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 graph illustrates the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US since 1960 till 2020. It is noticable that most of the people work in the manufacturing domain in comparision to the other sectors.

Jobs in the retail and healthcare sector have shown a significant increase since 1960 while the jobs in the agriculture sector shows an overall decrease.

Jobs in the manufaxturing sector of the economy shows a fluctuating pattern. with the low values in 1960 and comparatively higher value of 20 million jobs in 1980 and then the number of jobs declined substantially till 2020.

Retail and healthcare sectors have an almsot same pattern with the difference arising in 1960 and 1980, eventually ending at an increasing value of around 16 milllion.

In contrast, the jobs in agricultural sector have reduced over time with a drastic reduction from 1960 to 2980 and then a minor decline from 1980 till 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview of the trends and reporting key figures from the graph. The student successfully identifies the main patterns, such as the overall growth in retail and healthcare, the decline in agriculture, and the fluctuating nature of manufacturing. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in reading the data, such as stating that manufacturing had 'low values in 1960' when it actually stood at 15 million, which is quite high compared to other sectors at that time. Additionally, the student misstates a year in the final sentence ('from 1960 to 2980'). Despite these minor data reading slips, the response presents a clear summary and satisfies the requirements of Task 1.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction and overview, followed by body paragraphs detailing specific sectoral trends. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'In contrast' and 'while'. However, paragraphing could be structured more cleanly, and referencing is occasionally slightly repetitive or mechanical. Progression is generally clear throughout the text, allowing the reader to follow the comparisons between the four economic sectors easily.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully employing terms like 'fluctuating pattern', 'significant increase', and 'substantial'. There are, however, a few spelling and typographical errors, such as 'noticable', 'comparision', and 'manufaxturing'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with some success, though word choice occasionally lacks precision, such as referring to sectors having an 'almsot same pattern'. The lexical range is sufficient to communicate the main features of the visual data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and subordinate structures successfully. There are several grammatical errors and typos present, such as 'since 1960 till 2020' (instead of 'from 1960 to 2020') and tense inconsistencies ('shows' instead of 'showed'). Punctuation is occasionally faulty, as seen in the sentence fragment '. with the low values...'. Nevertheless, these errors do not impede communication, and the overall grammatical control is adequate for a Band 6.0.

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