Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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 7.0)

The line graph illustrates the number of jobs in four sector of the US economy, namely manufacturing, retail, agriculture and health care, between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, the number of jobs in manufacturing and agriculture declined over the period, while retail and healthcare experienced significant growth. Manufacturing had the highest number of jobs at the beginning, whereas healthcare and retail become the leading sectors by 2020.

in 1960, manufacturing provided approximately 15 million jobs, making it the largest sector. This figure then rose to about 19 million in 1980, before falling to around 15.5 million in 2000 and 11.5 million in 2020. similarly, agriculture started at about 6 million jobs in 1960, but it figure dropped sharply to less then fell further to around 1.5 million in 2020.

By contrast, retail employment increased steadily from 6 million in 1960 to approximately 9.5 million n 1980 and nearly 14 million jobs in 2000. It then reached about 14 milion jobs in 2020. Healthcare showed the most remarkable growth, rising from only 2 million jobs in 1960 to around 4.5 million in 1980, followed by 10 million in 2000. By 2020, it had increased to approximately 14 million, equal to the figure for retail

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The response satisfies all requirements of the task by accurately presenting an overview and reporting the main trends and comparisons across the four economic sectors over the sixty-year span. You successfully identify the key features, such as the decline in manufacturing and agriculture alongside the substantial growth in retail and healthcare. The overview is clear and well-synthesised, and the data cited is generally accurate with only minor approximations. To achieve the highest band, your supporting details could be slightly more precise throughout all body paragraphs to ensure complete data accuracy without any slight misreadings of intermediate years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

The report demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression from the introduction through the overarching overview into the detailed body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to group related data, with manufacturing and agriculture contrasted against retail and healthcare. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'By contrast', and 'similarly' are employed effectively to guide the reader through the comparisons, though a few transitions could be integrated more smoothly. Information is easy to follow, and referencing between sentences remains clear and consistent.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You utilise an adequate and appropriate range of vocabulary suitable for an academic task, incorporating terms like 'fluctuated', 'rose', 'dropped sharply', and 'remarkable growth'. There are some attempts to use less common expressions, though occasional word-choice and typographical errors occur, such as writing 'four sector' instead of 'four sectors', 'become' instead of 'became', 'milion', and missing capitalisation at the start of sentences like 'in 1960'. These minor lexical and mechanical slips do not impede communication, but eliminating them and showing a slightly wider, more precise control of collocations would elevate your lexical score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response features a workable mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and temporal clauses effectively to report data trends. Grammatical control is generally sound, though a few errors persist, such as article omissions and minor structural slips like 'less then fell further'. Punctuation and sentence boundaries are mostly managed well, and the errors present do not impede understanding. To reach a higher level, you should aim for a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences and tighter control over prepositions and modifiers within numerical descriptions.

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