Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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)

This line graph illustrate the information about the number of jobs in four sectors namely, manufacturing, retailing, agriculture and healthcare of the economy in the the US between 1960 and 2020

Firstly, manufacturing got the highest jobs in1980 increasing to 20 millions and slowing decreasing to years passesd and faced a little decline till year 2020 to about 13 millions jobs.

Whereas, in retail the graph got increased as the year passes jobs gots in 15 million in year 2000 and got balanced increament till year 2020

Similarly, healthcare jobs faced a increment as it grow and got 5 million in 1980 to 15 million in year 2020. In contract to agriculture it have faced too declined started in year 1960 to 2 million and faced till 2020 to approximately 1.5 million

Overall, retail sector got improved in many terms and giving competetion to manufacturing sector and healthcare sector. Agriculture sector faced little challanges and didn't grow compared to other sectors

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify all four sectors and report several relevant trends, including manufacturing peaking in 1980 and agriculture declining. However, some key figures and comparisons are inaccurate or incomplete: healthcare reaches about 16 million in 2020, not 15 million, and retail also reaches about 16 million, after rising to 15 million in 2000. Agriculture starts at about 6 million, rather than 2 million, before falling to around 2 million by 2020. The overview notes broad growth and decline, but the claim that retail is competing with manufacturing is vague and does not clearly state that retail and healthcare finish level at the top. More accurate figures and a sharper overview would strengthen the response. (The required length was met; 9 words copied from the prompt were excluded.)

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, descriptions of the sectors, and a concluding overview. Linking expressions such as “Whereas,” “Similarly,” and “Overall” help signal relationships between points. However, the progression is not always clear because the sector descriptions are brief and some comparisons are left unfinished. For example, the retail sentence says it “got balanced increament” but does not clearly report its final figure, while the healthcare and agriculture sentences combine several stages without precise connections. The overview also repeats general ideas rather than bringing the main trends together. Organise the body into clearer comparisons—for example, rising sectors together and declining sectors together—and use more precise references to years and values.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “manufacturing,” “agriculture,” “decline,” and “increasing,” so the reader can identify the subject and broad trends. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “got the highest jobs,” “got balanced increament,” and “giving competetion.” Spelling errors, including “passesd,” “competetion,” and “challanges,” also reduce accuracy. Some phrases appear to be chosen without a clear meaning, which makes the trend descriptions harder to understand. Build a more precise set of chart-reporting expressions, such as “employment rose to,” “remained stable,” and “fell to,” and check spelling and word forms before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, particularly in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction. Examples include “This line graph illustrate,” where the subject and verb do not agree, and “it have faced too declined,” which has an incorrect verb form and an unclear structure. The opening also contains the repeated article in “the the US,” while “as the year passes jobs gots” does not form a clear grammatical clause. Most descriptions rely on basic patterns, with longer attempts often becoming faulty. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and build complex sentences around clear clauses, such as “While manufacturing declined after 1980, retail employment continued to rise.”

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