Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-30

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 line graph illustrates the difference in the possession of electrical products and the amount of time consumes in household works in a single country from 1920 to 2019.

Overall, the percentage in the ownership of electrical appliances increases highly, and the consumption of time is reduced signifcantly in the given period of time.

Firstly the washing machine, in 1920 the possession of this electrical appliance is exactly 40%, which increases smoothly to 60% in 1940. And then from 1940 to 1980, it stays between 60%-70%. Later on, it goes upward till 2019 and stops at approximately 75%.

Secondly the Refrigerator, this electrical appliance has the highest rise in the ownership in the given time period. In 1920, refrigerator is at 0% of use but it suddenly reaches at 55% in 1940 and 90% in 1960. From 1980 to 2019 it maintains it peak of 100%.

Following the next is Vacuum cleaner, this appliance also increased significantly after refrigerator. The ownership is at 30% in 1920, which gradually increases to 90% till 1980. And reaches at 100% in 2000 and stay still on that point in 2019.

One main thing is the consumption of time, which is significantly decreases at 10 hours from 50 hours between 1920 to 2019 in the household.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

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 general trends—appliance ownership increased significantly while housework hours decreased. Key data points are cited, such as the refrigerator reaching 100% and housework dropping from 50 to 11 hours (reported as '10 hours' by the student). However, there is a minor inaccuracy regarding the starting point of the refrigerator, which the student states is at 0% when the graph actually shows approximately 2% in 1920. Additionally, some descriptions of intermediate trends are slightly imprecise. Overall, the response is well-developed and covers all data series adequately, aligning with a Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is organized into clear paragraphs, starting with an introduction and overview, followed by separate body paragraphs for each appliance and a concluding paragraph for housework hours. Progression is generally logical. However, the cohesive devices and transitions between sentences are quite mechanical and repetitive, heavily relying on listing phrases like 'Firstly the washing machine,' 'Secondly the Refrigerator,' and 'Following the next is Vacuum cleaner.' Furthermore, referencing and logical flow within the paragraphs could be smoother. Paragraphing is used appropriately to group information, but the overall mechanical cohesion keeps this criterion at a solid Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, such as 'possession,' 'appliance,' 'ownership,' and 'consumption.' There are several awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'amount of time consumes in household works' instead of 'time spent on housework,' and 'maintains it peak' instead of 'its peak.' Spelling and word formation errors also appear, such as 'signifcantly' instead of 'significantly.' While less common vocabulary is attempted ('approximately,' 'gradually'), inaccuracies in word choice and morphology prevent the response from reaching a higher band. This represents a typical Band 6.0 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses and time clauses (e.g., 'which increases smoothly to 60% in 1940'). However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text, including tense inconsistencies ('increases,' 'stays,' 'goes upward'), preposition errors ('reaches at' instead of 'reaches'), and missing pluralisation or articles ('refrigerator is at 0% of use'). These errors occasionally disrupt the flow of reading, although they do not completely impede communication. Because complex structures are often faulty and errors persist across most sentences, this fits the Band 5.5 descriptor.

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

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