Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-05

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 6.0)

The line graph illustrates data about the number of available occupations in the manufacturing, retail, agriculture, and healthcare sectors of the United States economy from 1960 and 2020.

Overall, the manufacturing sector provided the most employments during the 60 year-long-period, despite decreasing considerably after peaking in 1980. On the contrary, jobs given in both retail and healthcare fields were steadily increasing, while falling to a lower number in the agriculture sector.

Available works in manufacturing started relatively high in 1960 with 15, the it peaked around 1980 at 20, before sharply decreasing to nearly 13 by 2020. Likewise, agriculture had nearly 6 in 1960, which lowered consistently to only 4 in 2020.

In contrast, occupations in both retail and healthcare domains were continuously raising in the 60-year period, beginning at around 6 and 3 in 1960, and both displaying a number of almost 16 by the end of the period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully identifies the main trends and provides a clear overview of the data. You have selected key features, such as the peak in manufacturing and the growth in healthcare and retail, and made relevant comparisons. However, the report lacks specific units of measurement (e.g., 'millions of jobs'), which makes the data points like '15' or '20' ambiguous. To reach a higher band, ensure that you explicitly state the units provided in the graph's axis. The summary is accurate, but adding more precise comparative language would strengthen the analysis of the trends.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. The progression of ideas is clear, and you use cohesive devices such as 'On the contrary', 'Likewise', and 'In contrast' to link your points effectively. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different sectors. While the structure is sound, some transitions could be more sophisticated to improve the flow between sentences. Overall, the information is easy to follow, and the logical sequence of the report meets the requirements for a good band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'occupations', 'sectors', 'peaking', and 'steadily increasing'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'provided the most employments' (employment is an uncountable noun) and 'continuously raising' (the verb 'rising' should be used here as it is intransitive). While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Expanding your range of synonyms for trends and avoiding word-form errors will help improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical slips, such as 'the it peaked' (a typo) and 'from 1960 and 2020' (should be 'between 1960 and 2020'). Additionally, 'jobs given in both retail and healthcare fields were steadily increasing' is slightly awkward; 'the number of jobs in the retail and healthcare sectors increased steadily' would be more natural. While these errors are noticeable, they do not cause difficulty for the reader. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and preposition usage.

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

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