Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-27

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 changes in the number of jobs in the US between 1960 and 2020. These changes are observed in four main sectors namely manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare.

Overall, healthcare and retail sector showed consistent growth over the years whereas certain decline is observed in manufacturing and agriculture.

Looking first at healthcare and retail, from 1960 to 1980 both the sectors showed a steady growth in number of jobs by reaching at 5 million and 10 million. Thereafter, employment in retail jobs steadly rose to 15 million in 2020 then it gradually inclined to more than 15 million in 2020. Whereas, continuing the same trend healthcare sector reached to exact same as retail in 2020.

Turning to agriculture and manufacturing, in 1960 there was decline in jobs in agriculture sector and reached below 5 million till 1980 while, jobs in manufacturing sector rose to 20 million which was highest of all sectors. By 2020, number of jobs in these sectors declined where manufacturing sector reached below 15 million and agriculture sector dropped much below than before.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons across the four economic sectors over the sixty-year period. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, which correctly highlights the growth in healthcare and retail alongside the decline in manufacturing and agriculture. Key data points are correctly referenced, such as manufacturing reaching its peak in 1980 at 20 million jobs before falling to 13 million by 2020. However, there are some minor imprecisions in data reporting, such as stating that retail reached 'more than 15 million in 2020' when it plateaued or finished around 16 million, and slight confusion regarding agriculture's starting point in 1960. Nonetheless, the core trends are well identified and supported by the visual data, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.5 to 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is organized into four clear paragraphs, featuring a logical overall progression from the introduction to the overview, followed by grouped body paragraphs analyzing the sectors. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader through the data, such as 'Looking first at healthcare and retail' and 'Turning to agriculture and manufacturing'. However, some of the referencing and logical transitions are slightly faulty or mechanical, notably the awkward sentence structure 'Then it gradually inclined to more than 15 million in 2020', which creates repetition and confusion regarding the 2020 retail figures. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and the overall arrangement remains coherent, aligning well with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying trends and economic sectors such as 'manufacturing', 'retail', 'agriculture', and 'healthcare'. The student attempts less common vocabulary with varying degrees of success, using items like 'consistent growth', 'steady growth', and 'gradually inclined'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'by reaching at 5 million' (incorrect preposition), 'steadly' (spelling error for steadily), and 'inclined' used instead of 'increased' or 'rose' to describe upward movement on a graph. These lexical inaccuracies slightly hinder precision, placing the response solidly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing introductory prepositional phrases and subordinate clauses effectively. There are, however, several grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text. Examples include missing articles or awkward prepositional usage in 'in number of jobs by reaching at 5 million' and 'reached to exact same as retail in 2020'. Furthermore, spelling and morphological issues appear, such as 'steadly' and 'certain decline is observed'. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from achieving a Band 7.0, making Band 6.0 an accurate reflection of grammatical control.

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