Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-14

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 the number of jobs (in millions) in the US economy across four sectors, Manufacturing, Retail, Agriculture, and Healthcare, from 1960 to 2020. Overall, it is clear that the retail and healthcare sectors increased over these sixty years, while sectors like manufacturing and agriculture decreased slightly.

In 1960, the lowest number of jobs were in the healthcare sector and was only 2 millions, whereas manufacturing has the highest number of jobs of 15 millions. Retail and agriculture sectors have same number of jobs of 6 millions at beginning. After two decades, manufacturing, retail and healthcare jobs rise to almost by 5 millions, while agriculture was the only sector, where number of jobs reduced to 3 millions. Between [redacted phone], jobs in manufacturing started declining to 17 millions before falling to 13 millions in 2000. Agricultural jobs remained constant in this period.

However, the number of jobs in retail and heathcare rose by 5 millions and 6 millions respectively before reaching to 16 millions by 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the overall contrast between rising retail and healthcare employment and falling manufacturing and agriculture, and include several relevant figures from 1960 and 1980. However, the account does not accurately cover the full period: you say manufacturing fell to 17 million “before falling to 13 millions in 2000,” whereas 13 million is the 2020 figure. The 2020 endpoint for manufacturing and the fact that retail and healthcare both finish at about 16 million are therefore not clearly reported. The overview also describes manufacturing as decreasing “slightly,” despite its rise to a peak of 20 million before its later decline. To make the summary more complete, distinguish the stages of each trend and report the key final comparisons accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction and overview are followed by chronological details, and time markers such as “In 1960,” “After two decades,” and “Between 1980-2000” help the reader follow the account. However, progression becomes unclear in the middle: the sentence about manufacturing falling to 13 million places that value in 2000, then the final paragraph jumps to 2020 without clearly setting out the endpoint for each sector. The contrastive “However” does not introduce a clear contrast, and the final paragraph is very brief compared with the earlier detail. Organise the body around the main trends or clearly separate the periods, and use linking expressions only where they show a genuine relationship.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “sectors,” “increased,” “decreased,” “remained constant,” and “reaching,” so the main trends are generally understandable. There are also some imprecise or awkward choices: “increased over these sixty years” is broad when the graph shows different stages, and “rose by 5 millions” is less natural than describing a rise of five million jobs. “Heathcare” is misspelled, and “jobs rise to almost by 5 millions” is an unclear phrase. Aim for precise trend language and standard collocations, such as “peaked at,” “declined to,” and “rose by approximately five million.” These refinements would make the descriptions more fluent and accurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a comparison with “whereas” and a time clause beginning “After two decades.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but some errors in agreement, tense, articles, and number forms remain. For example, “the lowest number of jobs were” should use a singular verb (“was”), while “manufacturing has the highest” shifts tense in a past-period description. In “the lowest number … and was only 2 millions,” the subject and verb construction is incomplete, and “6 millions” should be expressed as “6 million.” The sentence beginning “Between 1980-2000” also misplaces the 13-million figure, making the timeline difficult to interpret. Check subject–verb agreement and maintain past tense when reporting historical data.

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