Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The line graph illustrates the number of employees in four different sectors in the United States between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, the number of jobs in Manufacturing and Healthcare increased, whereas employment in Retail and Agriculture declined over the period.

The number of jobs in Healthcare increased steadily from 3 million in 1960 to approximately 16 million in 2020. Similarly, employment in Retail grew gradually from 6 million in 1960 to approximately 16 million in 2020.

In contrast, the number of jobs in Manufacturing stood at 15 million in 1960 and climbed dramatically to approximately 20 million before declining steadily over the following four decades to 13 million in 2020. Meanwhile, employment in Agriculture decreased gradually from 6 million in 1960 to approximately 3 million in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview and selecting key trends for the four economic sectors. The data reported is mostly accurate, though there is a minor generalisation in the overview regarding Retail and Agriculture (employment in Retail actually increased, whereas Agriculture declined, but the student's overview states 'employment in Retail and Agriculture declined', which contradicts their own detailed paragraph where Retail grew to 16 million). Furthermore, the starting figure for Healthcare in 1960 is slightly misread as 3 million instead of approximately 2 million. Additionally, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 127 words, which restricts the depth of development and requires a penalty to the Task Achievement score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is logically organised into clear paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by a general overview, and then detailed body paragraphs grouping the trends effectively. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'Overall', 'Similarly', and 'In contrast', which help guide the reader through the data comparisons. However, the logical progression is slightly undermined by the contradictory overview statement noted in Task Achievement. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, maintaining a coherent overall arrangement despite the brief length of the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 response, successfully employing appropriate reporting verbs and descriptors such as 'illustrates', 'increased steadily', 'grew gradually', 'climbed dramatically', and 'declined steadily'. There are attempts at less common lexical items related to data trends. Word choice is generally accurate, and spelling is correct throughout, allowing communication to proceed smoothly without any impediment caused by lexical limitations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writer exhibits a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and adverbial modifiers effectively (e.g., 'The line graph illustrates the number of employees in four different sectors...'). Grammatical accuracy is generally high, with correct past and present tense usage for historical data ('stood at', 'climbed', 'declined'). Punctuation is also well-managed. Errors are virtually absent, placing this criterion at a solid level, although the range of structures remains somewhat standard for a higher band.

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

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