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 charts illustrates the data of electrical appliances that changed with the passage of time and time period household spent doing housework in one country between 1920 and 2019.

Overall, refrigerator recorded a dramatic increase and was the first among all appliances that reached 100% of household, meanwhile vacuum cleaner joined the benchmark of 100% later. Housework hours fell sharply during first half of period and slightly during the later half.

Refrigerator recorded a sharp rise started from 0% in 1920 to 100% in 1980, whereas washing machine, started the year 1920 with 30% ownership by household, experienced the noticeable increase and slightly declined to just above 60% in 1980. After this, it regained the percentage to around 74% in 2019.

Vacuum cleaner rose from 40% in 1920 to 100% in 2000. Weekly time period (in hours) of housework by household started from 500 hourse per week in 1920 and fell to 20% in 1960. Between 1960 to 2019, it further dropped to 10%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to cover all parts of the prompt by describing the overall trends and individual appliance data alongside housework hours. However, there are significant factual inaccuracies when compared to the visual data. For instance, the student states that the refrigerator started at 0% in 1920 (it was actually around 2%) and that the vacuum cleaner rose from 40% (it was 30%). Furthermore, the weekly housework hours are misread as '500 hourse per week' instead of 50, and 'fell to 20%' instead of 20 hours. Despite attempting an overview, these data misreadings limit the task response significantly. Band score: 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is structured into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs detailing specific appliance trends. However, the logical progression is hindered by confusing data and abrupt transitions between sentences. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes repetitive. Paragraphing is attempted, but grouping related information together could be improved to enhance readability. The referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly when shifting between household appliance percentages and weekly housework hours. Band score: 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'dramatic increase', 'noticeable increase', and 'regained the percentage'. However, there are frequent inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'joined the benchmark of 100%' and spelling errors like 'hourse'. The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive, but it remains minimally adequate to convey the general topic of household appliances and chores. Band score: 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'The charts illustrates', 'time period household spent', and 'Refrigerator recorded a sharp rise started from'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but structural inaccuracies in relative clauses and participial phrases cause some difficulty for the reader. Band score: 5.0.

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