Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The line chart illustrates the changes in employer figures in four different economic sectors in United States: Manufacturing, Retail, Agriculture and Healthcare over the period of 60 years from 1960 to 2020, measured in millions of jobs.

Overall, Retail and Healthcare experienced consistent upward trend with healthcare exhibiting most dramtatic rise from the year 1960 to 2020. In contract, Manufacturing saw initial growth before a steady decline. Considering other given sectors, Agriculture remained the smallest employer with a slight downward drift.

In 1960, Manufacturing was by far the most job providing sector at 15 million, peaking at 20 million in 1980 before experiencing gradual downshift in its trend, bottomed at 13 million in 2020. In contrast, Retail started at a bit over 5 million lengthen its growth and further overtaking Manufactuing in 2000 resulted at 16 million over the next decade. Subsequently, Healthcare began as the smallest sector in 1960 offering at just 2 million jobs. Healthcare witnessed most significant and uninterrupted rise over the next years, matching Manufacturing in 2015 and concluded at 16 million in 2020. On the other hand, Agriculture was at the similar level as Retail in the beginning at 6 million, however this sector experienced a drastic downfall in the number of job offers reaching 4 million in 1980 and lowest to 3 millon in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features, trends, and key comparisons across the four economic sectors over the 60-year period. An appropriate overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting the contrasting trajectories of Retail and Healthcare compared to Manufacturing and Agriculture. Key data points are accurately cited, such as Manufacturing peaking at 20 million in 1980 and Healthcare rising significantly to conclude at 16 million in 2020. Minor inaccuracies in data interpretation exist, such as stating Agriculture reached 4 million in 1980 when the chart shows it at approximately 3 million, but these do not detract from the overall clear reporting of trends. All core requirements of Academic Task 1 are met comprehensively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response exhibits clear logical organization and progression throughout. Information is grouped effectively, with an introductory paragraph, an overview paragraph, and detailed body paragraphs examining specific trends. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'Overall', 'In contract [contrast]', 'Subsequently', and 'On the other hand'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overview from the detailed body analysis. However, minor referencing and transitional issues, such as the typographical error in 'In contract', slightly prevent the cohesion from being completely seamless, keeping the response at a solid band 7.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary with some flexibility and precision, employing terms such as 'upward trend', 'downward drift', 'gradual downshift', and 'uninterrupted rise'. Less common lexical items are attempted with generally good awareness of style and collocation, suitable for reporting economic data. There are, however, a few spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'employer figures' instead of 'employment figures' or 'number of jobs', 'dramtatic' instead of 'dramatic', and 'lengthen' instead of 'lengthened' or 'continuing'. These occasional errors do not impede communication, allowing the response to achieve a band 6.5 or 7.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms effectively, demonstrating control over relative clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'exhibiting most dramatic rise', 'resulting at 16 million over the next decade'). There is a good frequency of error-free sentences, and punctuation is generally sound. However, a few grammatical errors persist, including missing articles ('in United States', 'most dramatic rise'), minor prepositional slips ('offering at just 2 million jobs'), and occasional awkward phrasing like 'lowest to 3 millon'. These errors do not impede understanding, placing the grammar comfortably within the band 6.5 to 7.0 range.

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