Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-15

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 6.5)

The chart ilustrates the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in us which are agriculture, retail, manufacturing, healthcare between the year [redacted phone].

Overall, manufactoring sector had highest number of jobs towards begning of the period, but the figure declined later. IN contrast, employemnt in retail and agriculture sector had considerable growth. healthcare was the only sector having least number of jobs and remained low even during the end of period.

However, manfacturing sector employed 15 million people in 1960 being largest employement sector. The figure rose to 20 million in 1980 before falling to 17 million in 2000 and 13 million in 2020.Retail sector meanwhile, employed 6 million workers in 1960, which increased to 10 million in 1980, 15 million in 2000 and 16 million in 2020.

Futhermore, Heathcare sector had similar upward trend. It employed 2 million workers in 1960, which increased to 5 million in 1980 and 11 mlion in 2000. By 2020 it reached 16 million and became a joint highest employement sector.

IN CONTRAST, a griculture became least employed sector as it emloyed 6 million people in 1960 which declined to 3 million in 1980, remained same in 2000 and futher decreased to 2 million in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all four sectors and provides a clear overview of the trends. You have successfully identified the main features, such as the decline in manufacturing and the growth in healthcare and retail. However, there are some inaccuracies in your summary; for instance, you state that healthcare was the 'only sector having least number of jobs' at the start, but the graph shows agriculture was actually lower by 2020. Additionally, the overview could be more precise by highlighting the significant shift in the leading sector from manufacturing to healthcare/retail. Despite these minor issues, the report is well-structured and addresses the prompt effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing the trends. You use cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Meanwhile', and 'Furthermore' to link ideas. While the progression is generally clear, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. The paragraphing is appropriate, though the final paragraph is quite short compared to the others. Referencing is generally clear, but ensure that your comparisons between sectors are more explicitly linked to improve the flow of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'upward trend', 'considerable growth', and 'joint highest'. However, there are several spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'ilustrates', 'manufactoring', 'manfacturing', 'employement', and 'mlion'. These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable. To reach a higher band, you should focus on accuracy in spelling and attempt to use more precise collocations, such as 'the manufacturing sector experienced a downward trend' rather than 'the figure declined'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. There are several grammatical errors, including missing articles ('in us', 'in retail and agriculture sector') and inconsistent capitalization ('IN CONTRAST', 'a griculture'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. You should pay closer attention to subject-verb agreement and the correct use of definite articles when referring to specific sectors of the economy.

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

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