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 the number of jobs in four sectors of the eonomy in the US over the period of 6 years.

Overall, employement in retail and healthcare increased througout the period, whereas agriculture experieced overall decline. Manufacturing was the only sector to rise initially before falling over the years. By 2020, retail and healthcare offered highest number of jobs while agriculture had the lowest.

Manufacturing sector started at 15 million, highest employement in 1960, and surged to a peak of 20 million in 1980 before declining to 18 million in 2000 and 13 million by 2020. Agriculture, by contrast, followed a downward trend. It stood at 6 million 1960 before falling to 3 million in 1980. Afterwards, it remained stable in 2000 and fell slightly to 2 million by the year 2020.

Healthcare, started at only 2 million in 1960, surged to 5 million in 1980 before increasing dramatically to 11 million and 17 million in the years 2000 and 2020 respectively. Retial sector showed a similar trend, rising steadily to 15 million in 2000 from 6 million in 1960 before gradually increasing to peak of 17 million in the year 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main patterns and provide a clear overview: retail and healthcare rise, agriculture declines, and manufacturing peaks before falling. The account also includes relevant figures for all four sectors, and most are accurate. However, manufacturing is reported at 18 million in 2000 rather than the chart’s 17 million, while healthcare and retail are both given as 17 million in 2020 instead of approximately 16 million. The overview’s claim that retail and healthcare offered the highest number of jobs is broadly right, but it would be more precise to note that they finish level. This covers the task well and shows some selection of key features; greater precision in the figures and comparisons would make the report more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is arranged in a sensible sequence: an introduction, an overview, and then two detail paragraphs grouping manufacturing with agriculture and healthcare with retail. This makes the main trends easy to follow, and contrasts such as “by contrast” help connect the information. Some linking is repetitive, however, particularly the repeated use of “before” and “by” to describe changes. The final paragraph also shifts from healthcare to retail without a particularly clear transition, and “similar trend” is a little imprecise because the two sectors do not rise at the same rate. Use more varied, accurate comparisons and clearer links between the paired series to make the progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of trend vocabulary, including “surged,” “peak,” “downward trend,” “remained stable,” and “rising steadily.” These choices communicate the main movements, though some are not fully precise: “surged” is stronger than necessary for every increase, and “gradually increasing to peak” is awkward for the final retail change. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “eonomy,” “employement,” “througout,” “experieced,” and “Retial.” In addition, “offered highest number of jobs” is an imprecise collocation for describing employment figures. Check spelling carefully and choose trend verbs that match the size and pace of each change; this will make the vocabulary more accurate and natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including the contrast clause “whereas agriculture experienced overall decline” and the time sequence “before declining … and … by 2020.” Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “Healthcare, started at only 2 million” incorrectly separates the subject from its verb with a comma; “It stood at 6 million 1960” needs “in 1960”; and “increasing to peak” needs an article (“to a peak”). The phrase “highest employment in 1960” also lacks a determiner in its sentence structure. Review articles, prepositions, and punctuation around introductory clauses, while continuing to use varied sentence forms.

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