Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-03

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 depicts the number of different jobs in the US between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, the biggest rise of the number of jobs can be seen at the healthcare sector and retailing sector. On the other hand, the number of jobs in Manufacturing sector were rising only till 1980. Then it it started to decline.

In 1960, About 2.5 million jobs under healthcare sector were available. The number surged at over 15millions in 2020. Same goes for the retailing sector. Though it had more jobs than the healthcare sector in 1960. Over 5millions.

Whereas, The Manufacturing sector had 15million jobs in 1960. The number peaked at 20millions in 1980. But started to fall quickly after that.

The agricultural sector had over 5million jobs in 1960.It gradually declined throughout the years. Ican be seen that the agricultural sector had the least least amount of jobs among the 4 sectors in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting on all four sectors across the period, providing an appropriate overall summary, and making relevant comparisons. However, some aspects are under-developed or inaccurately supported by the data. For instance, the statement that healthcare jobs were 'About 2.5 million' in 1960 is slightly misread from the graph, and figures such as retailing in 1960 are presented fragmentarily ('Over 5millions'). The overview correctly highlights the main trends of growth in healthcare and retail, but the development of specific details lacks consistency and precision, which keeps the response at this level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the information by grouping related trends into paragraphs. However, paragraphing is somewhat fragmented, with several very short, single-sentence paragraphs used instead of cohesive groupings. Cohesive devices are occasionally faulty or mechanical, such as the repetitive use of 'The number' and abrupt transitions like 'Same goes for the retailing sector.' Referencing is also sometimes unclear, as seen in dangling phrases and minor structural disconnects between sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying basic trends such as 'surge', 'decline', and 'peaked'. The writer attempts less common vocabulary items like 'manufacturing sector' and 'agricultural sector', but there are noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and spacing, such as 'retailing sector' instead of 'retail sector', '15millions', and 'least least amount'. These errors do not impede overall communication, but they reflect a limited range and accuracy characteristic of this band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over past and present time frames. However, there are frequent structural errors and punctuation issues, including fragments ('Though it had more jobs than the healthcare sector in 1960. Over 5millions.'), a typo with a run-on word ('Ican be seen'), and subject-verb agreement issues such as 'the number of jobs in Manufacturing sector were rising'. While these errors do not heavily impede communication, they occur regularly alongside basic sentence structures.

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