Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-11

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 number of four different sectors jobs in economy of United States from 1960 to 1920.The Manufacturing sector shows the highest growth in comparison of other sectors, and the lowest number of jobs is seen in Agriculture.

In 1960 both retail and Agriculture sector were start with more than 5 million of jobs, whereas Retail was growing significantly in 1980, and remark the genearting of employement with more than 15 million.

On the other hand, the number of jobs in Healthcare sector in commencing year was less than 5 million , but it roses termendously in after 1980 by 10 million.Moreover,Manufacturing was only one sector which give the 15 million of jobs in commencing years, also gradually increased with 5 million, after declined by approximately 7 million.

In conclusion, Agriculture sector gave the lowest number of employement throughout the period, whereas Retail and Healthcare sectors give the largest number of jobs.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the four sectors and give a broad comparison, noting that agriculture remains the smallest and that manufacturing changes over time. However, the overview is partly inaccurate: manufacturing does not show the highest growth; it peaks at about 20 million in 1980 and then falls to around 13 million. The claim that retail and healthcare give the largest number of jobs is also imprecise: both reach about 16 million by 2020, while manufacturing is higher earlier in the period. Several key trends are only briefly described, and some figures are unclear—for example, healthcare rises from about 5 million in 1980 to 16 million in 2020, not simply by 10 million. A clearer, accurate overview and fuller comparisons would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure, moving from an introduction to comparisons and a concluding statement. Some linking phrases, such as “On the other hand” and “In conclusion,” help signal relationships between ideas. However, the progression is not consistently clear: the second paragraph combines retail and agriculture, then shifts to healthcare and manufacturing without a clear organising principle. The conclusion repeats the claim about agriculture and the largest sectors rather than synthesising the main changes. Connections such as “whereas” are sometimes used for comparisons that are not fully explained. Grouping the trends more systematically—for example, rising sectors together and declining sectors together—and using clearer references would make the account easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt a range of vocabulary relevant to describing a graph, including “significantly,” “gradually,” “declined,” and “approximately.” This gives the response some variety, but word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or unclear, as in “the highest growth,” “remark the genearting of employement,” and “gave the lowest number of employement.” Spelling errors such as “genearting” and “termendously” also reduce precision. Some expressions appear to be chosen for formality but do not fit the intended meaning, including “commencing year” for the starting year. Use standard graph language consistently, such as “the number of jobs,” “rose to,” “fell to,” and “remained the lowest,” and check spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons with “whereas” and a contrast introduced by “On the other hand.” However, errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships difficult to understand. For example, “both retail and Agriculture sector were start” has problems with agreement, articles, and verb form; “it roses termendously in after 1980” has an incorrect past-tense form and faulty sentence structure; and “Manufacturing was only one sector which give” uses an incorrect verb form and missing article. There are also punctuation and spacing problems, such as missing spaces after full stops and commas. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and simpler sentence patterns before adding more complex clauses.

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.