Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-12

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 here shows the data of jobs in four different industries of US economy during the four decades.

By looking at each sector, the jobs provided by manufacturing industry increased from 15 million in 1960 to 20 million in 1980 then declined to below 15 million in the year 2020. The Retail jobs grew uniformly in every decade from 6 million to 16 million. A continuous decline has been recorded in agriculture sector from 6 million to 2.5 million whereas Healthcare reported huge growth in the number of jobs from 5 million in 1980 to more than 15 million in 2020.

When we compare these four departments, the highest count can be seen in healthcare as the employment inclines gradually whereas Agriculture depicts lowest count and experienced continuous decline in employment over 40 years.

In conclusion, more jobs have been created in Retail and Healthcare in the country.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all four sectors and identifies key trends. However, the overview is weak; it is placed at the end rather than after the introduction, and it lacks a clear summary of the most significant overall trends. The data reporting is generally accurate, but the description of the time period is slightly inaccurate, as the graph covers 60 years (1960–2020), not four decades. The comparison between sectors is present but could be more analytical to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'By looking at each sector', 'whereas', and 'In conclusion', which help the flow. However, the transition between the detailed body paragraph and the comparison paragraph is somewhat abrupt. The use of referencing is generally clear, though the structure of the sentences could be more varied to improve the overall cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, with terms like 'industries', 'declined', 'uniformly', and 'employment' used correctly. However, the range is somewhat limited and repetitive. There are minor inaccuracies, such as using 'departments' to refer to economic sectors, which is not the most precise collocation. To improve, the student should incorporate more varied synonyms for 'increase' and 'decrease' and use more precise terminology related to economic trends.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'data of jobs' (should be 'data on jobs'), 'in US economy' (missing article), and 'during the four decades' (inaccurate timeframe). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the sentence structure could be more sophisticated to demonstrate better control over complex grammar. The errors present do not impede communication.

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

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