Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-13

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 shows amount of jobs in four sectors of the US economy in time period from 1960 to 2020. The Retail and Healthcare sectors have same trend to growing, while Manufacturing sector stay the biggest to 2000, but decreased. And the Agriculture sector remain on one of the lowest numbers of jobs.

Over whole period Retail's and Healthcare's jobs steadily rise popularity from around 6 and 2 millions, respectively, in 1960 to same amount as 16 millions in 2020. Which show stable increasing.

In contrast the Manufacturing sector has the biggest value from 1960 to 2000 in all four sectors of the economy while has tend to descending to 13 millions in 2020, still being top-3 overall.

The Agriculture sector has around 6 millions jobs in 1960 like Retail sector, but over [redacted phone] shows moderately stagnating between 2 and 4 millions.

Overall, the Retail and Healthcare shows same increasing during period, while Manufacturing and Agriculture decreasing.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main broad patterns: retail and healthcare rise, agriculture remains low, and manufacturing declines after reaching a peak. You also include useful figures, such as manufacturing at about 20 million in 1980 and the two growing sectors reaching around 16 million by 2020. However, some comparisons are incomplete or unclear. The overview says manufacturing was the biggest “to 2000,” but does not mention that healthcare catches up with retail by 2020, while the final sentence incorrectly groups manufacturing and agriculture as both decreasing throughout; manufacturing first rises, and retail and healthcare do not increase at the same rate. Develop the key stages and endpoint rankings more precisely to make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction and overview are followed by paragraphs describing the growing sectors and the declining ones. Connectors such as “In contrast” help signal a change in trend, and the reader can generally follow the comparisons. Some cohesion is mechanical or unclear, however. The repeated references to the sectors’ “same” trend and the repeated summary in the final sentence add little, while “Which show stable increasing” is a fragment that interrupts the flow. The overview and final conclusion also do not align fully, since the conclusion says both manufacturing and agriculture decrease without acknowledging manufacturing’s earlier rise. Use clearer links between stages and avoid repeating the same general point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing charts, including “steadily rise,” “descending,” “stagnating,” and “value,” so the main trends are usually understandable. There is also some attempt to vary wording rather than relying only on “go up” and “go down.” However, several choices are unnatural or imprecise: “rise popularity” does not describe job numbers, “biggest value” is less suitable than a term for the number of jobs, and “top-3 overall” is informal and unclear. “Moderately stagnating” also combines ideas that do not fit together well. Aim for accurate chart collocations and use “number of jobs,” “increase,” “peak,” and “remain relatively stable” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including contrasts introduced by “while” and “but.” The meaning is generally recoverable, but some grammatical errors recur and occasionally make relationships between ideas unclear. For example, “The Retail and Healthcare sectors have same trend” needs an article and more accurate agreement, while “Manufacturing sector stay” has a subject–verb agreement error. “Which show stable increasing” is an incomplete sentence, and “while has tend to descending” contains faulty verb forms. Check articles and agreement, and make sure each sentence has a complete main clause. Practising accurate patterns such as “the number of jobs rose from … to …” will help you express comparisons more reliably.

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