Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-24

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 illustration depicts data on amount of jobs in various fields (manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare) of the economy in the united states from 1960 to 2020. The jobs are calculated in millions.

Overall, it can be seen that the jobs in healthcare and retail sectors increased dramatically over the 60 years of time, whereas decreased significantly in the other two sectors (agriculture and manufacturing).

Turning to the details, the number of jobs in healthcare were around 2 millions in 1960 which increased drastically and stood at above 15 millions in 2020. Moreover, retails sectors provided above 5 million of jobs in 1960 which also rose dramatically and remains the same as healthcare at the end of the time period.

Furthermore, there were 15 million jobs in manufacturing industries in 1960 which first went upward at 20 millions in 1980 and then decreased significantly at around 13 million of jobs in 2020. Lastly, agriculture was at the lowest at around 6 millions which decreases rapidly at around 3 millions in 1980 and then went downward at the slow pace.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by summarizing the main features of the line graph and making relevant comparisons across the four sectors between 1960 and 2020. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing the main trends of growth in healthcare and retail versus decline in manufacturing and agriculture. Key data points are accurately reported, such as manufacturing starting at 15 million, peaking at 20 million in 1980, and declining to 13 million. Minor inaccuracies occur, such as stating agriculture was at 6 million in 1960 when it matched retail at 6 million, whereas the visual data actually shows agriculture at around 6 million and retail at 6 million initially (correctly identified later), but these do not detract from a clear overview. The response meets all requirements for a Band 7 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response exhibits clear logical organization and progression throughout. It follows a standard Academic Task 1 structure, beginning with an introductory sentence, followed by a clear overview paragraph, and then two detailed body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well to guide the reader through the data, such as 'Overall, it can be seen that', 'Turning to the details', and 'Furthermore'. However, some cohesive links and referencing could be smoother, as seen in phrases like 'remains the same as healthcare at the end of the time period' where tense consistency is slightly disrupted ('remains' instead of 'remained'). Paragraphing is used appropriately and supports the overall readability.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe trends and data points with some flexibility and precision, employing words and phrases like 'increased dramatically', 'decreased significantly', 'drastically', and 'rose dramatically'. Less common items are attempted with varying degrees of success. There are a few lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'amount of jobs' instead of 'number of jobs', 'retailes sectors' (spelling), and minor preposition or noun form errors like 'at the slow pace' instead of 'at a slow pace'. However, the vocabulary is adequate to convey the intended meaning without impeding communication, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and subordinate structures successfully (e.g., 'whereas decreased significantly in the other two sectors'). There are several grammatical errors and punctuation slips throughout the response, including tense shifts (e.g., 'were around 2 millions... which increased... and remains'), missing plural agreements ('2 millions' instead of '2 million'), and awkward phrasing like 'which decreases rapidly at around 3 millions'. Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication and the basic meaning remains clear. This balance of mixed structures and persistent non-systematic errors places the response firmly at Band 6.

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