Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The line graph illustrates information about the proportion of oppurtunities in four different sectors of the economy in the United Sate of America between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, manufacturing have most numbers of job at start while,the number of oppurtunity in agriculture have very low at start.

In 1960, United State manufacturing economy sector have the most jobs with 15 million which increase to 20 million in 1980 then their is a graduall fall in number of jobs which reach to about 13 million. On the other hand, agriculture have 6 million jobs for people and it fall to about 2 million and remain on the lowest side at the end.

in 1960, retail and agriculture have the same amount of jobs while health have the lowest sector with about 2 million. Retail and health improves their growth in next decade and continue to rose. In 2020 both health and retail economy sector have same amount of jobs for people with about 16 million and agriculture have lowest at about 2 million at the end of 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main pattern that manufacturing starts as the largest sector and agriculture ends as the smallest, and you include several relevant figures, such as manufacturing rising from 15 million to 20 million before falling to 13 million. However, the overview is incomplete: it does not clearly summarise the strong growth in retail and healthcare, or that both reach about 16 million by 2020. The description of retail and healthcare is also general, saying they “continue to rose” without reporting their distinct figures or comparing their growth. Some details are inaccurate or unclear: manufacturing reaches its peak in 1980, not simply a gradual fall after that point, and agriculture falls to 3 million by 1980, remains there in 2000, then declines to 2 million. Select the key trends and report them precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details about the sectors, and phrases such as “On the other hand” signal a comparison. However, progression is not consistently clear: the final paragraph returns to 1960 after the previous paragraph has already discussed that year, then jumps to 2020. The overview is also too brief to guide the reader through the main trends. Some linking is repetitive or awkward, including repeated use of “at the end” and “in 1960,” while the long third sentence combines several stages without clear separation. Organise the body by contrasting the declining sectors with the growing ones, and use clearer references and transitions between time points.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “line graph,” “sector,” “increase,” and “fall,” so the general meaning is usually understandable. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for describing employment data. “Proportion of opportunities” does not match a graph showing numbers of jobs, and “number of opportunity” is repeated; “jobs” or “employment” would be more precise. Phrases such as “have the most numbers of job,” “improves their growth,” and “remain on the lowest side” are awkward and sometimes make the intended comparison less clear. Spelling errors such as “oppurtunities” and “United Sate” also reduce accuracy. Build a more precise set of trend and comparison expressions and check spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to connect ideas in longer sentences, for example when describing manufacturing’s rise and subsequent decline, but control of sentence structure is inconsistent. Subject–verb agreement errors occur in “manufacturing … have” and “agriculture have,” while “which increase” and “it fall” use incorrect verb forms. There are also problems with articles, plurals, and sentence boundaries, as in “the most jobs” and the lower-case “in 1960” after a full stop. Several clauses are joined in ways that make the timeline difficult to follow. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and agreement, and separate complex descriptions into complete sentences with clear punctuation. More reliable control of these basic patterns would make your comparisons easier to understand.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.