Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-03
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 given line graph illustrate the fluctuation in ownership of electrical items and total time spent doing housework in different households in a country in 1920 and 2019.
Overall, it is clear that uses of entire electrical items rose in recent years. Consequently, total time spent during the housework decreased over the period.
Firstly, Only 40% households were used washing machine in 1920. After that, its uses rose during the period until 1960. Then, it fell little and after 1960, it started to rise. In 2019, almost 73% household had washing machine.
Secondly, The uses of refrigerator was zero in 1920 but its ownership was dramatically rose until 1980. In 1980, 100% households had refrigerator.
In contrast, In 1920, only 40% households used vacuum tube. Afterwards, the ownership of this item increased until 1960. In 1960, around 70% household had vacuum cleaner. The, it fell gradually. Then, it started to go up over the years.
Finally, We can see downward trend on no. of hours of housework per week which clearly represent they spent least time in housework. In 1090, almost they spent 50 hours in housework but it fell dramatically until 1960. In 1960, people spent only 20 hours. Then, it fell slowly, and in 2019, only 12 hours spent in housework.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers all parts of the task and identifies the main trends for both appliances and housework time. However, the analysis is somewhat mechanical, listing data points rather than synthesising them into a cohesive comparison. For example, the connection between the rise in appliances and the decline in housework time is mentioned but not fully explored or highlighted as a key feature. While the main features are reported, the overview is quite basic and could be more analytical. The data is generally accurate, though there are minor inaccuracies in reporting specific figures, such as the mention of '1090' instead of 1920.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, each focusing on a specific category of data. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'In contrast', and 'Finally', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are repetitive or slightly unnatural, such as 'After that' and 'Then'. The referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences is sometimes disjointed due to the reliance on simple sentence structures. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different trends, which assists in the overall readability of the report.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There is frequent repetition of basic verbs like 'rose', 'fell', and 'spent'. Some word choices are slightly inaccurate or unnatural, such as 'uses of entire electrical items' instead of 'ownership of electrical appliances' or 'vacuum tube' instead of 'vacuum cleaner'. While the meaning is clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and there is little attempt to use more sophisticated or varied terminology to describe trends, such as 'fluctuated', 'plateaued', or 'significant decline'.
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. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('Only 40% households were used washing machine'), article usage ('the uses of refrigerator'), and tense consistency. There are also punctuation errors and typos, such as 'The, it fell gradually' and '1090' for 1920. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to be noticeable and suggest a lack of control over more complex grammatical forms.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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