Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-28
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 four sectors: Manufacturing,Retail,Agriculture, and Healthcare of the economy in the US over the period 1960 to 2020.
Overall, jobs in the manufacturing sector was higher from all other sectors but it declined after some time, while the number of jobs in retail and agriculture sectors rose gradually and remaind same at the end but in healthcare sector the number of jobs decreased throughout the period.
In 1960, there were 15 million jobs in manufacturing sector which played the great positive role in the US economy and it rose steadily to 20 million in 1980 before the decline in the number of jobs in 2020. On the other hand, jobs in retail and agriculture sectors rose throughout the period and stopped at remained almost the same 16 million jobs in 2020. However, there was a 6 millions jobs in healthcare sector in 1960 and decline throughout the period.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response attempts to cover all parts of the task by identifying several trends across the four sectors. However, there are significant factual inaccuracies regarding the visual data. For instance, the student states that the healthcare sector 'decreased throughout the period' and started at 6 million in 1960, whereas the graph clearly shows healthcare rising substantially from 2 million in 1960 to 16 million in 2020. Additionally, the overview contains a major contradiction, claiming that manufacturing was higher than all other sectors and then later stating retail and agriculture rose throughout the period while healthcare fell. These misreadings of the data prevent the response from achieving a higher band score.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The response has a basic overall structure, featuring an introduction, an overview paragraph, and a body paragraph. However, the progression of ideas is hindered by inaccurate transitions and contradictory statements. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes mechanical or misused, such as the contrastive linker 'On the other hand' leading into a description that partially mirrors previous points. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of information lacks clarity and logical flow, making the relationships between the data points difficult to follow at times.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms related to economic sectors ('Manufacturing', 'Retail', 'Agriculture', 'Healthcare') and trend verbs ('rose steadily', 'declined'). However, there are notable lexical errors and inappropriate word choices, such as 'remaind same' instead of 'remained the same' and 'played the great positive role'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success, and spelling or morphological slips occur, though they generally do not prevent the reader from grasping the general topic.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as using 'before the decline in' to link clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is weak. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'jobs in the manufacturing sector was higher', 'remaind same'), missing articles (e.g., 'in healthcare sector'), and incorrect prepositions. Furthermore, sentence boundaries and punctuation are occasionally awkward. These persistent errors can cause some difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar firmly in the band 5 range.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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