Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-17

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 figure provides information on the number of jobs in 4 sectors of the economy in the United States from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, number of in the US across the 4 sectors is not symmetric. Some sectors are thriving and providing more opportunities, while other sectors are plateauing and maybe even failing. Manufacturing statred as the most prominent of them all, next in line are retail and agriculture, and the lowest of them was healthcare. But things changed dramatically over the next 60 years.

The 2 sectors that were thriving and creating more jobs were retail and healthcare. In 1960 healthcare was the minimum job-providing sector, creating about just less than 2.5 million jobs. Retail was doing a little better, with around 5.5 million jobs. Between 1960 & 2000, both sectors were growing with about equal slope. But since 2000, the rise of healthcare jobs was bigger than that of retail. Both ended as having equal amount of jobs with over 15 million jobs.

On the contrary, both manufacturing and agriculture were failing to provide more jobs year after year. Between 1960 & 1980, it seemed that the manufacturing sector was continuing to grow while the farming sector was declining heavily. But in the years that came, the manufacturing industry had strong, steep, constant downfall ending the period with lower than 15 million jobs, which is the number it had started with in 1960. The farming industry showed no sign of advancing, staying nearly consistent at around 2.5 million jobs.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main contrast between the growing retail and healthcare sectors and the declining manufacturing and agriculture sectors, and your overview notes that manufacturing began as the largest while healthcare was smallest. Several comparisons are supported with relevant figures, such as healthcare at about 2 million and retail at around 6 million in 1960, and both reaching roughly 16 million by 2020. However, some details are inaccurate or imprecise: retail and healthcare do not finish with equal totals, as retail is about 16 million and healthcare also about 16 million, but the claim that healthcare’s rise was greater only after 2000 overlooks its faster growth from 1980 to 2000. Agriculture is described as staying around 2.5 million, although it falls from about 6 million to 2 million. More precise reporting and clearer coverage of the key stages would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for the rising and declining sectors. This makes the main comparisons easy to follow, and transitions such as “On the contrary” signal the shift between groups. The progression is generally logical, but some linking and reference choices are less precise. For example, “Both ended as having equal amount of jobs” is awkward and leaves the comparison slightly unclear, while “the years that came” is a vague time reference. The overview also includes several evaluative claims (“thriving,” “failing”) before the numerical trends are fully established. Use more direct links to dates and figures, and make each paragraph’s comparisons explicit, to achieve smoother and more controlled cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of vocabulary for describing trends, including “declining,” “growing,” “steep downfall,” and “prominent,” and the reader can understand the broad patterns. There are also attempts at less common expressions, but some are imprecise or unnatural for an academic chart summary. “Thriving and providing more opportunities” interprets job numbers as economic success, while “failing to provide more jobs” is evaluative rather than neutral. “Equal slope” and “strong, steep, constant downfall” are also awkward collocations, and “farming industry” is less precise than the chart’s “agriculture” sector. Spelling slips such as “statred” further limit accuracy. Prefer concise, neutral trend language and check spelling and collocations carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use both simple and complex sentence forms, including time clauses such as “Between 1960 and 1980, it seemed that…” and contrastive structures such as “while the farming sector was declining.” Most sentences communicate the intended trend, but some grammatical errors and awkward constructions remain. The overview begins “Overall, number of in the US,” which is missing a clear noun phrase and article; “Both ended as having equal amount of jobs” has an incorrect construction and singular “amount”; and “the number it had started with” would be clearer as “the number it started with.” There are also inconsistent forms in phrases such as “the lowest of them was healthcare.” Aim for complete, well-formed noun phrases and check articles, agreement, and sentence patterns while retaining your range of structures.

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