Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-15

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 GIVEN GRAPH SHOW NUMBER OF JOBS IN DIFFERENT SECTORS IN THE US BETWEEN 1960 TO 2020.

OVERALL VIEW THE MAIN ECONOMY SECTORS OF US IS MANUFACTURING, RETAIL, AGRICULTURE, HEALTHCARE. IN THE GRAPH Y-AXIS REPRESENTS THE JOBS IN MILLIONS AND IN THE X-AXIS YEARS ARE REPRESENTED.

THE MANUFACTURING JOBS WERE ALL TIME HIGH IN 1980 WITH 20 MILLION JOBS BUT ITS GRADUALLY DECRESED YEAR BY YEAR AND SETTLED AT APPROXIMENTLY 14 MILLION JOBS. IN THE RETAIL JOBS THERE IS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH EVERYTIME AND AFTER 2000 THE JOBS GOT SLIGHTLY STABLE AND HAVE ITS ALL TIME HIGH IN 2020 WITH 15 MILLION ABOVE JOBS.

IN THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR THE JOBS ARE IN DOWNFALL YEAR BY YEAR IN 1960 THE JOBS WERE ABOVE 5 MILLION BUT ITS NEARLY 3 MILLION IN 2020. IN THE HEALTH CARE SECTOR THE JOBS GOT PEAKED IN 2020 WITH ABOVE 15 MILLION AND THE GROWTH IS SHOWN EVERY YEAR.

THE RETAIL AND HEALTHCARE SECTORS ARE SHOWN DOMINANT GROWTH IN JOBS.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the four sectors and report several important patterns: manufacturing peaks in 1980 before declining, while retail and healthcare rise and agriculture falls. The closing comparison also recognises the strong growth in retail and healthcare. However, the overview is not clearly separated from chart description, and some details are inaccurate or overgeneralised. Manufacturing ends at about 13 million, rather than approximately 14 million; retail reaches about 16 million, not 15 million, and its rise continues slightly after 2000 rather than becoming stable. Agriculture falls to about 2 million, not nearly 3 million, and its decline is not steady at every interval. More precise comparisons and a concise overview of the main changes would make the report more complete and reliable.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable sequence: an introduction, a general statement, and descriptions of the four sectors, followed by a concluding comparison. This gives the reader a basic framework. However, the overall progression is weakened by the lack of clearly organised paragraphs and by repetitive sentence openings such as “In the…” and “The…”. Some links are also awkward: “Overall view” does not introduce a clear summary of the main trends, while “The retail and healthcare sectors are shown dominant growth” is not smoothly connected to the preceding details. Grouping the rising sectors together and the declining sector separately, with a distinct overview, would make the information easier to follow. Use linking expressions selectively to show contrasts and changes over time.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “jobs,” “sectors,” “growth,” “all time high,” and “downfall,” so the topic is generally clear. There is some attempt to vary wording, but the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, which reduces precision. For example, “jobs got peaked” and “shown dominant growth” do not express the trends idiomatically; “settled at” is also less suitable for describing a final figure in this context. Spelling errors such as “decreesed” and “approximently” are noticeable, as are repeated uses of “jobs” and “growth.” Build a more accurate set of trend verbs and comparison phrases, and check spelling and collocations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You communicate the broad trends using both simple statements and some longer clauses, for example, “The manufacturing jobs were all time high in 1980… but…” This shows an attempt to connect ideas rather than relying only on isolated sentences. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in basic sentence construction, agreement, articles, and verb forms. Examples include “The given graph show,” “the main economy sectors… is,” and “the growth is shown every year.” Several clauses are joined awkwardly, as in “but its gradually… and settled,” making the subject and verb relationships unclear. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and past-tense reporting, and use a few controlled complex sentences to compare trends without overloading them.

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