Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-14

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

Number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US, 1960-2020

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The information illustrated in the garph below is about the number of jobs in four different economical sectors in the US between 1960 and 2020.

Four sectors include manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare. At start three of the sectors shows rise in number of jobs but only two of them continued the trend. Only agriculture sector is the one starting with downward trend.

In 1980 number of jobs in maufacturing sector rise by 5 million which is maximum in last 20 year as compared to other sectors, but after that there is a downward trend and number of jobs in 2020 are even less then 1960. Retail sector showed continues growth with almost 10 million increase in number of jobs between 1960 and 2020. Healthcare sector continued the rising trend and has overall maximum growth of more then 10 million jobs.

Agriculture sector jobs droped in 1980 by roughly around 2.5 million and for the next 20 year the number is consistent and then from 2020 there is a drop again, which makes it the ony sector with overall downward trend.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the four sectors and report several important patterns, including manufacturing’s rise to 1980 followed by decline, the growth in retail and healthcare, and agriculture’s overall fall. These observations are generally grounded in the chart. However, the overview is not fully accurate: you say that only two sectors continued their initial upward trend, although retail and healthcare both rose throughout, while manufacturing rose and then fell. Some details are also unclear or imprecise. For example, manufacturing in 2020 was below its 1960 level, but the response does not give the key comparison clearly, and agriculture fell from about 6 million to 3 million by 1980, rather than by 2.5 million. A clearer overview and more precise comparisons would strengthen the report.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a broad summary, and paragraphs describing the sector trends. The reader can follow the main comparisons, and linking phrases such as “but after that” and “for the next 20 year” help show sequence. However, the overview’s statement that only two sectors continued their rise conflicts with the later account of retail and healthcare, which both show sustained growth. Some transitions are also awkward or unclear, particularly “then from 2020 there is a drop again,” which does not clearly describe a change occurring by 2020. Grouping the rising sectors together and contrasting them with manufacturing and agriculture would create a more consistent progression, with clearer references to the relevant years.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of trend vocabulary, including “downward trend,” “continued the rising trend,” “consistent,” and “overall growth,” so the main ideas are usually understandable. However, several word-choice and collocation problems reduce precision: “economical sectors” is not the natural term here, “maximum in last 20 year” is awkward, and “continued growth” would be clearer as “continued to grow.” Spelling errors such as “garph,” “maufacturing,” “droped,” and “ony” are noticeable. Some phrases are also unnecessarily wordy, such as “roughly around.” Aim for accurate, concise chart language and check spelling carefully; this would make your vocabulary more controlled and appropriate to an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses linked with “but,” “which,” and “and,” and the overall meaning is generally clear. Some grammatical errors remain, however. In “three of the sectors shows rise,” the plural subject requires “show a rise”; “number of jobs … rise” also needs a past-tense verb, “rose.” Articles and sentence structure need attention in phrases such as “At start” and “Only agriculture sector.” Tense use shifts between past reporting and present forms, for example “showed” followed by “continued” and “has,” so keep the account consistently in the past. These errors rarely prevent understanding, but more reliable agreement, articles, and tense control would improve accuracy.

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