Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-29

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 graphs provides insight on the percentage of households with different electrical appliances and the number of hours allocted for houehold work from1920 to 2019.

There has been marked decline in the hours (per week) spent on household work such as washing clothes, preparing meals and cleaning since 1920. Vacuum cleaners and washing machines were the most commonly owned applliances in the 1920. On the contrary, in recent times, equal percentage of households own vacuum cleaners and refrigerators but the number for washing machine has fallen. The striking feature from the two graphs, is the gradual decline in the number of hours allocated for housework as the percentage households owning different electrical appliances that aid in these activities rose over the years.

In 1920, up to 40% of households owned washing machines and 30% owned vacuum cleaners while zero percentage of households had ownership to refrigerators. By 1940, ownership for refrigerators had increased sharply, 55% of households now owned refrigerators, 60% owned washing machines while 50% owned vacuum cleaners. In contrast to the initial trends in ownership, a substantially greater number of households continued to own refrigerators over the next 20 years. By 1960, 90% of households owned refrigerators while only 70% of homes owned vacuum cleaners and washing machines. In 1980, all households owned refrigerators, ownership for vacuum cleaners grew to 90%, whereas percentage household owning washing machines declined to 60%. By the 2000, vacuum cleaner like refrigerators was present in all homes and this trend has been continued till 2019. BY 2019, ownership for washing machines was slightly above 70% of all households.

The time spent on household work on a weekly basis saw a steep decline from 1920 to 1960, falling from 50 hours per week to just 20 hours. After which there has been a gradual decline to around 15 hours per week in the 1980 and remained the same by 2000. It fell to just 10 hours per week by 2019. Overall, the decline in the number of hours spent in the household work reflects the gradual increase in ownership to various household appliances.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student covers all parts of the task well, providing a clear overview and reporting the main features of both graphs. Data is accurately cited in most places, such as noting that refrigerators and vacuum cleaners reached 100% by 2000 and 1980 respectively, and tracing the decline in housework hours from 50 to 11 (or 10) hours. However, there is a minor misinterpretation in the overview paragraph where the student claims that 'the number for washing machine has fallen' in recent times, whereas the graph actually shows washing machine ownership rising to 75% in 2019. Despite this minor lapse, the response effectively selects, reports, and compares the key trends, fulfilling the requirements for Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is logically organised with a clear overall progression. Information is grouped reasonably well, separating the introduction/overview, appliance ownership details, and housework hours into distinct paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used adequately to guide the reader through the data, such as 'On the contrary', 'In contrast to', and 'Overall'. However, paragraphing could be slightly tighter, and referencing is occasionally a bit mechanical or repetitive in transitions. Paragraph transitions work well enough to ensure the relationship between appliances and housework is highlighted throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow for flexibility and precision, employing terms like 'marked decline', 'gradually', 'substantially greater', and 'steep decline'. There are, however, several spelling and word-choice errors that detract from precision, such as 'allocted' for allocated, 'houehold' for household, 'applliances' for appliances, and the awkward phrasing 'had ownership to refrigerators' rather than 'owned refrigerators'. While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the score from reaching higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and comparative constructions. There is good control over basic tense usage, but several grammatical and mechanical inaccuracies persist, such as 'The line graphs provides' (subject-verb agreement error), 'applliances in the 1920' (missing plural/article issues), 'percentage households owning' (missing article), and 'has been continued till 2019' (passive voice misuse). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but comma splices and minor phrasing slips occur. These errors rarely impede communication, placing the response solidly in Band 6.

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