Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The graph illustrates information about the number of jobs in four different sectors of the economy in the Us from 1960 to 2020.

Overall,There are four different sectors where manufacturing stands at the top and healthcare at the bottom in the year 1960. Similarly, retail and healthcare increases and stands at the top and agriculture decrease and stands at the bottom in the year 2020.

Manufacturing was increased in the year 1980 but slightly decreased and remains second in the year 2020.Similarly, Retail and agriculture has same rate in the year 1960. Retail increased it's rate every year and stands at the top but agriculture decreased every year and remained at the buttom in the year 2020.

Healthcare has the lowest rate in the year 1960 but it has rised every year and reached at the top with retail in the year 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify several important overall patterns: manufacturing peaks in 1980 and then declines, retail rises, agriculture falls, and healthcare grows to match retail by 2020. These observations are broadly consistent with the graph. However, the account is incomplete and sometimes imprecise: it gives no figures, does not compare the scale of the changes, and says retail “increased ... every year,” although the chart only provides four points and cannot establish what happened between them. The overview’s claim that manufacturing “stands at the top” in 1960 is accurate, but the 2020 comparison would be clearer if you stated that retail and healthcare are joint leaders. The response is 135 words, below the required 150, which limits the detail and development of the summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and further comments on manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare. This helps the reader follow the main trends. However, progression is limited because several points are repeated: the overview says retail and healthcare are at the top in 2020, and the final sentence repeats that they reach the top together. Linking words such as “Similarly” are used repeatedly, sometimes where the relationship between ideas is not clear. The paragraphing is also minimal, and spacing and punctuation around sentence openings are inconsistent. Grouping the declining sectors together and the rising sectors together, with a clear overview followed by comparisons, would make the organisation more coherent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “sectors,” “manufacturing,” “agriculture,” “increased” and “decreased,” so the main trends can generally be understood. However, the range is limited and several expressions are repetitive or imprecise. “Stands at the top” and “stands at the bottom” are repeated instead of using more precise descriptions such as “had the highest number of jobs” or “was the smallest sector.” Some word forms and spellings are inaccurate, including “rised,” “buttom” and “it's” where the possessive “its” is needed. “Same rate” is also not the clearest way to describe equal job numbers. More varied, accurate trend vocabulary would make the report more precise and natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response communicates its main points through mostly simple sentences and attempts some longer structures, for example, “Retail increased ... and stands at the top but agriculture decreased ...”. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently enough to make parts of the writing awkward. There are tense and verb-form problems in “Manufacturing was increased” and “has rised,” as well as agreement errors in “Retail and agriculture has” and “increases and stands.” The sentence beginning “Overall,There” also has faulty punctuation and spacing. Try using accurate past-tense forms consistently for this historical period, and check subject–verb agreement when naming two sectors. A wider range of controlled sentence patterns would also help.

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