Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-28

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

Overall, the number of jobs in retail and healthcare increased, while the number of jobs in manufacturing and agriculture decreased over the period.

At the beginning, the number of jobs in retail increased steadily over the six decades about six million jobs in 1960 to approximately sixteen million in 2020. Similarly, the number of jobs in healthcare increased dramatically over two decades from about two million in 1960 to sixteen million in 2020.

In contrast, the number of jobs in manufacturing increased steadily over two decades from fifteen million in 1960 to twenty million in 1980, and it decreased dramatically over four decades from twenty million in 1980 to approximately thirteen million in 2020, while the number of jobs for agriculture decreased dramatically from about six million in 1960 to three million in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main trends and making relevant comparisons across the four economic sectors. The overview clearly highlights the overarching dichotomy between rising sectors (retail and healthcare) and declining ones (manufacturing and agriculture). Data points are generally accurate, such as noting manufacturing's peak at twenty million in 1980 and its subsequent decline to approximately thirteen million in 2020. However, there is a minor omission regarding the agriculture data phrasing, where the trajectory states a decrease from six million to three million in 2020, whereas the graph shows it reached two million. Despite this minor numerical slip, the response provides a well-developed summary that covers all the necessary features of the visual data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is logically organised with a clear progression throughout. It opens with an introductory paraphrase of the prompt, follows with a concise and effective overview paragraph, and then breaks down the specific body details logically by grouping contrasting trends. Cohesive devices are used appropriately, such as 'Overall,' 'At the beginning,' 'Similarly,' and 'In contrast,' which guide the reader smoothly through the temporal data. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate the overview from the detailed body paragraphs, contributing to a coherent overall arrangement.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing functional terms related to data trends such as 'illustrates,' 'increased steadily,' 'decreased dramatically,' and 'approximately.' Less common items and precise framing, such as 'sectors of the economy' and 'six decades,' are handled reasonably well. There are occasional slight awkwardnesses or minor slips in prepositional phrases—for instance, writing 'jobs for agriculture' instead of 'jobs in agriculture'—but these do not impede communication and the lexical control remains solid for an Academic Task 1 response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writer displays a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses effectively (e.g., 'while the number of jobs for agriculture decreased dramatically...'). Grammatical accuracy is generally high, with frequent error-free sentences. Control of past tense verbs is well-maintained when discussing historical data points between 1960 and 2020. There are only very occasional minor structural slips, such as the missing preposition in 'over the six decades about six million jobs,' but these errors are infrequent and do not interfere with the overall clarity or meaning of the text.

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