Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-09

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 6.5)

The two line graphs illustrate the changes in the ownership of electrical appliances and the amount of time spent on domestic tasks in a particular country from 1920 to 2019.

Overall, it is evident that the proportion of households owning all electrical appliances increased over the period. By contrast, the average number of hours spent on housework fell continually throughout the period.

Looking at the details, the percentage of washing machines in the initial year was around 40%, compared with 30% for vacuum cleaners, whereas refrigerators were not virtually present at that time. In 1940, washing machine ownership increased to approximately 60%, while refrigerator ownership rose sharply to around 55%. Meanwhile, 50% of households owned vacuum cleaners. Refrigerators became almost universal in 1980 and remained steady until the end of the period. Similarly, vacuum cleaner ownership increased steadily and became universal by 2000, remaining at the same level until 2019. In contrast, the figure for washing machines grew marginally from 60% in 1940 to 70%, then declined modestly in 1980 to around 65%, before rising steadily to reach approximately 75% in 2019.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have successfully identified the main trends and provided a clear overview of the data. You covered all three appliances and made relevant comparisons between them. However, the task instructions explicitly mention two charts: one for appliance ownership and one for the amount of time spent doing housework. You have completely omitted the data regarding the time spent on housework in your analysis. To achieve a higher band, you must ensure that all parts of the prompt are addressed. While the appliance data is well-summarised, the failure to include the second chart significantly impacts the task achievement score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response is logically organised with a clear introduction, an overview, and a body paragraph detailing the trends. You use cohesive devices such as 'By contrast', 'Looking at the details', 'Meanwhile', and 'In contrast' effectively to guide the reader through the data. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overview from the specific data points. The progression of ideas is clear, and the information is presented in a way that is easy to follow. The use of referencing is generally accurate, contributing to the overall flow of the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information clearly. Phrases such as 'proportion of households', 'remained steady', 'grew marginally', and 'declined modestly' are used accurately and appropriately for a data-driven task. There is some repetition of the word 'ownership', but this does not impede communication. You show an awareness of style by using precise verbs to describe trends. To reach a higher band, you could incorporate more sophisticated collocations or varied synonyms to describe the changes in the data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The response displays a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Your control over grammar is generally strong, with few errors. For example, 'the percentage of washing machines in the initial year was around 40%' is a clear and accurate construction. Punctuation is used correctly throughout. While the sentence structures are functional and accurate, they are somewhat repetitive in their pattern. Introducing a wider variety of complex structures, such as participial phrases or more varied subordinate clauses, would help demonstrate greater grammatical flexibility.

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

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