Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-29

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 given line graph illustrates the data regarding the number of jobs in four diffrent areas of the economy in the USA between two perticular year 1960 and 2020.

Overall, it can be seen that highest number of jobs were accounted in manufacturing section at the beaging but then fell over the peroid. Whereas, healthcare and retail showed similar growth and was the highest at the given last year while, agriculture has least growth among the all catogaries.

By analysing the data, in 1960 manufacturing started around 15 million jobs over the time it raised by 5 million untill 1980 later it fell constantly till 2020 it was remain only about 13 million. Therefore, agriculture related jobs started with 5 million at the given first year then it goes dwon in 1980 and reached 4 million after that it remain constant by the years and in last year 2020 it as almost 0 that is the lowest in all job sections.

However, healthcare and retail were low at the beagining and has the same trend health care started around 3 million and then genrally increased over the time and cross 15 million jobs similarly retail stated 5 million and then gradually rose by the given years and reached same number as healthcare.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student attempts to cover all parts of the task by identifying the main trends and making comparisons between the four sectors. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting that manufacturing started highest before falling, while healthcare and retail grew significantly. However, there are several inaccuracies in reporting the data compared to the visual source. For instance, the student states that agriculture jobs reached almost zero in 2020, whereas the graph shows approximately 2 million jobs. Similarly, manufacturing in 1960 is correctly identified at 15 million, but the subsequent trajectory contains confused figures. Despite these inaccuracies, the general picture of the task is addressed, placing this at a Band 5.5 to 6.0 level. Because some data is misread, it sits at Band 5.5 for partially addressing the data accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is divided into four paragraphs, which provides a logical structure (introduction, overview, and two body paragraphs detailing specific sectors). Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'By analysing the data', and 'However', although some transitions are mechanically applied or awkward ('Therefore, agriculture related jobs...'). Referencing is sometimes unclear, and punctuation errors (such as run-on sentences) occasionally disrupt the flow, as seen in 'Whereas, healthcare and retail showed similar growth and was the highest at the given last year while, agriculture has least growth among the all catogaries.' Overall arrangement is coherent, but the execution of cohesion and referencing is faulty enough to warrant a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'sector', 'economy', 'growth', and 'gradually rose'. However, there are numerous spelling errors throughout the text ('diffrent', 'perticular', 'beaging', 'peroid', 'catogaries', 'dwon', 'beagining'), which distract the reader. Furthermore, word choice and collocations are occasionally unnatural, such as 'highest number of jobs were accounted in manufacturing section' or 'cross 15 million jobs'. The lexicon is minimally adequate to convey the basic ideas, but spelling mistakes and lexical inaccuracies restrict the score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors, missing articles, and run-on sentences. For example, 'healthcare and retail showed similar growth and was the highest' contains a subject-verb agreement error. Another example of poor control is 'it was remain only about 13 million' and 'agriculture related jobs started with 5 million at the given first year then it goes dwon in 1980 and reached 4 million after that it remain constant'. Punctuation is also problematic, with comma splices and missing periods. These frequent errors cause difficulty for the reader and place this criterion at Band 5.0.

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