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 information about the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020 is elucinated by the given line graph.

Overall the prima facie glance makes it quite evident that manufacturing sector provided the most number of jobs in 1960 via-a-vis healthcare sector which provided the least jobs in 1960. Also both retail and healthcare sector followed similar trend over the given period of time and ended up as joint most job providing sectors in 2020. Agriculture sector has shown a constant decrease in providing jobs in the given period of time.

Scrutinising deeper into obtainable iiinformation, manufacturing sector shown a slight increase from 15 million in 1960 to 20 million in 1980 before decreasing back to just below 15 million in 2020. The jobs provided by retail sector increased by almost threefolds in the given time period. The healthcare sector has shown more than 5 fold increase in providing jobs in the given time period.

Digging deeper into the chart, the jobs provided by both retail and agriculture sector in 1960 were identical at around 5 million. The agriculture sector which provided more than double jobs the healthcare sector in 1960 ended up as the least employment providing sector in 2020 whereas healthcare became the joint highest employment providing sector in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student covers all parts of the task and presents a clear overview of the main trends. Key features are successfully reported, such as manufacturing starting highest at 15 million in 1960 and peaking at 20 million, while healthcare and retail experienced substantial growth to become the joint highest sectors in 2020 at 16 million. Agriculture is accurately noted as showing a constant decrease from 6 million down to 2 million. The data points cited closely align with the visual reference. However, the student makes a minor slip in the body paragraphs by stating that both retail and agriculture were identical at around 5 million in 1960 (agriculture was 6 million and retail was 6 million, which is a very close approximation, but retail and healthcare were actually 6 and 2 respectively). Despite this minor confusion, the overall selection and reporting of data satisfy the Band 7 requirements well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organised and progresses clearly from an introduction to an overview, followed by detailed body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different features of the graph. Cohesive devices are generally deployed effectively to guide the reader through the data, as seen in expressions like 'Overall the prima facie glance' and 'Scrutinising deeper into obtainable iiinformation'. However, some of the transitional phrases feel slightly heavy-handed or repetitive (e.g., 'Digging deeper into the chart'), which prevents the response from reaching a higher band. Referencing is mostly clear, though paragraph transitions could flow more naturally without relying on overly conversational metaphors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary suitable for an academic task, incorporating terms such as 'sector', 'fluctuation', 'employment', and 'trend'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'elucidated', 'prima facie', and 'scrutinising'. However, there are some noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, spelling, and collocation, such as 'elucinated' (spelling error for elucidated), 'via-a-vis' (misspelling of vis-à-vis), and 'obtainable iiinformation' (typo). Additionally, some lexical phrases feel slightly unnatural in an academic context, such as 'prima facie glance'. Despite these flaws, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning clearly, supporting a Band 6.0 score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, demonstrating adequate grammatical control. The student attempts complex sentences, such as 'manufacturing sector provided the most number of jobs in 1960 via-a-vis healthcare sector which provided the least jobs in 1960.' However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, including missing articles ('manufacturing sector', 'healthcare sector'), incorrect verb forms ('manufacturing sector shown a slight increase'), and minor punctuation issues. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from achieving a Band 7.0.

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

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