Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-26

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 line graph illustrates the data of the amount of jobs in four different fields of the United States' economy from the year of 1960 to 2020. Overall, manufacturing job market was the highest in the beginning of the duration but decreased to the second highest at the end. Healthcare started with less opportunities but reached it's peak at the end of the duration. Although retail and agriculture started at the same point, retail tend to increase significantly but agriculture steep down to almost half. In 1960, manufacturing had 15 million job in the market which was remarkably high among all other sectors. Nonetheless, after a rise in 1980 it slupmed down to almost 12 million. Agriculture started with nearly above 5 million in 1960 and showed a gradual decrease in US job market which was 2.5 m illion and lowest in the year of 2020. In healthcare, job was the lowest with about 2.5 million in 1960. Over time it increases considerably and reached to the highest position with more than 15 million opportunities in 2020. Retail industry was the second highest in 1960 with slightly above 5 million scopes and continues to grow upto more than 15 million in 2020 and become the most demanding job in US market with health care.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all four sectors and identifies key trends such as the growth in healthcare and retail and the decline in agriculture. The overview is clear and highlights the main shifts over the period. However, there are some inaccuracies in data reporting; for instance, stating that manufacturing 'slumped down to almost 12 million' is a reasonable interpretation, but the claim that retail and agriculture 'started at the same point' is not supported by the graph, as retail was clearly higher than agriculture in 1960. While the main features are reported, the precision of the data interpretation could be improved to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. The progression of ideas is generally clear, moving from general trends to specific sector details. Cohesive devices such as 'Nonetheless', 'Although', and 'In 1960' are used to link sentences. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as the use of 'it' in 'reached it's peak', where the antecedent is not perfectly clear. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different sectors, contributing to the overall coherence of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, with attempts at sector-specific terminology like 'manufacturing job market' and 'opportunities'. There are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'steep down' (should be 'steeply declined') and 'scopes' used to mean 'jobs'. Additionally, there are minor spelling errors like 'slupmed' and 'm illion'. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, it lacks the precision and sophistication required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('retail tend to increase'), incorrect verb forms ('it increases considerably' instead of 'increased'), and punctuation errors ('it's' instead of 'its'). While these errors are frequent, they do not impede the reader's understanding of the data. To improve, the student should focus on consistent tense usage—since the data is historical, the past tense should be used consistently throughout the report.

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