Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-20

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)

in this graph it shows that in the start of 1960 there was peak in the manufacturing jobs as it was about 15 million as it was the basic need and back then all other jobs were relatively low like the agriculture and retail were having about 6 million jobs and the healthcare department was providing lowest number of jobs like 3 million in 1960 and then it grows about 5 million in 1980 and then to12 million in 2000and with the passage of time the healthcare department jobs grows immensely to 16 million. also the jobs in retail economy grow towards 16 million by giving more jobs to the people .and in the agricultural department the jobs become realtively low because in the US peolpe move toward technology . the manufaturing department were providing about 2o millions jobs in 1980 and then it lower with time to 17 million in 2000 and then to 13 million in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify several important trends: manufacturing peaks at about 20 million in 1980 before declining, while healthcare and retail rise and agriculture falls. However, the response does not provide a clear, concise overview of the main comparisons, and some details are inaccurate: healthcare is about 2 million in 1960, not 3 million, and about 11 million in 2000, not 12 million. The explanation that agriculture declined because people moved towards technology is not shown by the graph, so it should be omitted. To make the report more complete, state the overall pattern clearly and compare the sectors at the end—for example, healthcare and retail both reach about 16 million by 2020, while agriculture is lowest.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response follows a broadly chronological order, moving from 1960 through 1980 and 2000 to 2020, which helps the reader follow some changes. However, it is presented as one long, loosely connected paragraph, with several trends crowded into the same sentence. Connectors such as “and then,” “also,” and “with the passage of time” are repetitive, and the shift from healthcare to retail and agriculture is not clearly signposted. Organise the report into a short introduction, an overview, and one or two detail paragraphs grouped by trend. Use clearer links such as “By contrast” or “Meanwhile,” and make sure each sentence develops one comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing trends, including “peak,” “grow,” “lower,” and “jobs,” and the main meaning is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several expressions are imprecise or unsuitable for a formal chart report. For example, “basic need” and “providing jobs to the people” add unsupported interpretation rather than describing the data, while “jobs grow” is less natural than saying the number of jobs increased. There are also spelling errors, including “realtively,” “peolpe,” and “manufaturing,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for precise trend language and avoid conversational or explanatory wording that the graph cannot support.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to combine information using clauses and time expressions, but the response relies heavily on long sentences joined by “and,” and these are often difficult to follow. There are recurring problems with articles, agreement, and verb forms, as in “there was peak,” “the healthcare department jobs grows,” and “the manufacturing department were providing.” Punctuation is also weak: the opening sentence runs through several separate data points without clear sentence boundaries, and the lowercase sentence starts make the structure harder to read. Use shorter, controlled sentences, check singular and plural subjects, and vary the sentence patterns—for example, “Healthcare employment rose from about 2 million in 1960 to 16 million in 2020.”

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