Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-30

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 graph illustrate the inforamtion about number of jobs in manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare, which contribute to the economy of US from 1920 to 2020.

Overall, both retail and healthcare contain the highest number of the jobs by the end year whereas agriculture produced the least amount of jobs in the US.

Initially, manufacturing generated about 15 million jobs then reaching a peak of approximately 20 million jobs in the year 1980 then eventually declining to about 13 million jobs by the end year.

However, both retail and healthcare sector showed continous upward trend with both starting at repectectively above 5 million and around 2 million jobs and then gradually reaching to above 15 million jobs by 2020.

On the other hand, agriculture sector contained above 5 million jobs in the starting year then slighty dropped to around 2 million in 1980 after that number of jobs remained constant in the sector till end year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response covers all four sectors and provides an overview highlighting the highest and lowest sectors at the end of the period. However, there are some minor factual inaccuracies regarding the timeline and data points. For instance, the student states the data starts in 1920 instead of 1960, and describes the agriculture sector as remaining constant after 1980 when it actually continued a slight downward trend to 2 million by 2020. Despite these minor discrepancies, the main trends—such as the peak and decline of manufacturing and the steady growth of healthcare and retail—are correctly identified and compared. This places the response comfortably at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division between the introductory statement, the overview paragraph, and the body paragraphs detailing specific sectors. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'Initially', 'However', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes mechanical, and paragraphing could be structured more effectively. Progression is generally clear throughout the text, allowing the reader to follow the data trends easily. This aligns well with the requirements for a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common lexical items such as 'continous upward trend', 'generated', and 'declining'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors, including 'illustrate' instead of 'illustrates', 'inforamtion', 'repectectively', and 'slighty'. These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 6.0. To reach a higher band, the student should eliminate spelling mistakes and incorporate more sophisticated paraphrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'manufacturing generated about 15 million jobs then reaching a peak...'. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation oversights, including subject-verb agreement issues ('The graph illustrate') and missing articles ('by the end year'). Complex structures are attempted, but they often lack punctuation control or contain run-on clauses. Nonetheless, communication is not impeded by these inaccuracies, making this a solid performance at Band 6.0.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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