Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-06

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)

The line graph shows the availability of jobs for different economic sectors i.e manufacturing, retail, agriculture and health-care in the United States from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, manufacturig job availability is higher than the others and retailer vacancy is on the second number. Health-care and agriculture shows few oppertunities.

Looking first the 15% jobs available in 1960 and health-care are just 2% while retailer and agriculture shows the same trend 5% in 1960 respectively.In 1980,all jobs trend will be increases except health-care.

In 2000, trend of vacancies in manufacturing and health care drops till 2020 while retailer and agriculture jobs increases by 15%.

In conclusion, as the retailer sector offers more jobs in the United States, its scope is more than agriculture.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response identifies the chart’s subject and includes an overview, but the main features are substantially misreported, so the summary does not accurately fulfil the task. Manufacturing does not remain the largest sector: it peaks at about 20 million in 1980, then falls to 13 million, while retail and healthcare both reach about 16 million by 2020. The claim that healthcare and manufacturing decline from 2000 to 2020 is only true for manufacturing; healthcare rises from about 11 to 16 million. Agriculture also falls rather than increasing. Several figures are incorrectly given as percentages, and the final comparison is unsupported. The response is also 28 words below the required minimum. Select the major trends and compare their endpoints accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation: an opening identifies the graph, a separate paragraph attempts an overview, and the remaining paragraphs present chronological details before a conclusion. This gives the response a recognisable structure. However, progression is weakened by unclear or contradictory statements, such as saying that all sectors increase in 1980 except healthcare, followed by an inaccurate account of the 2000–2020 trends. The conclusion about retail offering the most jobs does not follow clearly from the preceding information. Linking is limited, and transitions such as “Looking first” and “In conclusion” do not compensate for the lack of clear comparisons. Group the sectors by trend and use accurate links to show how their figures change over time.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant chart vocabulary, including “line graph,” “sectors,” “trend,” and “vacancies,” and the reader can generally identify the topic. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, which makes parts of the report difficult to interpret. “Availability of jobs” and “retailer vacancy” are less suitable than standard descriptions of employment figures, while “on the second number” is unclear. There are also spelling errors in “manufacturig” and “oppertunities,” and “health-care” is inconsistently presented. Use precise terms such as “number of jobs,” “employment,” “rose,” and “fell,” and check spelling and collocations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and more extended sentences, but control is inconsistent and errors frequently affect clarity. For example, “Health-care and agriculture shows” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “In 1980, all jobs trend will be increases” has faulty tense and sentence structure. The sentence beginning “Looking first the 15% jobs available” lacks a clear grammatical frame, and punctuation is often missing after introductory phrases or between sentences. The use of percentages for job totals also contributes to imprecise expression. Practise forming complete comparisons with a clear subject and verb, for example, “Manufacturing employment rose to 20 million in 1980, then declined.” Use past-tense verbs consistently when describing this historical data.

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