Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Number of jobs in four sector of the economy in the us,[redacted phone]

This is a line graph which shows the comparison of jobs that have been created and vanished from [redacted phone].

The is ploted between two valus in the horizontal axis we have marked years and the vertical axis jobs in millions.

Let's start to break down each of the sector one by one, we will start from manufacturing as been first the graph.

Manufacturing sector starting from 15M jobs in 1960, had rised up to 20M in two decades and had started to decline from onward to 2020 with less than 15M jobs.

If we look at the retail business it has started with 6M jobs and have grown up to a sector of more than 15M jobs through the three decades , eventually giving more jobs than manufacturing in 2020.

Agriculture sector being the backbone of the economy has shown no growth in past three decades,due to peoples choosing other sector jobs due to their less energy consuming work.From 5M jobs in 1960 it has dropped sharply up to 3M in 1980 and is facing rapid decline.

At the end if we look at the health sector with minimum jobs from all these in 1960 has shown rapid growth and became a sector providing people 15M jobs in 2020 and still growing.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response covers all four economic sectors shown in the graph and attempts to report their main trends and features. However, the report suffers from some inaccuracies regarding the data. For instance, the student states that the agriculture sector started with 5M jobs in 1960, whereas the graph shows 6M. Additionally, the overview paragraph is conversational and lacks a proper summary of the overall trends, such as the general rise in service-related sectors compared to the decline in agriculture and manufacturing. The tone is overly informal ('Let's start to break down'), which is inappropriate for an Academic Task 1 response. While the main features are touched upon, the lack of precision in reporting data and the informal tone limit the score to a Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The text is structured into paragraphs, with each sector given its own paragraph, which helps readability. However, the overall organisation is heavily impacted by the informal meta-commentary in the introduction ('Let's start to break down each of the sector one by one'). Cohesive devices are basic and sometimes repetitive (e.g., 'If we look at', 'At the end if we look at'). Paragraphing is attempted, but the transitions between ideas lack sophistication. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous pronoun use in 'due to peoples choosing other sector jobs due to their less energy consuming work.' These issues place the response firmly at Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range to communicate basic information about the graph, using terms such as 'manufacturing', 'retail business', 'agriculture sector', and 'decline'. However, there are numerous lexical and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'sector' instead of 'sectors', 'us' instead of 'US', 'ploted' instead of 'plotted', 'valus' instead of 'values', and 'rised' instead of 'rose'. Collocations are occasionally unnatural, such as 'jobs that have been created and vanished' or 'peoples choosing other sector jobs'. These frequent errors in word choice and spelling impede communication at times and reflect a Band 5.0 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are noticeable grammatical errors throughout, including tense inconsistencies ('has started with 6M jobs and have grown'), subject-verb agreement errors ('The is ploted'), and awkward phrasing ('had started to decline from onward'). Punctuation is also problematic, with missing spaces after commas and periods. While some complex structures are attempted, frequent errors in basic and complex forms cause difficulty for the reader, placing this response at Band 5.0.

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