Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-14
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 line graphs present the changes in ownership of electrical appliances and amount of time spent doing housework in households in one country between 1920 and 2019.
Overall, it can be seen that, refrigerator had highest proportion of households, vacuum cleaner increased significantly. Meanwhile, washing machine represented relatively stable throughout the period, while housework had sharply decreased number of hours work.
Regarding the households appliances, refrigerator had the highest percentage of the used ,stood at 10% in 1920, followed by 50% in 1940 and then increased gradually to 90%in 1960. Similarly, in 1980, remained relatively stable in throughout the period, which was around 100% in 2019. In contrast, washing machine accounted for 30% in 1920, and after then rose from 40% to 100% during the same period. Although, vacuum cleaner increased to 40% in1920, fluctuated with 60% to 70% between 1980 and 2019.
Turing to the housework per week, household had the highest number of hours, accounted for 50 hours per week in 1920, after then consistently decreased to 20 hours per week in 1960, which was remained unchanged in 2019.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response provides a general overview and identifies key trends, such as the increase in appliance ownership and the decline in housework hours. However, the data reporting is often inaccurate or confusing. For example, stating the refrigerator was at 10% in 1920 and 90% in 1960 is not supported by the provided charts, and the description of the washing machine's trend is contradictory. The summary of the housework hours is also imprecise. While the main features are addressed, the lack of accuracy in reporting the data points significantly hinders the task achievement, as the information provided does not reliably reflect the source material.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. There is an attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'Meanwhile', 'Similarly', and 'In contrast'. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by confusing sentence structures and inaccurate data reporting. The use of referencing is sometimes unclear, and the transition between ideas feels mechanical rather than fluid. While the overall arrangement is coherent enough to follow the general intent, the internal cohesion within paragraphs is often faulty, making it difficult to track the specific comparisons being made.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it is limited and repetitive. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'the highest percentage of the used' and 'number of hours work'. The student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary like 'proportion', 'fluctuated', and 'consistently', but these are often used in contexts that are grammatically or logically incorrect. The range is sufficient to convey the basic meaning, but the lack of precision and the frequent errors in collocation prevent a higher score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Issues include incorrect verb tenses, missing articles, and faulty sentence construction, such as 'which was remained unchanged' and 'Although, vacuum cleaner increased'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with spacing errors around numbers and percentages. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar and sentence structure is noticeable and occasionally causes the reader to pause, which is characteristic of the Band 5 level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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