Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-16

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 graph tracks the number of jobs in millions of US economy in four sectors from 1960 to 2020. Overall, the number of jobs in manufacturing and agricultural sector has declined whereas, retail and healthcare shows incearse in jobs, employing equal number of people.

From 1960 to 1980, manufacturing sector saw increase in numbers from 15 to 20 millions, reaching its peak. Retail and Healthcare sector followed similar pattern and rose steadily to 10 and 5 million each respectively. Agriculture, on the other hand, declined from 6 million to 3 million.

Over the next 2 decades, from 1980 to 2000, manufacturing sector declined steadily to 17 million in 2000. Retail and healthcare increased significantly from 10 to 15 millions and 5 to 11 millions respectively. Agriculture sector levelled off and remained stable at 3 millions.

Fom 2000 to 2020 Manufacturing sector fell to approx 13 millions. there was slight increase in retail sector of 2 millions. Healthcare kept rising steadily to 16 milliom jobs. Employment in agriculture fell further to 2.5 million jobs.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response gives a clear overview of the main contrasting trends: manufacturing and agriculture decline overall, while retail and healthcare rise, and it notes their equal employment level at the end. The body supports this with relevant figures across the three periods, including manufacturing’s peak of 20 million in 1980 and agriculture’s fall to 3 million by that year. Most figures match the chart; the final agriculture figure is given as 2.5 million rather than approximately 2 million, a small discrepancy. To strengthen the report further, make the final comparison more explicit: retail and healthcare both reach about 16 million in 2020, while manufacturing remains below them at about 13 million. The overview is effective, though this endpoint ranking could be stated more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The information is organised clearly: an introduction and overview are followed by three chronological paragraphs covering 1960–1980, 1980–2000 and 2000–2020. This gives the reader a logical progression, and linking expressions such as “on the other hand” and “over the next 2 decades” help signal contrasts and time shifts. The sector comparisons within each period are generally easy to follow. Some cohesion is less polished because the final paragraph begins with “Fom 2000 to 2020” and then shifts abruptly to a lowercase “there”; consistent sentence boundaries and capitalisation would make the progression smoother. You could also vary the repeated “sector” and “increased” constructions while keeping the chronological structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for describing trends, with useful choices such as “reaching its peak,” “declined steadily,” “levelled off” and “rose steadily.” These allow the writer to distinguish rises, falls and stability. However, some word forms, spelling and collocations are inaccurate: “incearse” and “milliom” are misspelled, while “number of jobs in millions of US economy” and “increase in retail sector of 2 millions” are awkwardly expressed. The range is therefore functional but not consistently precise. Aim for standard chart-reporting phrases and check spelling and plural forms; for example, use “the number of jobs in the US economy” and “an increase of two million jobs.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including contrast clauses such as “Agriculture, on the other hand, declined…” and time phrases that organise the data. Meaning is generally clear, but some grammatical errors remain. In the overview, “manufacturing and agricultural sector has declined” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “retail and healthcare shows” should use a plural verb. Articles and number forms are also inconsistent in phrases such as “in manufacturing sector” and “20 millions.” The final paragraph has a sentence-boundary and capitalisation issue: “...13 millions. there was...” Review agreement, articles and singular/plural forms, and proofread punctuation to improve accuracy while retaining the varied sentence structures.

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