Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-13

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 chart graph demonstrates how the amount of time spent doing housework in households changed in given country from 1920 to 2019.

The usage of electrical appliances reduced the number of hours allowed for finishing housework, which had been around 50 hours in 1920 and became almost 10 hours per week.

Washing machine and vacuum cleaner used to be familiar in 1920 with 40% and 30% of people utilized them respectively. While the possession of a vacuum cleaner increased linearly to 100% and stay there, using a washing machine knew some fluctuations ranging between 60% and 75% which is registered in 2019.

Regarding refrigerators, no one had them in his house during 1920s. Nevertheless, their percentage plummeted sharply beginning from 1920 until 1960 reaching 100% in 2000 without any decrease thereafter.

This growing in automatisation of routinly housework influenced significantly the manual works in houses, which is well presented in the second chart. This chart shows a constant decline in manual work per week recorded only 10 hours per week by the start of 2019.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of both charts. You identified the overall trend that the hours spent on housework decreased significantly as the ownership of electrical appliances increased. You also highlighted key data points, such as the drop in housework from around 50 hours to 10 hours per week, and provided specific appliance trends like washing machines and refrigerators. However, there are some factual inaccuracies in your interpretation of the data, such as stating that refrigerators plummeted to reach 100% in 2000 (refrigerator ownership actually started near 0% and rose to 100%). Despite these minor misinterpretations, the main trends and comparisons are present and supported by figures, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into a logical progression, starting with an overview of the charts, moving into specific appliance details, and concluding with the reduction in manual work. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different elements of the visual data. Cohesive devices and referencing are generally clear, although transitions between sentences can feel slightly mechanical at times (e.g., 'Regarding refrigerators...'). Pronoun referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as 'his house' used generically. Overall, the text has a coherent arrangement that allows the reader to follow the argument easily, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an academic task, attempting less common terms such as 'automatisation', 'linearly', and 'plummeted'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors that detract from precision, such as 'using a washing machine knew some fluctuations' (experienced fluctuations), 'familiar' instead of 'common', and 'this growing in' instead of 'this growth in'. Spelling is generally accurate, but some lexical choices are unnatural. These limitations place the vocabulary performance firmly at Band 5.5 to 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at relative clauses ('which had been around 50 hours') and participial phrases. However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text, such as 'how the amount of time... changed in given country' (missing article), '40% and 30% of people utilized them respectively' (passive voice would be more appropriate for inanimate appliance ownership), and 'recorded only 10 hours' (which was recorded as only). These errors occasionally require the reader to re-read, but they do not severely impede overall communication, supporting a Band 5.5 score.

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

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