Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-18

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 7.0)

The line graph illustrates the data on the number of works in the four branches of economy in the US---manufacturing, retail, agriculture, and healthcare--- from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, healthcare and retail were initially not the most preferred jobs of the Americans but became the most in demand job in the end of the given period. Manufacturing sectors had initially provided the most jobs before it declined and overtaken by healthcare and retail. Agriculture had decreased and became the sector the offers the least number of job in the US by 2020.

Manufacturing sectors had produced the most jobs from 1960 till 2000; in 1960 (15 million) then it peaked in 1980 (20 million) before it gradually dropped to around 13 million in 2020. Although retail and healthcare jobs were initially not that in demand job in 1960 with around 6 million and 2 million, respectively, these sectors overtaken manufacturing and offered the greatest number of works to Americans with both sharing a staggering number about 16 million each.

Agriculture, on the other hand, was the only sector that the amount jobs produced kept on falling which started around 6 million in 1960 then dropped about a half in 1980 and it stabilized till 2000 but it decreased again and became the sector that has the least number of jobs in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The response selects the main trends and supports them with relevant figures: manufacturing rises from 15 million to a peak of 20 million before falling, while healthcare and retail reach about 16 million by 2020, and agriculture declines to the lowest level. The overview also identifies the broad shift away from manufacturing. This is a strong, well-supported account of the graph. However, the claim that retail and healthcare “overtaken manufacturing” is too broad: manufacturing still had more jobs than both in 2000, and the two sectors only match its level by 2020. Also, describing them as the most in demand is an interpretation of job numbers rather than a direct measure of demand. More precise comparisons would make the reporting consistently accurate.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is clearly organised into an introduction, an overview, and two detail paragraphs. Its progression from the overall shift to manufacturing, retail and healthcare, and then agriculture is easy to follow. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Although,” and “on the other hand” help signal relationships between ideas. Some cohesion is less controlled: the overview repeats points that are developed again in the detail paragraphs, and the long sentence beginning “Although retail and healthcare jobs…” combines several comparisons in a way that makes the timeline less clear. The final paragraph also repeats the decline already noted in the overview. More concise grouping by trend, with clearer time-based comparisons, would make the progression smoother and the linking less noticeable.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

There is enough vocabulary to describe the main movements, including “peaked,” “gradually dropped,” “stabilized,” and “declined.” The writer also attempts a range of expressions rather than relying only on basic verbs. However, several choices are imprecise or unnatural for this chart: “number of works” should be “number of jobs,” “branches of economy” is awkward, and “most preferred jobs” and “in demand” imply preferences or demand that the graph does not measure. “Staggering number” is also overly emphatic for a neutral report. These choices do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and natural collocation. Prefer neutral terms such as “employment,” “sectors,” and “reached a similar level.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “before,” “although,” and “which.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “Manufacturing sectors had produced” uses an unnecessary past perfect, while “these sectors overtaken manufacturing” is missing an auxiliary verb. In “the sector the offers,” the relative clause is malformed, and “the amount jobs produced” lacks a required preposition or determiner. There are also agreement and article problems in phrases such as “the most in demand job” and “the sector that has the least number.” Greater control of verb forms, clause construction, and singular/plural agreement would make the complex sentences more accurate.

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