Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-02

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 chart shows the information about the amount of jobs in manufacturing,retail,agriculture and healthcare from the year 1960 to 2020 in united states.

Overall, Manufacturing has the higher number of jobs followed by retail whereas agriculture and healthcare has the least in the us.

In the year 1960,15 million job was covered by manufacturing coming after retail and agricuture both sectors has occupied 5 million while only 2 million jobs were available in healthcare sector which was least among the all. After 20 years in 1980 the quantity of jobs has increased by several million expect the agriculture industury which has been decreased by 3 million.

Moving higher in year 2000, both retail and healthcare field has rise to 15 and 11 million whereas agriculture and manufacturing has decreased to 3 and 17 million approx. However, in 2020 both retail and healthcare has the higher number of occupation with 16 million each followed by manufacturing and agriculture with 13 and 3 million respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response covers the main features of the graph, but it only partially addresses the prompt because of noticeable data inaccuracies and an undeveloped overview. In the overview, the student incorrectly states that agriculture and healthcare had the least in the US, whereas healthcare actually started at the lowest point (2 million) and finished near the top at 16 million. Furthermore, some data points are misreported in the body paragraphs; for example, the text claims that in 1960 retail and agriculture both occupied 5 million, whereas the chart shows retail at 6 and agriculture at 6. Additionally, minor arithmetic or reading errors appear, such as stating that manufacturing was 15 million in 1960 (which is correct) but then stating in 2000 that agriculture and manufacturing decreased to 3 and 17 million, misreading the 2000 manufacturing point which is actually 17 million (correct) but failing to clearly distinguish trends across all four sectors. To reach a higher level, the response must accurately report the data without factual misinterpretations and provide an overview that correctly captures the overall trends rather than static snapshots.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the answer into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct parts of the task. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, with transitional phrases like 'Moving higher in year 2000' feeling slightly unnatural. Referencing and logical progression are occasionally hindered by abrupt shifts between years and sectors. For example, moving from 1960 directly to 1980 with the phrase 'After 20 years in 1980 the quantity of jobs has increased by several million expect the agriculture industury' creates a slightly disjointed flow. To improve cohesion, the student should use smoother linking devices, ensure clear pronoun and noun referencing throughout, and connect sentences more naturally to establish a seamless logical progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The lexical range is limited but minimally adequate for the task, successfully employing basic vocabulary related to economic sectors such as 'manufacturing', 'retail', 'agriculture', and 'healthcare'. However, there are noticeable word choice, word form, and spelling errors that detract from the response, such as 'amount of jobs' instead of 'number of jobs', 'agricuture', 'expect' instead of 'except', 'industury', 'field has rise' instead of 'rose', and 'occupation' instead of 'jobs' or 'positions'. These lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips reveal a restricted control of vocabulary. To achieve a higher score, the student needs to use a wider and more precise range of vocabulary, avoid spelling mistakes, and demonstrate better command of collocations and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms that are often faulty. There are frequent errors in verb tense consistency, agreement, and prepositions within grammatical patterns. Examples include 'the chart shows the information about the amount of jobs... in united states' (missing articles), 'agriculture and healthcare has the least' (subject-verb agreement error), '15 million job was covered' (pluralization error), and 'both retail and healthcare field has rise' (subject-verb agreement and tense errors). Punctuation and spacing issues also occur, such as missing spaces after commas (e.g., '1960,15 million'). To improve this criterion, the student must increase sentence variety, maintain consistent past tenses when describing historical data, and eliminate frequent grammatical errors that disrupt the reading flow.

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

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