Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-09

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 chart illustrates the information about quantity of jobs in four different departments in the US between 1960 and 2020 in millions.

overall, four sectors are demonstrated. including Manufacturing, Retail, Agriculture and Healthcare with four distinct trends. where, Retail and Agriculture inclined while the figure declined for Healthcare and Manufacturing.

In 1960, jobs in manufacturing was 15 Millions, which increases to 20Milions in 1980. followed by, a persistent decrease in onwards. the trend further dropped to 13.5 Million in 2020. In the figure, job market in Agriculture, was 6 million in 1960 which drops down to 2.5 million in 1980 and the figure remain the same until 2000. followed, by further decrease up to 2 million in 2020.

Furthermore, retail was 6 millions 1960. which then increases continiously, the trend rises up to 10 million in 1980 and 15 million in 2000. followed by a little climb upto 16 million until 2020. Moreover, overall curve for healthcare lift from 2 million to 16 million between the same period between 1960 and 2020. In the start the jo market in healthcare was 2.5 million in 1960, which went up little to 5 million in 1980 and then jump to 6 million 2000, finally reaches to 26 million in 2020

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify all four sectors and include several relevant figures, such as manufacturing rising from 15 million to 20 million before falling, and retail increasing from 6 million to 16 million. However, the overview is not reliable: it says agriculture and retail rose while healthcare and manufacturing declined, although healthcare rises strongly and agriculture declines. There are also important data errors, especially healthcare reaching 26 million in 2020 rather than about 16 million, and rising to 11 million by 2000 rather than 6 million. The response therefore only partially reports the main features, and the inaccurate overview weakens the summary. Check each series against the graph and state the contrasting overall trends accurately before adding details.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure, moving from an introduction and overview to descriptions of the sectors, and words such as “Furthermore” and “Moreover” signal additions. However, progression is weakened by the overview’s incorrect grouping of trends and by switching between sectors without a consistently clear sequence. Several sentence fragments interrupt the flow, including “followed by, a persistent decrease in onwards” and “followed, by further decrease.” Repeated use of “followed by” and “which then” also makes linking mechanical. Organise the details into clearer comparisons—for example, describe the rising sectors together and the declining ones together—and use complete sentences with more varied, accurate links.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant chart vocabulary, including “declined,” “increases,” “trend,” and “million,” so the reader can generally identify the subject of each sentence. However, the range is limited and several choices or forms are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “departments” for economic sectors, “inclined” for an upward trend, and “curve … lift.” Spelling and word-form slips—“continiously,” “Milions,” and “jo market”—also reduce precision. Aim for standard reporting language and consistent forms, such as “employment,” “rose,” “fell,” and “remained stable.” More precise vocabulary would help distinguish a steady rise, a sharp increase, and a gradual decline without relying repeatedly on “figure” and “trend.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts to combine information using relative clauses and time expressions, but sentence control is inconsistent. Errors include subject–verb agreement in “jobs in manufacturing was,” missing or incorrect articles and prepositions in “retail was 6 millions 1960,” and faulty verb forms in “the figure remain the same.” Several clauses are fragments, such as “followed by a little climb upto 16 million,” while punctuation and capitalisation are also unreliable, including the lowercase “overall” after the opening sentence. These problems sometimes make relationships between events difficult to follow. Practise writing complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement, tense, articles, and sentence boundaries when describing each period.

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