Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-02

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 chart depicts the changes in ownership of electrical appliances and amount of time spent doing housework in households in one country in recent centuary i.e. 1920 to 2019.

As per the graph, the use of refrigerator has increased in these hundred years as compared to other electrical appliances. After 2000 AD, all the house have been accompained by refrigerator and vacuum cleaner. In 1920 the percentage of households with vacuum cleaner was 30 % which has been changed to 100 % after 2000 AD. In contrast, washing machine which was one of the most popular household electrical appliance in year 1920 AD use has been increasig and decreasing at various rates i.e. it was widely used during 1920s to 1950s but after 1960s till 1980 its use was reduced by minor percentage and then again it had been increasing in gradual number.

Due to the advancement of electrical appliances and their high use, nowadays number of hours per week has been decresing i.e. in 1920 it was 50 hours per week which has been sharply decreased in 2019 to around 10 hours od house work per week. In this way, the change in ownership of electrical appliances has brought change in number of hours of housework per week per household between year 1920 to 2019.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the main parts of the task by reporting on appliance ownership and housework hours over the century, but some parts are only partially covered. For instance, the description of the washing machine contains some inaccuracies, claiming its use 'was reduced by minor percentage' after 1960s, whereas the data shows it rose to 70% in 2000 and 75% in 2019 after a slight dip in 1980. Additionally, the overview lacks precision and some comparisons are underdeveloped. To reach a higher band, the response needs to present a clearer and more accurate overview of all trends without misinterpreting the data points, ensuring all features are fully and correctly supported by the figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is a coherent overall arrangement and the response can be followed, but the logical progression is sometimes hindered by mechanical or faulty referencing. For example, the use of transition markers like 'In contrast' and 'Due to the advancement' is somewhat basic and repetitive, and the paragraphing is underdeveloped as the entire body of information is crammed into overly dense blocks. Pronoun referencing and signposting need to be managed more skillfully to create a smoother flow of ideas throughout the text. To achieve a higher score, the writer must use a wider range of cohesive devices naturally and organize the response into clear, distinct paragraphs that separate different data trends.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'advancement' and 'gradual number', but these are accompanied by notable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and spelling, such as 'centuary', 'accompained', 'increasig', and 'decresing'. The range of vocabulary is limited, and these errors occasionally cause some difficulty or distraction for the reader. To improve to a higher band, the student should expand their lexical repertoire to include more precise, topic-specific vocabulary and expressions (such as verbs indicating upward or downward trends), while paying closer attention to standard English spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a limited range of structures, relying on a mix of simple and somewhat complex sentence forms, but attempts at complex structures are often faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as article omissions ('the use of refrigerator', 'number of hours'), subject-verb agreement issues ('all the house have been accompained'), and awkward prepositional phrases ('od house work'). These errors persist throughout the text and require some effort from the reader to decode the exact meaning. To progress further, the writer must improve control over basic grammatical patterns, verb tenses, plurals, and article use, while incorporating a greater variety of error-free complex sentences.

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

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