Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-26

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 charts show the percentage of households that had electrical appliances and the number of hours people spent doing housework each week between 1920 and 2019.

Overall, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners experienced a significant increase, while washing machines showed a decreasing trend. The number of hours spent on housework per week declined over the period.

In 1920, about 40% of homes had a washing machine and 30% had a vacuum cleaner. Almost no homes had a refrigerator. In 1960, washing machines and vacuum cleaners were both used by about 70% of homes, while 90% had a refrigerator. By 2000, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners had reached 100%. Washing machine ownership increased to about 75% in 2019.

The number of hours spent on housework fell from 50 hours per week in 1920 to 35 hours in 1940. It then fell to 20 hours in 1960 and 15 hours in 1980. Finally, it reached only 10 hours per week in 2019. This was a clear change over the whole period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all key features of the charts, including the trends for appliance ownership and the decline in housework hours. You have successfully identified the main trends and provided supporting data for 1920, 1960, and 2019. However, there is a factual error in your summary: you stated that washing machine ownership showed a 'decreasing trend,' whereas the data shows it increased from 40% to 75% over the century. This inaccuracy impacts the accuracy of your overview. To reach a higher band, ensure that your summary accurately reflects the data provided in the charts.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs focusing on appliances and housework hours respectively. The progression of ideas is easy to follow. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'In 1920,' 'In 1960,' and 'By 2000' to sequence the information effectively. To improve, you could incorporate a wider range of cohesive devices to link sentences and ideas more fluidly, moving beyond simple time-based transitions to show relationships between the data points, such as contrasting the rise in appliance ownership with the fall in housework hours.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task and allows for clear communication. You use appropriate terms like 'significant increase,' 'decreasing trend,' and 'ownership.' However, the range is somewhat limited and relies on fairly common language. To achieve a higher band, you should aim to use more precise or academic vocabulary to describe trends, such as 'fluctuated,' 'plateaued,' or 'witnessed a steady climb.' The error regarding the washing machine trend also suggests a lack of precision in interpreting the data, which affects the overall lexical impact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most sentences are grammatically accurate, and punctuation is used correctly. You successfully use past tense forms to describe the historical data. While there are no major errors that impede communication, the range of grammatical structures is somewhat limited. To improve, try to incorporate more varied complex structures, such as using relative clauses or participial phrases to combine information, which would demonstrate greater control and flexibility in your writing.

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

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