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 chart illustrates details about the number of jobs in different sectors of the economy in the United states from 1960 to 2020.The figure was measured in the millions.

Overall, it is clear that the sectors with the highest number of jobs was manufacturing, while healthcare had a lowest.

After analyzing the line graph, it is evident that in 1960, manufacturing stood at 15 million had jobs, after that this figure was significantly increased in the year 1980 at approximately 20 million. Lastly, showed constantly decline in year 200 and 2020 at around 17 millions and 12 millions respectively. Furthermore, the number of retail job was starting 5 millions in the year 1960 and roughly move up 15 million in 2000. In 2020, recorded major changed which was 16 million in 2020.

Turning to the other sectors, agriculture started 5 million in 1960, decline in the next year 1980 was 4 million and the last years, showned stable around 5 million 2020. Moreover, from the year 1960, healthcare jobs recorded the lowest sector, at 3 million, and after that increased over the period and reached 16 million in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student successfully identifies the main features and trends of the four economic sectors over the sixty-year period. However, there are several inaccuracies when reporting specific data points compared to the visual source. For example, the student states that manufacturing 'stood at 15 million had jobs' in 1960 and peaked at 'approximately 20 million' in 1980 (which is accurate), but later misstates the 2000 and 2020 figures as '17 millions and 12 millions' (the chart shows around 17 million and 13 million). Similarly, agriculture is reported as starting at '5 million in 1960', whereas the chart shows it at approximately 6 million. The overview is somewhat flawed because the student states manufacturing had the highest number of jobs while healthcare had the lowest overall, missing the fact that healthcare started as the lowest but ended up tied for highest in 2020. This places the response in Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is arranged into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs, showing a clear overall structure. Cohesive devices and transition signals are used to guide the reader through the data, such as 'Overall, it is clear that', 'After analyzing the line graph, it is evident that', 'Lastly', and 'Turning to the other sectors'. However, paragraphing is slightly cramped, with the main body details clumped together rather than clearly separated by sector or period. Referencing is occasionally faulty or repetitive, and some sentences lack smooth logical progression due to awkward phrasing (e.g., 'In 2020, recorded major changed which was 16 million in 2020'). Overall arrangement is coherent enough to earn a Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common economic and reporting terms such as 'sectors', 'significantly increased', 'constantly decline', and 'fluctuate'. However, there are frequent word choice and collocation errors, such as 'the sectors with the highest number of jobs was manufacturing, while healthcare had a lowest', '15 million had jobs', and 'retail job was starting'. Spelling and morphological inaccuracies are also present, including 'constantly decline' instead of 'constant decline', 'millions' instead of 'million', and 'showned' instead of 'showed'. These errors do not completely impede communication, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and time markers (e.g., 'The given line chart illustrates details about...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring frequent errors in tense, verb forms, and prepositional use. Examples include 'manufacturing stood at 15 million had jobs', 'this figure was significantly increased', 'the number of retail job was starting', and 'agriculture started 5 million in 1960, decline in the next year'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but structural errors are common enough to prevent the response from reaching Band 6.0 fully, though the mix of structures and comprehensibility supports a Band 5.5.

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