Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-13

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 7.5)

The line graph illustrates how employment levels (in millions) evolved across four US economic sectors — Manufacturing, Retail, Agriculture, and Healthcare — between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, the data reveals a structural economic shift: Manufacturing declined after peaking in 1980, while Healthcare and Retail grew steadily, with Agriculture remaining minimal and stable post-1980.

In 1960, Manufacturing employed 15 million workers — the highest of all sectors — rising to 20 million by 1980 before falling sharply to 13 million by 2020. Conversely, Healthcare started at only 2 million but surged dramatically after 1980, reaching 16 million — an eightfold increase — effectively matching Retail, which climbed consistently from 6 million to 16 million over the period. Agriculture, meanwhile, dropped from 6 million to 3 million by 1980 and then plateaued, showing no significant change thereafter.

This trend underscores a pronounced transition from industrial to service-oriented employment, accentuating the burgeoning dominance of Healthcare and Retail, juxtaposed with the contraction of traditional sectors.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response covers all parts of the task thoroughly and accurately. The overview effectively highlights the main structural economic shift, noting the decline of Manufacturing alongside the growth of Healthcare and Retail, while Agriculture remained minimal. Key data points, such as Manufacturing peaking at 20 million in 1980 and the eightfold increase in Healthcare to 16 million, are accurately selected, reported, and compared. The information is well-supported by figures without becoming cluttered with redundant data. The response meets all requirements for Task Achievement at a high level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay is logically organised with a clear progression throughout. It opens with an appropriate introductory paraphrase, followed by a concise overview paragraph, body details, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices such as 'Conversely', 'meanwhile', and 'juxtaposed with' are used naturally and flexibly to guide the reader through comparisons and contrasts. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overview, body details, and final analytical sentence.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.5

The student demonstrates a wide, fluent, and flexible range of vocabulary appropriate for an Academic Task 1 response. Less common items such as 'structural economic shift', 'surged dramatically', 'plateaued', 'transition', and 'contraction' are used accurately and with good stylistic awareness. Collocations are natural, and there are no noticeable spelling or word-choice errors, allowing the text to read smoothly and professionally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5

The writing exhibits a wide range of complex grammatical structures used with a high degree of accuracy. Sentences such as 'The line graph illustrates how employment levels evolved across four US economic sectors...' and participial phrases like 'accentuating the burgeoning dominance of Healthcare and Retail, juxtaposed with the contraction of traditional sectors' demonstrate excellent syntactic variety. The vast majority of sentences are completely error-free, reflecting a high level of grammatical control.

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

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