Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The line graph illustrates the information about number of jobs in four distinct sectors of economy sectors namely Manufacturing, Retail, Agriculture and Healthcare in the US between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, manufacturing dominates the graph with highest proportion of jobs in the year of 1980 while number of jobs in agriculture sector was lowest from 1980 to 2020. Moreover, number of jobs in retail and healthcare sector were increased from 1960 to 2020.

On the one hand, manufacturing sector commence from 15 million in 1960 and reached a peak of 20 million jobs in 1980. After that, it fall significantly to approximately 16 million jobs to around 14 million jobs in 2020. Furthermore, healthcare sector initiate from 5 million jobs in 1960 and then decline to almost 4 million in the year of 1980 and remained unstable till 2000 and decrease minorly around 3 million in 2020.

One the other hand, retail sector begin from 5 million in 1960 and increased dramatically to 10 million and than 15 million in 2000 and slightly increase throughout the period around 16 million in 2020. Furthermore, healthcare sector starts from almost 2 million and reached to 5million in 1980 after that it increased significantly throughout the period and reached to around 16 million jobs in the year 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response makes a partial attempt to address the task, but several inaccuracies and omissions prevent it from reaching a higher level. While an overview is attempted, it contains factual errors about the trends—for instance, stating that the number of jobs in the agriculture sector was lowest from 1980 to 2020 (whereas healthcare started lower in 1960 at 2 million) and claiming that retail increased throughout the period (when it actually grew across the decades). Furthermore, the data points selected are occasionally misread, such as stating that manufacturing fell to approximately 16 million and then to 14 million in 2020 (the actual 2020 figure is around 13 million). Some details are under-developed or inaccurately reported, meaning the response only partially satisfies the requirements of this task type.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response shows some organisation through paragraphing and basic transitional markers like 'Overall', 'On the one hand', and 'One the other hand' (a typo for On the other hand). However, there is no clear overall progression, and the sequencing of information becomes confused, particularly when the writer repeats a discussion of the healthcare sector in the final paragraph after having already mentioned it in the previous paragraph. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or inaccurately used, and referencing is occasionally unclear, which disrupts the flow and makes the overall logical structure difficult to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, demonstrating an attempt to discuss economic sectors and data trends with terms such as 'proportion', 'dominates', 'significantly', and 'dramatically'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies, inappropriate word choices, and awkward collocations, such as 'economy sectors', 'commence from' (instead of started at), 'decrease minorly' (instead of decreased slightly), and 'begin from'. Spelling is generally acceptable, and while these errors and limitations do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical range to a satisfactory operational level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response employs a limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple clauses and basic complex forms, many of which contain errors. There are frequent grammatical mistakes, including tense inconsistencies ('manufacturing sector commence from', 'it fall significantly', 'retail sector begin from'), missing articles ('in year of 1980', 'healthcare sector starts'), and errors in prepositional usage within structural patterns. These frequent errors in grammar and verb forms can cause some difficulty and strain for the reader, reflecting an unstable command of sentence construction.

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