Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-29

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 tracks the report about number of employment in multiple sectors of the economy in the US over the period of 60 years.

Overall, it is clear that the employment in the manufacturing sector was the dominant in the begining of the period and was at the its peak in 1980 followed by a gradual decline in the following period. Whereas healthcare sector had the lowest jobs at the begining nevertheless, it overtook agriculture sector and manufacturing sector by the end of the period.

Moreover, the retail and agriculture sector had the same proportion of employment at the begining which was somewhere around 6 millions job in 1960 in both sector. Retail sector showed gradual incline the employment number and had around 16 million jobs by the end of the period.

Healthcare showed major incline throughout the period. In the begining healthcare had around 2 millions job which increased to 16 millions by the end of the period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all four economic sectors shown in the graph over the specified timeframe. An appropriate overview is provided, highlighting the dominant role of manufacturing initially, the rise of healthcare, and the trends in retail and agriculture. Main features are selected and reported accurately, such as manufacturing peaking in 1980 at 20 million jobs and healthcare growing significantly to tie with retail at 16 million jobs by 2020. Key comparisons are made between the sectors, satisfying all requirements of Task 1. However, some minor details could have been further synthesized, but overall it fulfills the prompt well.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introductory sentence, followed by an overview paragraph, and then body paragraphs detailing specific sectors. Paragraphing is used appropriately to group related ideas. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Overall', 'Whereas', and 'Moreover', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive in structure. Referencing is generally clear, allowing the reader to follow the trends across the decades easily, though cohesion could be slightly more fluid.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with appropriate topic-specific terms like 'employment', 'sectors', 'economy', and 'proportion'. There are attempts at less common vocabulary and trend-describing language, such as 'gradual decline', 'dominant', and 'major incline'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors, including 'begining' (beginning), 'incline' (increase), and awkward phrasing like 'tracks the report about number of employment'. These minor lexical inaccuracies prevent the score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and subordinate clauses such as 'while healthcare sector had the lowest jobs...'. There are several grammatical and mechanical errors throughout the text, including missing articles ('in the begining', 'retail and agriculture sector had'), preposition errors ('jobs in 1960 in both sector'), and spelling slips. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and communication is not severely impeded.

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