Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-18

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 first line graph demonstrates the changes in the propotion of households with electrical supply, while the second line chart illustrates the amount of time devote during housework per week, by household in a country throughout the period from 1920 to 2019.

Overall, it is quite evident from the given charts that the percentage of households with electrical appliances of three different categories significantly rise over the given period. By contrast, the amount of time spent doing housework consistently declined throughout the period.

Moving further to electrical appliance, In 1920, the owner of houses used washing machine of about 40% and the refrigerator has no used, while the vacuum cleaner was used around 30%. Furthermore, in 1940, all three categories uses has considerablly increased to nearly matched between 50% to 60%. Moveover, in 1960, the washing machine and vacuum cleaner is exactly same of roughly 70% used, and the refrigerator overtoke other categories by 90%. In addition, in 1980, the uses of washing machine steadily declined to over 60%, and vacuum cleaner was substantially climbed to 90 percent, and refrigerator show a marginal increase to 100% from 90%. At the end of the period, the electricity used for washing machine was just over 70%, while vacuum cleaner top the chart and peaked to 100%, similar goes for refrigerator.

The number of hours used electricity by house owner, in 1920, around 50 hourse per week is the normal uses of electricity for home used, while it sharply declined in 1940 to under 40 hourse. Consquently, in 1960, the electicity used become reduced at exactly 20 hourse. Similarly, between 1980 and 2000 electircity used has minimal of abount 12 hours per week, meanwhile, at the end of the period the uses if become stop at 10 hours per week by per household.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of both charts and making relevant comparisons. The overview captures the overall upward trend in appliance ownership and the downward trend in housework hours. Key data points are accurately reported, such as refrigerator ownership reaching 100% and housework hours declining from 50 to around 11. However, the student misinterprets the charts at times by referring to the data as 'electricity used for washing machine' or 'number of hours used electricity', confusing the concept of appliance ownership and housework hours with electricity consumption. Despite this conceptual blur, the core information is presented, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for the two charts. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression and transition between ideas, such as 'Overall', 'By contrast', 'Moving further to', and 'In addition'. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally become mechanical or slightly clunky, as seen in phrases like 'Moving further to electrical appliance' and repetitive sentence structures ('in 1920... in 1940... in 1960'). Paragraphing is used sufficiently, and there is a clear overarching progression throughout the response, justifying a Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate for Task 1, including terms like 'significantly rise', 'consistently declined', 'substantially climbed', and 'marginal increase'. However, there are notable word-choice errors and awkward collocations that reveal limitations in lexical control, such as 'propotion' (spelling), 'devote during housework', 'the refrigerator has no used', and confusing appliance ownership with electricity use ('electricity used for washing machine'). While the vocabulary is adequate to convey the main trends, frequent inaccuracies in word formation and collocation prevent the score from reaching Band 7.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and time-phrase subordinations. However, the text contains frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding verb tense, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions. Examples include 'the owner of houses used washing machine of about 40%', 'all three categories uses has considerablly increased to nearly matched', 'the washing machine and vacuum cleaner is exactly same', and 'the uses if become stop at 10 hours'. These errors occasionally cause strain for the reader, though they do not completely impede communication. This performance aligns closely with Band 5.5 descriptors.

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

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