Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-03

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 chart illustrate the number of jobs in four sector of economy (in millions) between the year 1960 and 2020. It highlights the upward and downward trend and the key ifferences among the given data.

Overall, it is clear that healthcare sector had a steady growth in the number of jobs over the period of six decades. In addition manufacturing sactor faced a dramatic decline from 1960 to 2020.

looking more closely at the figures, healthcare sector experinced a sharp increase in the number of jobs from 4 million in 1960 all the way up to 16 million jobs till the year 2020. similarly the retail sector also showed a rappid increase from 6 million in 1960 to 16 million in 2020.

in contrast, agriculture sector slightly declined from 6 million to 3 million over the period of six decades. meanwhile the number of jobs in manufacturing peaked from 15 million in 1960 to 20 million in 1980, before decreasing steadily and reaching 13 million until 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons across the four economic sectors. An appropriate overview is provided, highlighting the general upward trend in healthcare and the dramatic decline in manufacturing. Key data points are accurately cited, such as the growth of the healthcare and retail sectors to 16 million by 2020. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or contain minor inaccuracies in the data reporting, such as the statement that healthcare experienced steady growth from 4 million in 1960 (the visual actually shows healthcare starting at 2 million in 1960 and retail at 6 million, though retail is misattributed in part of the text). Nevertheless, the response covers all required aspects and presents a clear summary of the chart's data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response maintains a clear logical organisation and progression throughout the four paragraphs. Information is introduced with an effective introductory statement, followed by a clear overall summary paragraph, and detailed body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'In addition', 'looking more closely at the figures', 'similarly', 'in contrast', and 'meanwhile' are used to connect ideas effectively, demonstrating a logical flow. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overview, and specific details. However, referencing and transitions are sometimes slightly mechanical, which prevents the response from achieving a higher band.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to economic sectors and trend descriptions, such as 'upward and downward trend', 'steady growth', 'dramatic decline', and 'sharp increase'. There are, however, some spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'illustrate' instead of 'illustrates', 'sector' instead of 'sectors', 'sactor' instead of 'sector', 'experinced' instead of 'experienced', and 'rappid' instead of 'rapid'. These errors do not impede communication, but they reflect the limitations of the current lexical band. Attempts to use less common vocabulary are generally successful despite these occasional inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an ability to structure sentences using subordinate clauses and introductory phrases. There are several grammatical and punctuation errors present, such as missing capitalization at the beginning of sentences ('looking more closely', 'in contrast'), missing articles ('the healthcare sector', 'the agriculture sector'), and issues with verb forms and prepositional phrases (e.g., 'peaked from 15 million in 1960 to 20 million in 1980' where 'peaked at' would be more accurate). However, these errors rarely impede communication, and the majority of simple sentences are constructed correctly.

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