Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-26

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 information about the number of careers in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, jobs in the retail and healthcare sectors increased rapidly during these six decades, while the manufacturing job sector and agriculture sector demonstrated a decline .

Initially, the jobs in retail sector increased rapidly between 1960 and 2000. It accounted for 15 millions. Then in 2020 retail sector reached peak of 16 millions. In addition, healthcare sector showed a incline. Although it started at 2.5 millions jobs, in 2020 it accounted for 16 millions jobs and it was equal to the retail jobs in 2020.

Furthermore, in 1960 agriculture and retail sectors had same job market in US . It accounted for approximately 6 millions. In 2020 agriculture sector experienced the fewest number of jobs and it was approximately below 5 millions. Although manufacturing sector reached peak of 20 million in 1980 after that it showed a decline.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student covers all four sectors shown in the graph and successfully identifies the main overall trends, noting the upward trajectory of retail and healthcare alongside the downward trends in manufacturing and agriculture. An overview is present and accurate. However, some data points are inaccurate or poorly expressed, such as stating retail 'accounted for 15 millions' and then reaching a peak of 16 millions, or claiming agriculture was 'below 5 millions' in 2020 when the chart shows it at approximately 2 million. Furthermore, the confusion in paragraph three regarding the 1960 data for agriculture and retail (stating they had the same job market of 6 million when the chart shows retail at 6 and agriculture at 6 as well, but missing that retail and agriculture started at different points earlier or misinterpreting the values) leads to minor inaccuracies. Overall, the task is adequately addressed, but precision in reporting figures needs improvement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall structure consisting of an introduction, an overview paragraph, and two body paragraphs detailing specific trends. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'Overall', 'Initially', 'Then', and 'Furthermore'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For instance, the transition 'Initially, the jobs in retail sector increased rapidly' is followed by sudden jumps in data without smooth chronological progression. Paragraphing is used, but the internal logical progression within paragraphs occasionally stumbles due to abrupt shifts between different sectors and years.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms related to economic sectors ('manufacturing', 'retail', 'agriculture', 'healthcare') and trend language ('increased rapidly', 'decline', 'peak'). However, there are noticeable lexical and collocation errors, such as writing 'number of careers' instead of 'number of jobs', 'reached peak' missing an article ('reached a peak'), and 'showed a incline' instead of 'showed an incline'. These errors do not impede communication, but they reflect a lower band capability in word choice and grammatical collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing introductory subordinate clauses such as 'Although it started at 2.5 millions jobs'. There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, including pluralization and article issues like '15 millions', 'a incline', and missing articles before singular nouns ('retail sector reached peak'). Additionally, prepositional and phrasing slips occur, such as 'had same job market in US' missing the article 'the'. Despite these errors, the sentences remain largely understandable and communication is not impeded.

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