Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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 4.0)

The given line graph tracks the information about the number of employments in manufacturing, retail, agriculture and Healthcare economy in the US from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, it can be clearly seen that, over the period, retail and agriculture job was steeply rose whereas Healthcare remained lowest.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 2.5

The response falls significantly short of the minimum word requirement of 150 words, containing only 47 words. Consequently, the task is addressed only minimally. The student attempts to provide an overview by mentioning retail, agriculture, and healthcare, but key data points are entirely omitted, and the information provided in the overview regarding trends is factually inaccurate. Specifically, the student states that retail and agriculture jobs rose steeply and that healthcare remained the lowest, whereas the visual data shows that agriculture actually declined significantly and healthcare started lowest but grew to equal retail by 2020. Due to the extreme brevity and lack of detailed reporting, the response barely scratches the surface of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response is organized into two very brief paragraphs, attempting an introduction and an overall summary. However, due to the extreme brevity, there is no real progression of ideas or body paragraph development. Cohesive devices are minimal; the use of 'Overall, it can be clearly seen that' is a standard introductory formula, but the abrupt ending prevents any further logical sequencing or referencing. Paragraphing is technically present in terms of spacing, but the lack of content makes meaningful cohesion impossible to evaluate beyond basic sentence-level links.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is extremely limited and basic, such as 'number', 'jobs', 'sectors', and 'economy'. There are notable lexical and collocation errors, such as 'number of employments' instead of 'number of jobs', and awkward phrasing like 'Healthcare economy'. The attempt to use descriptive verbs like 'rose steeply' is undermined by factual inaccuracy, as agriculture did not rise. Spelling is generally accurate for the few words attempted, but the overall lexical resource is heavily restricted and inadequate for a fully developed academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response consists of only two sentences, representing a very limited range of grammatical structures. The first sentence is a simple introductory clause, while the second is a compound-complex structure containing a tense error ('retail and agriculture job was steeply rose', combining a passive structure with an active past verb). Articles and plurals show occasional lapses, such as 'job was steeply rose' instead of 'jobs rose steeply'. While the few sentences are short enough not to completely obscure meaning, the frequent structural and tense errors within this tiny sample reflect poor grammatical control.

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