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)

Te line graph illustrates the information about the four different sectors from US economy since 1660 to 2020, Jobs are measured in millions.

Overall, the graph shows a smooth increase in manafacturing sector with highest jobs from 1960 to 1980and a downfall of jobs were recorded since 1980 to 2020. Whereas, the sector with the lowest jobs , were recorded in retail , that tends to see the decrease since 1960 to 2020.

Graph demostrates that jobs in sectors of agricultural and health care, tends to increase through out the years since 1960 to 2000, untill a smooth and steady graph is seen with no incrase in the jobs in health care sector as comper to other sector where a steady increse through out the trend is being noticed eve after 2000 that is 15 millions jobs in total.

Moreover, the manafacturing sector from 1960 to 1980 shows a devastating increase in jobs from 15 million to 20 million, and faced a down fall after that year and falls at somewhere 12 million jobs. where as looking at least prioritized sector thats retail, showed consistent downfall in jobs till 2020 at around 2 million jobs. which is the lowest of all other sectors

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to cover the main trends in the line graph, noting information about manufacturing, retail, agriculture, and healthcare sectors between 1960 and 2020. However, there are notable misinterpretations of the visual data. For example, the student writes that retail was the sector with the lowest jobs and 'showed consistent downfall in jobs till 2020 at around 2 million jobs', whereas the graph actually shows retail growing significantly from 6 million in 1960 to 16 million in 2020. Conversely, agriculture started at 6 million and dropped to 2 million, which the student appears to confuse with retail or misread. The overview mentions some key features, but the inaccuracies in reporting the data pull this criterion down. Band 5 is appropriate as the response addresses the task partially and contains significant errors in data interpretation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text is divided into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overview paragraph, and then body paragraphs detailing specific sectors. Cohesive devices and transition markers such as 'Overall', 'Whereas', and 'Moreover' are used to connect ideas. However, paragraphing is somewhat disjointed, and referencing is occasionally unclear or confusing due to the misread data. Progression throughout the response is impeded by contradictory statements regarding which sector grew or declined. Nevertheless, an overall organizational structure is present, supporting a Band 6 score.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'devastating increase', 'prioritized sector', and 'downfall'. However, there are numerous spelling errors ('manafacturing', 'demostrates', 'untill', 'incrase', 'comper', 'increse') and inappropriate word choices (e.g., describing an increase in manufacturing as 'devastating', which carries a negative connotation). The range of vocabulary is adequate to convey simple ideas, but frequent lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors place this performance in the Band 5 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response includes a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses and comparative structures. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with several errors in preposition use, article omission, and verb tense consistency (e.g., 'sector from US economy since 1660', 'jobs in sectors of agricultural and health care, tends to increase', 'falls at somewhere 12 million'). Punctuation is also erratic in places, with misplaced commas. These errors frequently cause strain for the reader, aligning the response with Band 5.

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