limited and repetitive, with little use of less common lexical items, fitting the Band 5 descriptor for lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple sentence forms with some attempts at complex structures, such as 'while agriculture sector shows the decline.' However, these complex attempts often contain grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('the is an increas in number', 'in US economy') and frequent subject-verb agreement issues ('other three sectors shows'). Punctuation and basic grammar errors are frequent throughout the text, though they rarely completely impede communication, corresponding to a Band 5 score.

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