Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-08

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 5.0)

The line graph illustrates the employment proportion in three diverse sectors, which included the public sector, private sector and self-employed people in Great Britain from 2000 to 2010.

Overall, it is evident that the public sector and self-employed workers increased over the period. In contrast, the private sector fell continuously. Meanwhile, the public sector recorded the highest figure for employment, whereas self-employed people had the lowest proportion throughout the period.

Looking at the more details, the public sector grew from 38% in the first year, then rose sharply from 40% to around 50% in 2005, before reaching approximately 57% by the end of the period. Similarly, the proportion of self-employed people grew from 18% in the initial year to reach 20% after two years. Then, it reached 18% in 2004 before increasing to around 30% in the final year.

In contrast, the private sector fell continuously from over 48% in the first year to 40% in 2003, then decreased dramatically to reach the bottom at about just 20% in 2010.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0

The response is completely off-topic. The prompt asks for a summary of electrical appliance ownership and housework time between 1920 and 2019, but the student has written about employment sectors in Great Britain from 2000 to 2010. Because the student failed to address the actual task requirements and data provided, the task achievement score is severely impacted. While the structure of the essay follows the conventions of an IELTS Task 1 report, the content is entirely irrelevant to the prompt provided.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

Despite the content being irrelevant, the essay itself is well-structured. It includes an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. The use of cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'Meanwhile', and 'Similarly' is effective and helps the flow of the text. Paragraphing is logical and clear. If the content had matched the prompt, this would be a high-scoring response for coherence and cohesion, as the internal logic of the writing is sound.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The student demonstrates a good range of vocabulary appropriate for a data-description task. Phrases like 'increased over the period', 'rose sharply', 'decreased dramatically', and 'reached the bottom' are well-chosen for describing trends. There is sufficient flexibility to convey precise meanings regarding the data presented. While the content is incorrect, the lexical control is strong and demonstrates an ability to use academic language effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The student uses a variety of complex sentence structures, such as 'The line graph illustrates the employment proportion in three diverse sectors, which included...', and '...before reaching approximately 57% by the end of the period.' The grammar is generally accurate, with only minor slips. Punctuation is used correctly, and the sentence construction is sophisticated. The control over complex structures is consistent throughout the response.

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

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