Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-23

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 given line graph illustrates the information about number of jobs in mentioned four sectors of the economy( manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare) in the US during the period of 1960 to 2020. The number of jobs are given in millions.

Overall, economy of manufacturing sector saw rise in number of jobs until 1980 and declined afterwards. Retail sector showed consistent increase in job number till 2000 after that it got stabilized. However, healthcare depicted regular increase over the period of time. Conversely, agriculture showed continuous fall.

Manufacturing sector accounted for highest number of job from 1960 to 1980 after that it kept on decreasing. Agriculture sector since the begining showed continuous decline in the number of jobs from 1960 to 2020

On the other hand, retail and healthcare showed elevated number of jobs consistently and continuously but retail levelled off after 2000 whereas healthcare kept rising up regularly over the entire period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main overall patterns accurately: manufacturing rises to a peak and then falls, agriculture declines, and healthcare grows throughout. You also note that manufacturing is initially the largest sector and that retail levels off after 2000. These are relevant features and provide a clear overview. However, some comparisons are not fully precise: retail does not simply stabilise, but rises from about 15 million jobs in 2000 to 16 million in 2020, while healthcare reaches a similar level of about 16 million. The body also repeats broad trends without reporting any figures, so the scale and relative changes are not well developed. Include key values at the main years and compare the sectors’ positions at the end of the period.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing the trends. The overview helps the reader understand the main patterns before the details, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “However,” and “On the other hand” show how ideas relate. At times, though, the progression is repetitive: the final paragraph restates that retail and healthcare rise, while the preceding paragraph has already described several of the same trends. The connection between the sector descriptions could also be clearer, and “after that it got stabilized” is an imprecise reference to the period after 2000. Organise the body around meaningful comparisons and use clear time references to make the progression more cohesive.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing trends, including “declined,” “continuous fall,” “levelled off,” and “regular increase.” These choices make the general direction of each series understandable. Some expressions are awkward or imprecise, however, such as “economy of manufacturing sector,” “elevated number of jobs,” and “kept rising up regularly.” “Stabilized” also overstates the retail pattern, which continues to rise slightly after 2000. There are spelling and word-form slips, including “begining” and “levelled”/“levelled off” inconsistently expressed, and the repeated use of “number of jobs” limits variety. Prefer standard collocations such as “employment in manufacturing” and precise trend language, while checking spelling and consistency.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including contrast clauses with “However” and “whereas,” and the main trends are generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain. For example, “The number of jobs are given” has subject–verb disagreement, and “number of job” needs a plural noun. The opening sentence also needs clearer article and punctuation use around the sector list. In “Agriculture sector since the begining showed continuous decline,” the placement of the time phrase makes the sentence awkward, and the sentence lacks an article before “continuous decline.” Several sentences are long or joined in ways that make the relationships less controlled. Review agreement, articles, plurals, and sentence boundaries, and aim for more consistently accurate complex structures.

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