Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-19

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 number of jobs across the four major sectors of the economy in the US over the period of 60 years starting from 1960.

Overall, the areas whose data is presented are manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare. The economy sector which remained dominant in the US is the manufacturing area; meanwhile the agriculture sector recruits the lowest employees. While the statistics for the healthcare department showed a consistent surge in the number of jobs, the manufacturing department showed a rise before a decline. The agriculture area provided significantly fewer jobs before stabilizing its figure. Similarly, the retail department increased its employment ratio before it became relatively stable.

In 1960, the jobs were around 15 million which rose to 20 million in 1980 before dropping to 13 million by the end of 2020. Healthcare department dramatically continued to give more jobs than previous data reaching from 2.5 million to 16 million.

Between 1960 and 2000, the retail area granted more jobs showing an equal rise of 5 million after 2 decades each, which then remained relatively stable from 2000 to 2020. Meanwhile, the agriculture sector employed around 3 million people, which is half of what it was in 1960. From 1980 to 2020, it was relatively stable showing an unnoticeable change.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the prompt, providing an overview of the trends and reporting key data points across the four sectors. The overview correctly identifies manufacturing as initially dominant, healthcare as experiencing a consistent surge, and highlights the relative stability of agriculture and retail at various points. Key features are supported with numerical data, such as manufacturing rising to 20 million in 1980 and healthcare increasing from 2.5 million to 16 million. However, there are minor inaccuracies in the data reporting; for instance, stating that in 1960 the jobs were around 15 million (which refers only to manufacturing rather than the total) and claiming agriculture was stable when it halved from 6 million in 1960 to 3 million in 1980. Despite these minor misinterpretations, the response satisfies the requirements well, meriting a Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is organized into four logical paragraphs: an introduction, an overview paragraph, and two body paragraphs detailing specific data points. Progression is generally clear throughout the text, guiding the reader from general trends to specific figures. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'while', 'meanwhile', and 'Similarly' are used to connect ideas, though some transitional phrases feel slightly mechanical or repetitive ('Meanwhile, the...'). Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct aspects of the graph. Referencing is mostly clear, though occasional shifts in cohesion make the logical flow slightly bumpy in the third paragraph. Overall, the organization meets the criteria for Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common economic and descriptive terms such as 'dominant', 'surge', 'stabilizing', and 'employment ratio'. However, there are notable lexical and collocational inaccuracies that prevent a higher score, such as 'recruits the lowest employees' (instead of 'employs the fewest workers') and 'granted more jobs' (instead of 'created more jobs' or 'provided more employment'). Spelling is generally accurate, but awkward phrasing like 'unnoticeable change' indicates limitations in lexical control. These errors do not impede communication, placing the response solidly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and comparative constructions ('while the agriculture sector recruits the lowest employees', 'which then remained relatively stable'). There are several grammatical errors and awkward expressions, such as 'the areas whose data is presented are' and 'reaching from 2.5 million to 16 million' (misusing prepositions). Furthermore, subject-verb agreement and tense consistency occasionally falter ('the jobs were around 15 million which rose'). Despite these errors, the complex forms are mostly intelligible and do not impede the reader's understanding. This performance aligns with Band 6.0.

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