Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-24

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 bar chart above depicts the information about types of occupation in four different sector of economy in the United States from 1960 to 2020.

The horizontal line represents the year whereas the vertical line represents jobs in millions. Manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare are four field of economy. From the graph, it can be observed that manufacturing tends to increase from 15 to 20 million for 2 decades and then, slowly starts declining to approximately 13.5 million in 2020. Similarly until 1980, jobs in both retail and healthcare sector had slight growth up to 10 and 15 million respectively. From 1980 to 2000, retail industry grew in a similar manner and later in 2020, there is only slight growth i.e 15 million to nearly 16 million. Likewise, healthcare tends to grow rapidly and reached around 16 million at the year 2020. Moreover, agricultural sector seems to decline until 1980, remained constant at approximately 2.6 million for next 2 decade and reduced slightly until 2020.

Therefore, all the sectors except agriculture had grown significantly until 1980. After 1980, manufacturing also started declining, leaving healthcare and retail with highest growth.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all four sectors and identifies key trends over the period. However, the overview is somewhat weak; while it mentions growth until 1980, it fails to clearly highlight the most significant long-term trends, such as the dominance of healthcare and retail by 2020 compared to the decline in manufacturing. The data reporting is generally accurate, but some descriptions of the trends are slightly imprecise, such as the phrasing 'tends to increase' for past data. To reach a higher band, ensure the overview provides a more comprehensive summary of the overall patterns rather than just listing specific data points.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding summary. The progression of ideas is clear, moving from a general description to specific sector trends. Cohesive devices such as 'similarly', 'likewise', and 'moreover' are used to connect sentences, though some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction from the body, but the final paragraph could be better integrated into the main analysis. Overall, the information is easy to follow, and the structure supports the reader's understanding of the graph.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing for clear communication of the data. You use some relevant terms like 'sector', 'decline', and 'remained constant'. However, there are some minor errors in word form and collocation, such as 'four field of economy' (should be 'fields') and 'for next 2 decade' (should be 'decades'). The range of vocabulary is sufficient but lacks the sophistication or variety of less common lexical items that would push the score into the higher bands. Focusing on more precise reporting verbs and nouns would improve the quality of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'at the year 2020' (should be 'in 2020') and 'retail and healthcare sector' (should be plural 'sectors'). Additionally, there are minor issues with article usage and subject-verb agreement. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Incorporating a wider variety of complex structures with greater accuracy would help demonstrate better control over grammar.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.