Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-23

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 chart illustrates the number of employment in four different sectors of the US economy from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, it is clear that the manufacturing industries have highest employment figures initially. In contrast retail and agriculture industries had lowest starting figures but they both end with a sharp boost in their employment throughout the period.

In 1960, manufacturing industry ranked highest among all other categories provided approximately 15 million jobs. However this figures dropped gradually over the period in 2020. While the agriculture industry had fewer positions which is just over 5 million in 1960 this figure is no more maintained or dropped marginally in 2020.

The retail industry began with just over 5 million job positions which climbed significantly from 1960 to 2000. However this figure remained steady to its ending year 2020. As compared to health care industry beginning with lowest stats roundabout 0.3 million positions in 1960 which climbed sharply and touch to 15 million throughout the year 2020

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student addresses the main parts of the task by selecting and reporting key features and making comparisons across the four economic sectors. An overview is attempted, noting that manufacturing started highest while retail and healthcare experienced growth. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting the data. For instance, the overview incorrectly claims that retail and agriculture both end with a sharp boost, whereas agriculture actually declined significantly to around 2 million jobs by 2020. Additionally, the specific figures mentioned contain inaccuracies, such as stating that healthcare started at '0.3 million' (it was around 2 million) and that retail remained steady in 2020 when it actually rose to 16 million. Despite these data interpretation flaws, the response successfully captures the overall trends of the chart, earning a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall progression and is divided into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and two body paragraphs covering the specific details. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'In contrast', 'However', and 'While'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, the phrase 'this figures dropped gradually' contains a grammatical referencing mismatch, and transitions between sentences can feel abrupt. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overview, and body details, resulting in a coherent overall arrangement that meets the criteria for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'industries', 'employment figures', 'ranked highest', and 'climbed significantly'. However, there are noticeable lexical and collocational errors throughout the text, such as 'the number of employment' instead of 'the number of employees' or 'employment levels', 'this figures' instead of 'these figures', and 'stats' instead of 'figures' or 'data'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but the word choices and word formations occasionally lack precision. These inaccuracies do not impede communication, placing the response firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses ('While the agriculture industry had fewer positions...', 'As compared to health care industry beginning with...'). However, there are several grammatical errors and punctuation omissions, such as missing articles ('the manufacturing industry', 'the health care industry'), subject-verb agreement errors ('manufacturing industries have highest', 'industries had lowest starting figures but they both end'), and incomplete sentence structures in the final sentence ('As compared to health care industry beginning with lowest stats roundabout 0.3 million positions in 1960 which climbed sharply and touch to 15 million throughout the year 2020'). These errors can cause some difficulty for the reader, but simple sentences are generally accurate, warranting a Band 5.5.

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