Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-12

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 chart illustrates the information about the number of job in four sectors of economy in the US from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, Retailer and healthcase jobs rose dramatically during the given time period. Manufaturing depatments job increase slightly at start but dropper after that period while Agriculture sector figures drops over the time period.

In 1960, retail jobs figure increase gradually from 6 millions to 15 millions, then sligthly rose after 2000 and reach approximatelly 16 millions at 2020. And healthcare sectors offers less jobs arround only 2 million at start and then increase dramatically to reach at arroud 17 millions at year 2020 comete to retailer sector.

On the other side, Jobs in agriculture department had 6 millions at 1960 and drops steadily to approx. 3 millions, after that it had remained contant from 1980 to 2000. Then minimal dipped to 1 million at 2020. While Manufacturing sectors offers high number of jobs around 15 millions at start and steadily climbed to reach 20 million in year 1980, but after that it contantly declline to approxematilly 8 millions in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main overall movements: retail and healthcare rise, agriculture declines, and manufacturing peaks before falling. You also include several relevant figures, such as manufacturing reaching 20 million in 1980 and retail reaching about 16 million in 2020. However, some details are inaccurate: manufacturing ends at about 13 million, not 8 million, and agriculture finishes at about 2 million, rather than 1 million. The opening description of retail also says it rises from 6 to 15 million without clearly locating that change between 1960 and 2000. The overview is relevant, but the trends and comparisons are not always reported precisely. Check each endpoint against the graph and distinguish the periods more clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs grouping the rising sectors and the declining sectors. This makes the main comparisons reasonably easy to follow. Linking phrases such as “Overall,” “On the other side,” and “While” help signal relationships between ideas. However, some connections are awkward or unclear, particularly “In 1960, retail jobs figure increase gradually from 6 millions to 15 millions,” which does not make the time span explicit. The final sentence also begins with “While” but is not joined to a complete main clause. Use clearer time markers such as “between 1960 and 2000” and make sure each sentence expresses a complete, logically connected point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use a relevant range of chart vocabulary, including “rose,” “climbed,” “remained,” and “decline,” and you attempt to describe changes in degree with words such as “dramatically” and “steadily.” However, inaccurate word forms and collocations are noticeable and sometimes make the meaning less clear. Examples include “Retailer” for the sector “retail,” “healthcase,” “Manufacturing departments job,” and “offers jobs.” Spelling errors such as “sligthly,” “approximatelly,” and “contant” also reduce precision. Choose standard sector labels and use natural reporting phrases, for example, “the number of retail jobs increased” or “employment in healthcare rose.” Proofreading spelling and word forms would make your vocabulary more effective.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including contrasts between sectors and clauses describing changes over time. However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction are frequent enough to affect clarity. For example, “retail jobs figure increase” needs a correctly formed subject and verb, while “Agriculture sector figures drops” has a subject–verb agreement problem. In “it had remained contant,” the tense is not well suited to describing the chart, and the final “While Manufacturing…” clause is incomplete. Practise forming sentences with a clear subject and a past-tense verb, such as “The number of agricultural jobs fell and then remained stable.” This will help you express comparisons more accurately.

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