Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-05

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 graph below illustrates the number of jobs in four sector of the US economy between 1960 and 2020 namely, manufacturing, retial agriculture and healthcare.

Overall, it is evident retail and healthcare sector experience a increase in the number of job openings leading to have a maximum and equal number of job offers by the year 2020. On the other hand, the other two sectors experience a decrease in the number of job openings.

In year 1960, retail and agriculture offers equal number of jobs near about 6 million and later on, retail sectors grows linearly crossing the job offered number above 15 million. On the contrary, agriculture sector faces a decline which leads to closing of 3 million job opportunities by the year 2020.

In continuation with, healthcare sector commence with the lowest job offering and by 2020 it provides the highest job offers of about 15 million. Moreover, manufacturing sector experiences a small fluctuation from 15 million job opeings to a linear increment by the year 1980 and attains 20 million, which later reaches to 13 million job openings.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have successfully identified the main trends and provided a clear overview of the data. You covered all four sectors and made relevant comparisons, such as noting the decline in agriculture versus the growth in healthcare. However, there are some inaccuracies in data reporting; for instance, you mention the manufacturing sector reaches 20 million, which is not clearly supported by the graph provided. To improve, ensure that your data points are precisely extracted from the visual information. The overview is well-structured, but ensure that all figures cited are accurate to the graph to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized into paragraphs, with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices such as 'On the other hand', 'In continuation with', and 'Moreover' to link ideas. However, some transitions are slightly awkward or unnatural, such as 'In continuation with', which is not standard academic phrasing. Additionally, the referencing could be smoother to improve the flow between sentences. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the progression of ideas is generally easy to follow, though the mechanical nature of some connectors prevents a higher score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'fluctuation', 'linear increment', and 'decline'. However, there are several spelling errors, such as 'retial' instead of 'retail', and some word choice issues, such as 'commence with the lowest job offering' instead of 'started with the lowest number of jobs'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your writing. To improve, focus on accurate spelling and using collocations more naturally, such as 'job opportunities' rather than 'job offering'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

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 four sector', 'the retail and agriculture'), subject-verb agreement issues ('retail sectors grows'), and awkward phrasing ('leading to have a maximum'). While these errors are frequent, they rarely impede the reader's understanding of the main trends. To reach a higher band, focus on consistent article usage and ensuring that your verb forms match the subjects correctly throughout the response.

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

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