Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-22

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 graph illustrates the number of people in four sectors including manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare of US economy between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, the number of jobs in retail and manufacturing increased considerably over the period, while agriculture accounted for smallest proportion. Most of the time manufacturing had the largest proportion however it declined and fluctuated.

In 1960, manufacturing accounted for the largest proportion in Us economy to 15 million, then it rose sharply to 20 million in 1980. It fell slightly to 18 million in 2000 and dropped up to 13 million in 2020. In contrast, agriculture was same as retail to around 5 million in 1960 and decreased to 3 million in 1980. It shares declined gradually to 2 million in 2000.

The number of employees in retail sector was 5 million in 1960 and rose steadily to 10 million in 1980. It continued to rise further to 15 million in 2000 and increased slightly to 16 million in 2020. Whereas, healthcare was the smallest job sector up to 2 million in 1960. It gradually increased to 5 million in 1980 and rose considerably to 12 million in 2000, reaching retail sector to 16 million in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student covers all four sectors across the given time frame and provides a clear overview highlighting general trends, such as the growth in retail and manufacturing and the relative stability or decline of agriculture. Key features and data points are reported, such as manufacturing peaking at 20 million in 1980 and retail and healthcare reaching 16 million in 2020. However, there are some minor data inaccuracies in the body paragraphs; for instance, the student states manufacturing fell to 18 million in 2000 (whereas the chart shows roughly 17 million) and mentions agriculture shares declined to 2 million in 2000 when it remained fairly stable at 3 million between 1980 and 2000. Despite these small reading discrepancies, the task is adequately fulfilled with a clear reporting of main features and comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized with a clear division into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and two body paragraphs focusing on different economic sectors. Cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'Whereas', and 'then' are used to connect ideas and signal comparisons. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different groups of sectors. However, some referencing and cohesive links are slightly mechanical or awkward, such as starting the second overview sentence abruptly or using 'dropped up to' which is semantically confusing. Overall, the arrangement is coherent and guides the reader through the data with clear progression.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for Task 1, successfully utilizing terms related to trends and data reporting, such as 'considerably', 'rose sharply', 'fell slightly', and 'steadily'. Less common lexical items are attempted, including 'proportion', 'employees', and 'sector'. There are, however, occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'dropped up to 13 million' (where 'down to' would be correct) and 'reaching retail sector to 16 million' instead of 'matching the retail sector at 16 million'. Spelling is generally accurate, and vocabulary errors do not impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writing incorporates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing subordinating conjunctions and transitional phrases effectively. There is good control over past tense verb forms required for historical data (e.g., 'accounted for', 'rose sharply', 'decreased'). However, several grammatical errors occur throughout the text, such as missing articles ('in US economy' instead of 'in the US economy') and awkward prepositions or verb complementation ('agriculture was same as retail to around 5 million'). While these errors are noticeable, they do not impede overall comprehension, placing this response comfortably in the band 6 range.

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