Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-27

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 line graph provide information about the figure of jobs in four different sectors (Manufacturing, Retail, Agriculture and Healthcare) of the economy in the USA from1960 to 2020.

Overall, the healthcare and retails was increasing over the period, However, Agriculture and Manufacturing sectors recorded decline during the same period.

In 1960, healthcare sector started on under five-millions and the Retails started on six-millions jobs, while end of the period, period numbers of jobs increased around 15-millions. Both sector had rising around 10 to 15 millions.

On the other side, Manufacturing and Agriculture departments started on 15-millions and 6-millions respectively, but agriculture sectors was countious decreasingafter over the period. Moreover, Manufacturing sectors had higher number of jobs and also this sector increased the just five-millions on the 1980, after that, this sector started to less on under 15-millions jobs in the same period. Manufacturing sector far higher than healthcare department during the 60-years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons across the four economic sectors. The overview correctly identifies the overall upward trends for healthcare and retail, and the downward trends for agriculture and manufacturing. Key data points are selected and reported, such as manufacturing peaking at 20 million in 1980 and healthcare/retail reaching 16 million by 2020. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in reporting specific figures, such as stating healthcare started 'under five-millions' when it started around 2 million, and some minor confusion in the concluding sentence regarding manufacturing and healthcare comparisons over the 60 years. Nonetheless, the core information and main trends are adequately captured, fulfilling the requirements for this band.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs dedicated to contrasting sectors. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'Overall', 'In 1960', and 'On the other side'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in the slightly disjointed sentence structures within the body paragraphs (e.g., 'while end of the period, period numbers of jobs increased'). Paragraphing is present, but internal logical progression is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing and abrupt shifts between data points. Overall arrangement is maintained, but the flow is disrupted by repetitive structures and mechanical linking.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting domain-specific terms such as 'manufacturing', 'retail', 'agriculture', and 'healthcare'. There are frequent errors in word choice, morphology, and collocation, such as 'the figure of jobs' instead of 'the number of jobs', 'retails' instead of 'retail', 'countious decreasingafter' (continuous decreasing), and 'started to less on'. These errors occasionally cause strain for the reader, although communication of the general data is not severely impeded. Less common lexical items are attempted with varying degrees of accuracy, reflecting a limited but minimally adequate range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like 'while end of the period...' and 'Manufacturing sectors had higher number of jobs...'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in verb tenses, prepositions, articles, and word forms (e.g., 'The line graph provide' instead of 'provides', 'healthcare and retails was increasing' instead of 'were increasing', 'Both sector had rising' instead of 'Both sectors rose'). Punctuation and sentence boundaries are also flawed, with run-on ideas and comma splices. These errors require some effort from the reader to interpret, though the basic meaning remains understandable.

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