Band 8.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 8.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-01

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 8.5)

The line graph illustrates the percentage of households that owned three electrical appliances (a washing machine, a refrigerator and a vacuum cleaner) as well as the number of hours of housework per household per week between 1920 and 2019.

Overall, it is readily apparent that the ownership of refrigerators and vacuum cleaners increased significantly throughout the period, while the washing machine experienced some fluctuations. In contrast, the number of hours spent on housework decreased steadily.

At the beginning of the period, the washing machine had the highest ownership rate at approximately 40%, after which it rose to around 70% in 1960. Although the figure fell slightly to about 60% in 1980, it recovered to 70% by 2019. Meanwhile, the proportion of households with a vacuum cleaner increased dramatically from 30% in 1920 to almost 100% in 2000, after which it remained virtually unchanged until the end of the period

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The refrigerator, which was owned by almost no households in 1920, grew rapidly to around 90% in 1980 before reaching 100% in 2000, where it remained stable until 2019. As the ownership of electrical appliances increased, the number of hours of housework fell from 50 hours per week in 1920 to around 20 hours in 1960, after which it declined gradually to approximately 10 hours by 2019

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AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.5

The response effectively covers all requirements of the task. You have successfully identified the main trends for all three appliances and the housework hours, providing clear comparisons between the categories. The overview is concise and highlights the key inverse relationship between appliance ownership and housework time. Data points are accurately selected to support the descriptions, such as the refrigerator reaching 100% by 2000 and the housework hours dropping from 50 to 10. The response is well-structured and provides a comprehensive summary of the provided charts.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.5

The response is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph has a distinct focus: the introduction and overview, the appliance trends, and the final comparison with housework hours. Cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'Meanwhile', and 'Although' are used effectively to link sentences and ideas. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the flow of information is smooth throughout the text, making it easy for the reader to follow the development of the data trends.

Lexical Resource — Band 8.0

You have used a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe the trends accurately. Phrases like 'increased significantly', 'experienced some fluctuations', 'remained virtually unchanged', and 'declined gradually' demonstrate a good command of academic language. The word choices are precise and appropriate for a report on statistical data. There are no spelling errors, and the vocabulary is used naturally to convey the information without repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 8.5

The response demonstrates a high level of grammatical control. You have used a variety of complex structures, such as the opening subordinate clause 'As the ownership of electrical appliances increased...' and the relative clause 'The refrigerator, which was owned by almost no households...'. The majority of sentences are error-free, and the punctuation is used correctly to support the clarity of the text. The tense usage is consistent and appropriate for describing historical data.

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