Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-11

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 illustrates information about number of jobs among four sectors of the economy in the US over the period from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, it is lucid that retail experienced a general upward trend, whereas agriculture followed a differnt pattern. Manufacturing recorded the highest figure during 1980 among all the categories, while agriculture had the lowest in the same year. Another notable feature is that healthcare experienced the most significant increase while manufacturing showed a continuous decrease after the year 1980.

Looking first at manufacturing, the figure stood at 20 in 1980. It then fell to around 16 in 2000. On the other hand retail and healthcare showed a continuous increase and reaching the same figures in 2020.

Turning to agriculture. It started as the second highest among all the categories showing a figure of 6 in 1960 but subsquently fell to approximately 3 in 1980. It then remained stable until 2020 before felling at approximately zero in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify several important patterns, including manufacturing’s peak in 1980 and the substantial growth in healthcare, and you provide some supporting figures. However, coverage is uneven: retail and healthcare are said to reach the same level in 2020, but their shared figure of about 16 million is not stated, and retail’s earlier rise is not described with data. The agriculture account also misreports the endpoint: it falls to about 2 million in 2020, not approximately zero. The overview’s claim that manufacturing showed a continuous decrease after 1980 is broadly supported, but the response would be more complete with a clearer comparison of all four sectors at the beginning and end of the period.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for manufacturing and agriculture. This gives the reader a coherent overall route through the information. Linking phrases such as “Looking first” and “Turning to” help signal shifts, although the organisation leaves retail and healthcare details compressed into one sentence rather than developing them clearly. Some connections are awkward or incomplete, as in “On the other hand retail and healthcare showed a continuous increase and reaching the same figures in 2020.” The standalone “Turning to agriculture.” also interrupts the flow. Grouping the rising sectors together and using clearer comparisons would make progression more consistent and cohesion less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-relevant vocabulary, including “upward trend,” “remained stable,” “stood at,” and “significant increase.” These expressions help describe changes and comparisons, and the meaning is generally clear. Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural, however: “it is lucid that” is not a natural way to introduce an overview, and “felling at approximately zero” is both an unsuitable verb choice and an inaccurate description of the chart. There are also spelling errors in “differnt” and “subsquently.” Aim for precise trend language such as “declined to around 2 million” and use standard collocations like “the number of jobs” rather than “number of jobs among four sectors.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex structures, including contrast with “whereas” and time clauses such as “after the year 1980.” Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems are evident. In “On the other hand retail and healthcare showed a continuous increase and reaching the same figures,” the missing comma after the introductory phrase and the mismatch between “showed” and “reaching” weaken the sentence; write, for example, “Retail and healthcare, on the other hand, increased continuously and reached the same figure in 2020.” “Turning to agriculture.” is a sentence fragment, while “It then remained stable until 2020 before felling…” has an unclear grammatical construction. More consistently complete sentences and controlled verb forms would improve accuracy.

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