Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-06
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 5.5)
The charts show percentage of households with electric appliances from 1920 till 2019 and the number of hours of housework per week, per household.
starting from the year 1920, the percentage of electric appliance usage is absolute zero. It can be seen that from year 1940, it got an increase. Appliances like washing machines, refrigerators and wacuum cleaners got in demand their percentage got increased.
By the year 1960, refrigerator usage had a massive increase and the percentage got high enough to reach 90% while the others were on 70%.
Moving further, in 1980s and 2000s, washing machines sales got up and down. Refrigerators got the usage percentage of 100% from 1980 till 2019. wacuum cleaners were on 100% by the year 2019.
In the case of numbers of hours of housework per week, it is shown in the chart that by the year 1920, 50 hours were given to housework per week. After years passing, the hours started to reduce decade by decade until it went to 10 hours per week in the year 2019.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the charts, identifying the trends in appliance ownership and the decline in housework hours. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial. For instance, the description of the appliance trends is a bit repetitive and lacks precise data points for the intermediate years. While the overall trend is clear, the comparison between the two charts—specifically the inverse relationship between appliance ownership and housework hours—could be more explicitly highlighted to demonstrate a higher level of analytical skill. The overview is integrated into the body paragraphs rather than being a distinct, clear summary of the main trends.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the information. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. Phrases like 'Moving further' and 'After years passing' are used to transition between ideas, but they feel a bit unnatural. The progression of ideas is generally logical, but the connection between the two charts could be strengthened with better linking words to show the relationship between the data sets. Paragraphing is present, but the internal structure of the paragraphs could be more cohesive to improve the flow of information.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are some spelling errors, such as 'wacuum' instead of 'vacuum'. The range of vocabulary is limited, relying on basic verbs like 'got' and 'reached'. To achieve a higher band, you should aim to use more varied and precise vocabulary to describe trends, such as 'fluctuated', 'plateaued', or 'experienced a significant surge'. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of sophisticated lexical items restricts the score in this criterion.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response uses a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'the percentage of electric appliance usage is absolute zero' (should be 'was') and 'After years passing' (awkward phrasing). There are also issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, they are frequent enough to impact the overall fluency and accuracy of the writing. More attention to verb tense consistency is needed.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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