Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-31

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 graph below illustrates

the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US ranging from 1960 to 2020. Overall, the number of jobs from healthcare sector and retail sector has been increasing. While the jobs from manufacturing and agriculture sector has seen a downfall.

When we look at the year 1960, the number of jobs from both agriculture and retail sector were same. They created above 5 million jobs. The manufacturing sector contributed more to the economy while the healthcare sector was the least contributor. Moving on to the next year that is 1980, the manufacturing sector was at an all time high which created around 20 million jobs. Nevertheless, the healthcare sector saw a rise and created well above 5 million jobs. The retail sector too saw a huge rise to around 10 million jobs. The jobs from agriculture sector was reduced to around 3 million.

The next two years saw the manufacturing sector contributing lesser jobs when compared to the retail and healthcare industry. The agriculture sector has maintained the same number of jobs as it was in 1980 and reduced in the next 20 years.

The jobs created by retail and healthcare sectors will be more in the future whereas the jobs created by the manufacturing and agriculture sectors will be less.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the broad contrast between rising employment in healthcare and retail and declining employment in agriculture, and you include several relevant figures, such as manufacturing peaking at about 20 million in 1980 and agriculture falling to around 3 million. However, the overview is not fully accurate: manufacturing first rises before declining, rather than simply falling, and retail and healthcare do not both increase throughout the period—retail rises steadily, while healthcare rises from a lower starting point. The later paragraph is vague about the 2000 and 2020 figures, and the final prediction about future jobs is unsupported because the graph ends in 2020. A clearer overview and more precise comparisons across all four years would make the report more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an overview to details about 1960 and 1980, then to later years. Time markers such as “Moving on to the next year” and “The next two years” help signal progression. However, the final paragraph shifts to predictions rather than continuing to report the graph, and “the next two years” is unclear because the chart shows two later dates, not consecutive years. The middle paragraph also groups the 2000 and 2020 data without clearly distinguishing them or giving specific comparisons. Use one paragraph for the overview and organise the details by period or by sector, with explicit references to 2000 and 2020.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “contributed,” “rise,” “reduced,” and “maintained,” and the main trends are generally understandable. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “the least contributor,” though this expression is not natural in this context. Repetition of “jobs,” “sector,” and “created” limits variety, while phrases such as “seen a downfall” and “huge rise” are imprecise or informal for an academic report. Choose more exact trend language and vary the nouns used to describe employment levels. For example, describe figures as employment or job numbers, and use “declined” or “increased substantially” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including the contrast introduced by “While” and the time clauses beginning “When we look at” and “Moving on.” The meaning is usually clear, but some errors in agreement and tense remain. For example, “the number of jobs … has been increasing” should agree with the singular subject “number,” while “the jobs … has seen” has a plural subject and needs “have seen.” Similarly, “the manufacturing sector was at an all time high which created” has an unclear relative clause, and “the agriculture sector was reduced” is an awkward passive construction. Keep the reporting consistently in the past and check subject–verb agreement and clause structure.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.