Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The graph provides information about the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, it is clear that the manufacturing sector had the highest number of jobs among all 4 sectors and it peaked during 1980 which declined until it reached lowest point in 2020. The most drastic change is seen in Healthcare sector whivh reached the highest point in 2020.

In 1960, manufacturing sector recorded a total of 15 million job

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response identifies the chart’s subject and gives an overview, noting manufacturing’s peak in 1980 and healthcare’s rise to a high point in 2020. However, the overview is partly inaccurate: manufacturing did not remain the highest sector throughout, since retail and healthcare both reached about 16 million jobs in 2020, compared with 13 million in manufacturing. The only detailed figure reported is manufacturing’s 15 million in 1960, so the main trends and comparisons are largely missing. The response is also substantially under the required 150 words: it contains 62 words, with 19 copied from the prompt excluded. Develop the account with key figures for all four sectors and describe their changes across the period.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic, recognisable structure: an introductory sentence, an overview paragraph, and the beginning of a detail paragraph. The overview uses “Overall” to signal its purpose, and the ideas are broadly relevant to the chart. However, the report stops abruptly after “In 1960,” so there is no progression through the remaining years or sectors, and the final sentence is incomplete. The relationship between the two overview claims could also be clearer, particularly the contrast between manufacturing’s decline and healthcare’s rise. To improve organisation, complete the report with separate, logically ordered comparisons and use linking phrases to show changes over time without relying on a single overview.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

There is some appropriate chart vocabulary, including “number of jobs,” “sector,” “peaked,” “drastic change,” and “reached the highest point.” These choices show an attempt to describe trends rather than merely list figures. However, the range is narrow because the response is very short, and some phrasing is imprecise or repetitive: “highest number of jobs” and “highest point” are used for related ideas, while “the most drastic change” is not supported with a specific comparison. The misspelling “whivh” also affects accuracy. Use more precise trend language and collocations, such as “employment,” “rose steadily,” “fell gradually,” and “recorded the lowest figure,” while ensuring each description matches the data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes a few controlled structures, such as “it is clear that…” and the relative clause “which declined until it reached…”. However, the range is limited, and errors appear in basic sentence construction. In “it peaked during 1980 which declined,” the relative clause has an unclear subject: the sector’s job total, rather than the sector itself, declined. The final sentence, “In 1960, manufacturing sector recorded a total of 15 million job,” is incomplete in the submitted response and has article and plural errors (“the manufacturing sector”; “jobs”). The overview also needs clearer punctuation and sentence boundaries. Practise complete sentences with accurate subjects, articles, and plural forms, then vary them to compare multiple trends.

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