Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The line graph illustrates the data between the year 1960 and 2020 depicting four sectors of economy and the amount of jobs it generated, in the US. The job amount is in millions.

Overview, it is clearly visible that manufacturing held the majority of jobs where as the healthcare being at the least over six decades.

To begin with, manufacturing had initiated with 15 millions jobs in the year 1960, being the highest among all other sectors. Further in 1980, it had rose till 20 million by breaking records. Later, it was gradually declining from the highest point and came nearly from where it had started in 2020. Moving forward, the retail sector was at 5 million as well as the healthcare. However, in the upcoming decades, the healthcare was declined nearly half and got stable from year 1980 till 2020, whereas the retail and agriculture were incling parallely and meeting at 15 million job record, being the highest job providing sector.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response identifies manufacturing as the leading sector initially and notes its rise to a peak before declining, which are relevant features. However, the overview is inaccurate: manufacturing did not remain the largest throughout, and healthcare was not the smallest over the whole period. By 2020, retail and healthcare were both at about 16 million, while agriculture was lowest. Several details are also misreported or unclear: retail began at 6 million, not 5, and it rose rather than agriculture; agriculture fell from 6 to 2 million. The account therefore covers only part of the main trends and comparisons, with important data errors. Give a concise, accurate overview and describe the contrasting trajectories of all four sectors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable sequence: an introduction, an overview, and a body paragraph beginning with manufacturing before moving to other sectors. Time markers such as “Further in 1980” and “Later” help signal chronology. However, the final sentence combines several sectors and trends in a way that is difficult to follow, and the comparison between retail and agriculture is not clearly organised. “Overview,” as a standalone opening, also makes the paragraphing feel somewhat mechanical. Separate the data into clearer comparisons—for example, manufacturing and agriculture in one section, then retail and healthcare—and use linking phrases to show whether trends rise, fall, or converge.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

There is some useful task vocabulary, including “sectors,” “declining,” “stable,” and “highest,” and the writer attempts to describe change over time. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, which sometimes makes the intended trend unclear. “The amount of jobs it generated” is less natural than “the number of jobs,” while “breaking records” is not an appropriate description of a chart peak. “Incling parallely” is unclear, and “job record” does not accurately express a figure. Aim for precise trend language and standard collocations, such as “rose to a peak,” “remained stable,” and “increased steadily.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “whereas” and “However.” Nevertheless, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction are frequent enough to make some passages difficult to interpret. Examples include “it had rose” instead of “it had risen,” “manufacturing held the majority of jobs where as the healthcare being at the least,” and “the healthcare was declined.” The long final sentence also lacks a clear grammatical structure, particularly around “the retail and agriculture were incling parallely.” Use straightforward past-tense clauses to report the figures, check subject–verb agreement, and divide sentences when several trends are being compared.

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.