Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-07-29

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The charts below show the changes in ownership of electrical appliances and amount of time spent doing housework in households in one country between 1920 and 2019.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Percentage of households with electrical appliances (1920-2019)

Student answer (Band 7.5)

The two charts illustrate changes in the proportion of households owning free electrical appliances and the average number of hours spent on housework per week in one country between 1920 to 2019.

Overall, ownership of all three appliances rose considerably over the period, with refrigerators and vacuum cleaner becoming almost universal by the end of the period. In contrast, the amount of time spent on housework declined dramatically.

In 1920, around 40% of households owned a washing machine and about 30% had a vacuum cleaner, while almost no homes had a refrigerator. By 1940, ownership of three appliances had increased to roughly half of households. Refrigerator's ownerships then risen rapidly, reaching about 90% in 1960 and 100% in 1980, where it remained until 2019. Vacuum cleaner's ownership also grew steadily, from 30% in 1920 to full penetration by 2000. Washing machines rose more gradually, from 40% to approximately 70% in 1960 before dropping slightly in 1980 and then recovering to around 75% in 2019.

Meanwhile, the average times doing housework fail from about 50 hours per week in1920 to 35 hours in 1940 and 20 hours in 1960. The figure continued to decrease to around 15 hours in 1980 and 2000, before reaching just 10 hours in 2019.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The student has effectively summarized the main trends from the charts, noting the increase in ownership of electrical appliances and the decrease in hours spent on housework. However, the task could further benefit from clearer comparisons across the years, particularly highlighting the differences in rates of ownership growth and how this correlates with housework hours. The overview is quite clear, but could be slightly more comprehensive.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response is well-structured with a clear introduction, an overview, and detailed paragraphs discussing specific changes. However, some ideas could be linked more effectively, such as by using transitional phrases. Phrases like "in contrast" were appropriately used, but linking the declining hours spent on housework directly to appliance ownership more explicitly would enhance coherence. The flow is generally logical, but minor adjustments could make connections clearer.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.5

The vocabulary used is appropriate for the task, employing terms such as "ownership" and "average number" effectively. There are some instances where word formation is incorrect, such as "Refrigerator's ownerships" which should be "Refrigerator ownership". Additionally, terms like "full penetration" could be replaced with more common phrases like "widespread adoption" to enhance clarity and precision. Overall, there is a good range of vocabulary, but a few errors detract from its effectiveness.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The grammatical range in the response is generally good, with a mix of simple and complex sentences. However, there are several grammatical errors, such as "fail from" instead of "fell from" and inaccuracies in pluralization ("ownerships"). Punctuation is mostly correct, but the phrase "In 1920, around 40% of households owned a washing machine" could be improved with clearer clause separation to strengthen readability. These errors slightly affect communication but do not obscure the meaning.

Overall feedback

Your response demonstrates a good understanding of the task and effectively highlights key trends in the charts. The structure is logical, with a clear introduction and overview followed by detailed paragraphs. To improve, focus on making comparisons clearer and ensuring precision in your language use, especially in terms of vocabulary and grammatical accuracy. Aim for a more varied sentence structure and reduce errors in word forms and punctuation. Overall, keep practicing to enhance coherence and grammatical accuracy, which will further strengthen your writing.

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