Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-30
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The chart and table below show the results of a survey of library users at a university.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Categories of library users
Student answer (Band 4.0)
The line graph traces the number of jobs in four sectors of the US economy in the time frame of 6 decades from 1960 to 2020.
Overall, the retail and healthcare sectors showed substantial growth over time in offering jobs. Although manufacturing and the agriculture sector declined gradually from where the initially started in the same period of time.
Initially, the manufacturing sector was highest employer with 15 million jobs in 1960, whereas the agriculture sector only provided 6 million in the same year. The manufacturing sector rose to peak of 20 million in the year 1980, however, the agriculture sector declined to 3 million in same year. Over the end of the period manufacturing and the agriculture sector both plunged to 13 million and 2 million jobs respectively.
In contrast, even after fewest jobs in early years, the retail and healthcare sector followed upwards trend starting with 6 million and 3 million jobs in the year 1960 respectively. Retail surged to 15 million jobs in the year 2000, further increasing to 16 million in the year 2020. Meanwhile, the healthcare sector nearly rose to 16 million to all time high in the year 2020.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 1.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 4.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 1.0
The student has written a response about jobs in four sectors of the US economy (manufacturing, agriculture, retail, and healthcare), whereas the actual test prompt and visual data provided concern a survey of university library users and categories of library users alongside user satisfaction percentages. This represents a complete misinterpretation of the task, as the student has answered a completely different, memorised or imagined prompt rather than the one presented in the input. Consequently, the response fails to address the actual prompt. According to the task achievement descriptors, this falls well below the minimum standard for addressing the task effectively.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
Despite the severe off-topic nature of the content regarding the prompt, the text itself exhibits a clear structural layout. It is divided into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and two body paragraphs detailing specific trends. Cohesive devices such as 'Initially', 'In contrast', and 'meanwhile' are used to connect ideas logically. Paragraphing is logical and separates distinct trends over time. However, referencing is sometimes mechanical and the overall organisational framework is applied to entirely incorrect visual data. Evaluated purely on its internal textual cohesion and paragraphing structure, it demonstrates basic organizational skills.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing trends and statistical data, using terms such as 'substantial growth', 'declined gradually', 'peaked', 'plunged', and 'upwards trend'. There are some minor lexical inaccuracies or awkward collocations, such as 'where the initially started' (where they initially started) and 'even after fewest jobs' (despite having the fewest jobs). Less common lexical items are attempted with some success, but spelling and word choice errors occur. Overall, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning of trend analysis, even though it is applied to the wrong visual data.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including dependent clauses and comparative forms (e.g., 'Although manufacturing and the agriculture sector declined gradually from where the initially started'). There are several noticeable grammatical errors, such as 'where the initially started' instead of 'where they initially started', and minor punctuation oversights. However, these errors do not impede the overall readability and comprehension of the sentences. The grammatical range is minimally adequate for a task of this nature, showing an attempt at complex forms despite occasional inaccuracies.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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