Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-19

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 two charts illustrate the changes in possession of electrical appliances and the hours spent doing household chores i.e., washing clothes, preparing meals and cleaning the house in a particular country in a century, from 1920 to 2019. Overall, two main trends can be observed from from the charts. The first one shows that , with time, households owning electrical appliances increased. On the other hand, the second one show that, with time, number of hours doing housework had a fall. From 1920 to 1940, it was the washing machine which was the most owned electrical item in households. Eventually, that major spot was taken by refrigerator in 1960 to 1980; followed by vacuum cleaner in 2000 to 2019. In terms of the hours spent on household chores, it plummeted between 1920 to 1960, and had a steady fall in the years between 1960 to 2019.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the score. While you have identified the main trends, the analysis is quite brief and lacks sufficient detail. For instance, you mention the appliances but do not provide specific data points or percentages from the chart to support your claims. To improve, ensure you include key figures (e.g., the percentage of households with a refrigerator in 1980) to make your summary more analytical. The overview is present, but the lack of data support and the failure to meet the length requirement prevent a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is logically organized with an introduction, an overview, and a body paragraph. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the entire analysis is compressed into one block. Using cohesive devices like 'furthermore' or 'in contrast' would help improve the flow between sentences. There are some minor issues with punctuation, such as the unnecessary space before the comma in 'shows that , with time'. The progression of ideas is clear, but the lack of paragraph breaks makes the text feel somewhat disjointed and underdeveloped.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the main points, such as 'plummeted', 'possession', and 'electrical appliances'. However, the vocabulary is somewhat repetitive, particularly the phrase 'with time' used twice in the overview. There are also minor errors in word choice, such as 'number of hours doing housework had a fall'—a more natural phrasing would be 'the number of hours spent on housework declined'. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise academic collocations and avoid repeating the same structures.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'the second one show that' (subject-verb agreement) and 'from from the charts' (repetition). Additionally, the use of articles is inconsistent, such as 'taken by refrigerator' instead of 'taken by the refrigerator'. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and article usage to improve accuracy.

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

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