Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-23

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 line graph provides the information about the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US from the year of 1960 to 2020.

to begin with, the jobs in the manufacturing industry was rising from the starting year but after the year 1980 ,it faces a sudden decrease in the job market while the job market in the healthcare industry was at lowest in start but after the passing years they became the highest job market in the economy in 2020 while the retail job market also face a high rise in their industry and becomes equals to the industry of the healthcare.

The agriculture industry has very less jobs even from the start but after the passing years they did not rise and declined in their upcoming year.

To conclude, the healthcare and retail job market was at their peak in year 2020 while the job market of manufacturing and agriculture face a great loss in the upcoming years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important patterns: manufacturing rises to a peak around 1980 before declining, agriculture remains the smallest sector and falls, and healthcare and retail grow substantially. However, the overview is not fully accurate: in 2020 healthcare and retail are approximately equal at 16 million, rather than both clearly being at their peak, since retail is slightly higher than healthcare in 2020 and healthcare reaches the same level. The response also omits useful comparisons, such as manufacturing being the largest sector in 1960 and 1980, and healthcare’s strong rise after 1980. The report is one word below the 150-word minimum; the 15 words copied from the task prompt are excluded from the count. Add precise figures and a clearer overview.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph describing sector trends, and a concluding sentence. The ideas are generally relevant and can be followed, but progression is limited because several trends are crowded into one long sentence beginning “to begin with,” while the agriculture trend is separated without a clear comparison to the other sectors. The conclusion largely repeats the earlier claim rather than synthesising the main changes. Linking is also mechanical, with repeated use of “while” and “after the passing years.” Organise the report into clearer comparison groups—for example, manufacturing and agriculture, then retail and healthcare—and use transitions to show contrasts and changes over time more precisely.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing trends, including “rising,” “decrease,” “declined,” and “highest.” However, the range is limited and several phrases are repetitive or imprecise, particularly “job market” and “industry,” which do not clearly describe the number of jobs shown. Expressions such as “faces a sudden decrease” and “very less jobs” are awkward collocations, and “becomes equals” is not an appropriate way to express similar figures. These choices sometimes make the intended comparison less clear. Use a wider set of accurate chart-reporting terms, such as “employment,” “rose,” “fell,” “remained stable,” and “stood at,” while avoiding repeated descriptions of a sector as a “job market.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts to combine several trends in complex sentences, but these structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to affect clarity. For example, “the jobs … was rising” has subject–verb disagreement, while “they became the highest job market” has unclear pronoun reference and an incorrect comparison structure. There are also tense and agreement problems in “the retail job market also face” and “the job market … was at their peak.” Sentence boundaries and punctuation are inconsistent, including the lower-case opening “to begin with” and spaces before commas. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and subject–verb agreement, and divide long sentences into shorter, controlled comparisons before attempting more complex structures.

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