Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-25

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 charts compare the number of jobs in four different sectors of the economy in USA from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, it is clear that Retail and health sections are in an ongoing increase, whilst Manufacturing's number declined after a slight grow. Agriculture field experienced an ongoing drop during the period given.

According to what is shown, the number of Manufacturing domain started to grow from 15 millions in 1960 to 20 millions in 1980, the number began to fall after that till it reached almost 13 millions in 2020.The figures showed a straight increase in terms of Retail from nearly 6 millions in 1960 to around 16 millions in the final year. Same situation with Healthcare, from 2.5 millions jobs in the first year to 16 millions in 2020. By contrast, number of jobs in Agriculture experienced a drop frol 6 millions in 1960 to almost 2.5 millions in 2020

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all four sectors and identifies the main trends effectively. You have provided a clear overview and supported your points with relevant data from the graph. However, the report could be improved by ensuring more precise comparisons between the sectors. For instance, noting that Healthcare and Retail ended at the same level (16 million) would have strengthened the analysis. The information is generally accurate, though the phrasing 'Retail and health sections' is slightly imprecise as these are sectors, not sections. Overall, you have addressed the requirements of the task well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'According to what is shown', and 'By contrast' to guide the reader. However, the flow between sentences is occasionally mechanical. The transition between the overview and the body paragraphs could be smoother. Additionally, the paragraphing is a bit sparse; separating the trends into distinct paragraphs based on the nature of the change (e.g., increasing vs. decreasing) would improve the structure and readability of the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'ongoing increase', 'declined', and 'experienced a drop'. There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'health sections' instead of 'healthcare sector' and 'slight grow' instead of 'slight growth'. You also have a spelling error ('frol' instead of 'from'). While you successfully convey the meaning, the vocabulary is somewhat repetitive and lacks the sophistication required for a higher band score. Expanding your range of synonyms for 'increase' and 'decrease' would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'Manufacturing's number declined' (should be 'the number of jobs in manufacturing') and '15 millions' (should be '15 million'). The punctuation is mostly correct, but there is a missing space after a period in the final paragraph. The errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct pluralization of numbers will improve your accuracy.

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