Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-31

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 graph illustrates the percentage change in electrical appliance owners, while the accompanying line chart displays the number of hours per week spent on housework in each household from 1920 to 2019.

Overall, the proportions of appliance ownerships increased significantly in all three categories, with refrigerator ownerships rose sharply at the begining of the timeframe. In addition, household tend to sepnd less hours per weeks over time on housework resposibilities.

The percentage of households who owned electrical appliances grow significantly over the period. In 1920, there was just over a zero refrigerator devices in households before rising rapidly to reach 90% in 1960, but by 1980, all households had owend one refrigerator and this continued until the end of the period. Washing machin made up 40% of the total in 1920, increasing gradually to reach 70% in 1960, apart from a mild dip in 1980 at around 65%, this figure experienced a slight growth afterwad, standing at approximately 74% in 2019. A similar growth in vacuum cleaner was observed, growing from 30% in 1920 to 80 % in 1980, and only in 2000, all households had this device.

Looking at amount of time spent on housework, which generally wintnessed a decline over the time from 50 hours per week in 1920 to 20 hours in 1960, and remained stable just under 20 hours afterward, until reaching only10 hours per week, meaning that people beless intersete

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all key features of the charts, including the trends in appliance ownership and the decline in housework hours. You successfully identified the main trends and made relevant comparisons. However, the final sentence is incomplete ('meaning that people beless intersete'), which leaves the conclusion unfinished and impacts the overall clarity of the summary. To reach a higher band, ensure that all sentences are complete and that you provide a clear, concise overview of the data without trailing off. The data points cited are generally accurate, but the incomplete ending prevents a fully developed response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a clear attempt at an overview. Cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'Looking at', and 'apart from' are used to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally disrupted by grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'meaning that people beless intersete'. While the paragraphing is sufficient, the progression of ideas is sometimes hindered by these mechanical issues. Improving the transition between sentences and ensuring that referencing is consistent would help achieve a higher score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'proportions', 'significantly', and 'witnessed'. However, there are several spelling errors ('begining', 'sepnd', 'resposibilities', 'machin', 'afterwad', 'wintnessed') and word choice issues ('ownerships' instead of 'ownership', 'zero refrigerator devices'). These errors are noticeable and occasionally distract the reader. To improve, focus on accurate spelling and using collocations correctly. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the main points, but the frequency of errors limits the score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('household tend to sepnd', 'refrigerator ownerships rose'), incorrect verb forms ('all households had owend'), and punctuation errors. The final sentence is grammatically incomplete, which significantly impacts the accuracy of the writing. While the meaning is generally clear despite these errors, the high frequency of slips in basic grammar prevents a higher score. You should focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and consistent verb tense usage.

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

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