Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-25

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 charts below illisturate the changes in ownership of electrical appliances and amount of time spent doing household in one country between 1920 and 2019.

The two line charts compare the percentage of households owning three electrical appliances-washing machine, referigerator, and vacume cleaner- and the weekly hours spent on houswork between 1920 and 2019.

Overall, ownership of all three appliances increased,but it led to a dramatic decrease in time spent on housework.By the end of the period, refrigerators and vacume cleaner were owned by almost every household, while washing machines remained less common,and housework time fell to about 10 hours per week.

In 1920,40% of households had a washing machine, which was the heighest share. Only about 30% had a vacume cleaner and about 5% had referigerator. By 1940, the three applicances converged at around 50-55%.

From 1940 onwards, refregeator ownership grew rapidly. It reached about 90% in 1960 and 100% in 1980, where it stayed. Vacume cleaner ownership showed a similar steady rise,increasing to 65% in1960,85% in 1980, and nearly 100% in 2000 and 2019. In contrast, washing machines ownership peaked at about 67% in 1960, then dropped to 60% in 1980, before rising slowly again to 65% in 2000 and 70% in 2019, making it the least common apploance by the end.

The second chart shows that in 1920, about 50 hours per week were spent on housework. This figure fell sharply to

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview of the trends for both appliance ownership and housework hours, and supporting these with specific data points. The student correctly identifies the main features, such as the dramatic rise in refrigerator and vacuum cleaner ownership to near-universal levels, and the inverse relationship with weekly housework hours. However, there are some minor data misreadings against the prompt's factual values (for instance, the washing machine figures show some slight inaccuracies compared to the source data), and the response cuts off mid-sentence at the end. Despite the truncation, the key trends and comparisons are sufficiently reported to meet the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7, but due to the incomplete conclusion and minor data discrepancies, it sits firmly at Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction that paraphrases the prompt, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs dedicated to specific details. Cohesive devices are used adequately to guide the reader through the data (e.g., 'Overall', 'In 1920', 'By 1940', 'From 1940 onwards', 'In contrast'). However, paragraphing is somewhat disrupted by the unnecessary duplication of the introduction in the first two paragraphs (which essentially repeat each other), and referencing or progression becomes slightly mechanical in places. Furthermore, because the text cuts off abruptly at the end, the overall structural completeness is affected. These factors prevent a higher score, placing the response at Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'ownership', 'appliance', 'converged', and 'dramatic decrease'. However, there are numerous spelling errors throughout the text, including 'illisturate' (illustrate), 'referigerator' (refrigerator), 'vacume' (vacuum), 'houswork' (housework), 'applicances' (appliances), 'refregeator' (refrigerator), and 'apploance' (appliance). While these spelling errors do not completely impede communication because the context is clear, their frequency prevents the lexical score from reaching Band 7.0. The vocabulary used is sufficient to convey the trends, earning a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using relative clauses (e.g., 'which was the highest share') and time clauses effectively. There are several grammatical and mechanical errors, such as missing articles ('washing machines ownership' instead of 'washing machine ownership'), punctuation slips, and typos. Additionally, the sentence structure breaks down completely as the essay cuts off prematurely at the very end ('This figure fell sharply to'). Despite these errors and the truncation, the majority of the earlier sentences are understandable and communicate the intended meaning. This performance aligns with the Band 6 descriptor.

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

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