Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The line graph illustrates the changes in the number of employment of the US over a period of sixty years from 1960 to 2020. It compares four different sectors namley Manufacturing, Retail, Agriculture, and Healthcare. The units are measured in millions.

Overall, the data reveals contrasting, manufacturing declining after a peaking in 1980, while Retail and Healthcare grew steadily. Agriculture remaining relatively stable with minor fluctuations.

For instance, Manufacturing employed had the highest figures of sectors in 1960 reaching at 15 million to a peak of 20 millions in 1980 before declining sharply to 13 millions in 2020. Similarly, Healthcare followed an upward trend from only 2 millions to 16 millions an eightfold increase. Effectively matching Retail, rising steadily from 6 millions to 16 millions by 2020.

In contrast, Agriculture exhibited a downward trend, with its figure decreasing from 6 millions to 2 millions and then pleatued in 3 million in 2000.

The graph shows the trends of the sectors during the given period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the four sectors and give a relevant overview of the main contrasts: manufacturing peaks in 1980 and then falls, retail and healthcare rise, and agriculture declines overall. The key figures are mostly accurate, including manufacturing’s 15-to-20-to-13 million pattern and healthcare’s rise from 2 to 16 million. This covers the task well, with some features more fully reported than others. However, the overview says retail and healthcare “grew steadily,” which is not quite precise for retail, and agriculture did not plateau at 3 million in 2000: it was at 3 million in both 1980 and 2000 before falling to 2 million. To strengthen the response further, make the overview more exact and compare the sectors’ positions at the end, when retail and healthcare both reached about 16 million.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the main trends. Linking phrases such as “Overall,” “Similarly,” and “In contrast” help signal relationships between ideas. However, progression is weakened by the final sentence, “The graph shows the trends of the sectors during the given period,” which repeats the introduction without adding information. Some connections are also unclear: “Effectively matching Retail” is separated from the preceding sentence and does not clearly explain the comparison. Grouping the rising sectors together and then contrasting them with manufacturing and agriculture would create a more consistent progression. Use linking devices to clarify comparisons rather than simply marking each new point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “peak,” “declining,” “upward trend,” and “downward trend,” and the reader can generally understand the intended comparisons. There is some variety in how trends are described. However, several noticeable word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision: “number of employment” is unnatural, “Manufacturing employed had” is incorrectly formed, and “pleatued” is misspelled. “The data reveals contrasting” is also incomplete and makes the overview difficult to interpret. Aim for accurate, conventional phrases such as “number of jobs,” “employment in manufacturing,” and “the figures show contrasting trends.” Check spelling and use sector names consistently as labels or as nouns in complete phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast clause beginning “while” and a comparison using “from … to …”. The main trends remain understandable, but some sentence structures are incomplete or awkward. For example, “Overall, the data reveals contrasting, manufacturing declining…” lacks a clear grammatical connection between the ideas, while “Agriculture remaining relatively stable…” is a fragment. In “Manufacturing employed had the highest figures,” the verb pattern is also faulty, and “before declining sharply” leaves the subject unclear. There are some errors with articles, plurals, and sentence boundaries as well. Build each trend statement around a clear subject and finite verb, then check that clauses joined by commas are grammatically complete.

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