Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-20

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 6.0)

The line charts illustrate the percentage of households owned electrical appliances and the number of hours households spent doing housework in one country from 1920 to 2019.

Overall, it is clear in the first line chart that the number of households owning refrigerators and vacuum cleaners were increasing over the years, whereas there were fluctuations for washing machine use. Additionally, in the second chart, the figure decreased through the whole period.

Regarding the first chart, the number of refrigerator ownerships was almost 0% in 1920, which significantly soared to about 100% by 1980 and remained the same till 2019. The percentage for washing machine and vacuum cleaner users started at 40% and 30% roughly in 1920. By 1960, both figures reached exactly 70%. This trend was then maintained by the percentage of vacuum cleaner owners, which gradually increased to its peak of 100% in 2000 and in 2019. In contrast, the figure for washing machine owners fell in 1980 to just over 60%, which afterwards grew steadily till 2019 at approximately 72%.

The amount of time spent doing housework was around 50 hours per week in 1920, which declined dramatically to 20 hours in 1960. It was also followed by the rest of the time period, gradually decreasing, and by the end of the year period, the number remained at 10 hours in 2019.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview of both charts and selecting key features and comparisons. The main trends—such as the dramatic rise in refrigerator and vacuum cleaner ownership alongside the steady decline in housework hours—are clearly reported. Data points are cited accurately from the charts, such as the peak of 100% for refrigerators and the drop in housework hours from 50 to around 11. The overview successfully captures the overarching patterns without getting bogged down in unnecessary minor figures. Minor phrasing like 'percentage of households owned electrical appliances' has a slight grammatical slip, but the task fulfilment remains strong and well-developed, aligning comfortably with Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introduction and a high-level overview paragraph, followed by separate body paragraphs detailing the appliance ownership trends and the housework hours respectively. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well to guide the reader through the data, employing phrases like 'Regarding the first chart', 'In contrast', and 'Additionally'. Paragraphing is handled appropriately, ensuring that each distinct set of data is addressed in its own logical section. Although some cohesive ties are occasionally straightforward, the logical progression is clear throughout the text, satisfying the criteria for Band 7.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary suitable for an academic task 1 response, utilizing terms like 'fluctuations', 'significantly soared', 'gradually increased', and 'declined dramatically'. There are occasional slight awkwardness or inaccuracies in word choice or collocation, such as 'number of refrigerator ownerships' instead of 'rate of refrigerator ownership' and 'percentage for washing machine and vacuum cleaner users' instead of 'households'. However, these lexical errors do not impede communication, and the vocabulary used is sufficient to convey precise numerical trends and comparisons, supporting a solid Band 6.5 or 7.0. We award Band 6.5 to reflect the minor collocation lapses.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using relative clauses and participial phrases successfully. There are some grammatical errors present, notably in the opening sentence ('percentage of households owned electrical appliances' instead of 'owning' or 'that owned') and minor subject-verb agreement issues like 'the number of households owning... were increasing' instead of 'was increasing'. Despite these recurring errors, many sentences are error-free, and punctuation is handled well. The structures used are varied enough to ensure readability without impeding comprehension, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.

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