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 given graphs present us the variation in the ownership of electrical devices and the amount of time spent doing housework in households respectively in one country between 1920 and 2019.
The percentage of refrigerator of households was initially zero in 1920. It increased rapidly to reach 100 percent in the year 1980 and remained constant afterwards. The percentage of vacuum cleaners also increased throughout the period 1920 to 2000 and then remained constant. The number of hours of housework per week per household gradually reduced throughout the whole period.
The number of hours of housework per week per household was initially 50. It reduced to 20 at a constant rate from the year 1920 to 1960. Afterwards, it kept declining slowly until it approximately reached 10 percent in 2019.
In the first graph, the percentage of households with washing machine fluctuated the most . It increased from 40 percent to 70 percent till 1960 . Then, it reduced and increased again to end up around 75 percent. Whereas, the percentage for refrigerators and vacuum cleaners increased and touched the 100 percent mark in the end.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
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 overall trends, such as the increase in appliance ownership and the decline in housework hours. Key data points are accurately reported, such as refrigerators starting at near zero in 1920 and reaching 100 percent, and housework hours decreasing from 50 to 11. However, some minor details could have been integrated more smoothly, and the categorisation of trends across paragraphs is slightly fragmented. Overall, the response covers the scope of the prompt adequately, earning a solid band 6.5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is organised into multiple paragraphs, but the paragraphing is somewhat disjointed, with body paragraphs split abruptly across different appliance types and time frames. While logical progression is generally maintained through time markers like 'initially' and 'afterwards', cohesive devices are at times mechanical or repetitive ('The percentage of...'). Referencing is mostly clear, but the transition between the discussion of appliances and housework lacks seamless integration. Paragraphing conventions are followed, yet the structural layout prevents the essay from achieving a higher band in this category.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'variation', 'ownership', 'fluctuated', and 'constant'. However, there are some awkward lexical choices and phrasing, such as 'The percentage of refrigerator of households' instead of 'The percentage of households with refrigerators'. Less common lexical items are attempted, but precision is occasionally lacking, such as saying it 'approximately reached 10 percent' when referring to hours. Spelling is generally accurate, but word choice errors slightly limit the overall lexical score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, utilising past tense verbs accurately for historical data ('increased rapidly', 'remained constant'). There are instances of awkward grammatical constructions, such as 'present us the variation' instead of 'illustrate the changes'. Punctuation is generally controlled, but some minor structural slips occur, such as spacing issues before punctuation marks (e.g., 'most .'). Complex sentence attempts are mostly sound, though the overall variety of grammatical structures remains somewhat limited.
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