Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

The graphy clearly illustrate the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy From 1960 to 2020 in US.

Overall there are only four types of jobs that always prefered by employees in US , Manufacturing,Retail agriculture and healthcare.

overall these factors always had experienced ups and down . Manufacturing jobs are on top priorities of people to get hire from 1960 it started on 15% and with 20 years gap it jumped in 1980 with 20% hiked and then in 2000 it move little down on 18 % 2020 went below the ratio of 1960 and stable on 13%

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies manufacturing as a major sector and reports its broad rise and subsequent decline, which is relevant to the graph. However, it does not provide a clear, accurate overview of the main comparisons across all four sectors. Retail, agriculture and healthcare are named but their trends are not described, and the claim that these are jobs “preferred by employees” is not shown by the data. Some figures are also inaccurate: manufacturing is about 17 million in 2000, not 18, and the chart measures jobs in millions, not percentages. The response is 91 words, below the required 150, so the summary is substantially incomplete. Include the key trends for every sector and compare their endpoints and relative positions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic sequence: an opening statement, an attempted overview, and then details about manufacturing. This gives the reader some sense of the topic, but the ideas do not progress into a complete summary, since the other three sectors are left without supporting details. The overview also repeats the idea of general change (“ups and down”) rather than organising the main trends. Linking is limited, and the long final sentence joins several time points without clear punctuation, making the chronology harder to follow. Use separate paragraphs for the overview and grouped sector details, and connect comparisons explicitly—for example, contrast manufacturing’s decline after 1980 with the steady growth in retail and healthcare.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some relevant chart vocabulary, including “number of jobs,” “Manufacturing,” and “jumped,” and attempts to describe change over time. However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or unsuitable for a data summary: “jobs ... preferred by employees,” “on top priorities,” and “hiked” do not express the chart’s information precisely. “Graphy” is also an incorrect form, and “ups and down” is not an appropriate description of the separate trends. These choices make parts of the account unclear, while the small range of trend language leads to repetition. Use standard terms such as “employment,” “rose,” “fell,” and “remained stable,” and reserve comparisons for what the figures actually show.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts connected sentences and uses time references such as “from 1960” and “in 1980,” but sentence control is weak. The opening has an agreement error (“The graphy ... illustrate”), and the overview contains an incomplete construction: “Overall there are only four types of jobs that always prefered by employees.” The final sentence strings together several clauses without appropriate punctuation or clear grammatical links, while tense and article use are inconsistent. Capitalisation and spacing around punctuation are also unreliable. These problems sometimes make the intended relationships between dates and figures difficult to follow. Practise writing short, complete comparison sentences first, then combine them with accurate conjunctions and consistent past-tense reporting.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.