Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-06

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 6.5)

The two line charts illustrate the percentage of households with electrical appliances and the number of hours spent doing housework per household in a certain country from 1920 to 2019.

Overall, the percentage of households using refrigerators increased sharply, and the households with vacuum cleaners rose moderately throughout the century. The washing machines also increased with a small dip between 1960 and 1980. The amount of time spent per week in a household decreased gradually over the years.

The households didn't use the refrigerators till 1920, but they increased dramatically to around 90% in 1960, peaked at 100% in 1980, and stayed the same till 2019. The households saw a mixed trend towards washing machines. Around 40% of households had them in 1940. The washing machines accounted for nearly 70% in 1960, then decreased slightly to just over 60% in 1980, and finally rose gradually to above 70% in 2019. The households had an increasing linear trend for vacuum cleaners, starting from 30% in 1920 to 100% in 2000 till 2019.

More than 50 hours were spent weekly washing clothes and cleaning per household in 1920. The number of hours decreased moderately to 20 hours per week in 1960 and remained stable, before falling to 10% in 2019.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You provide a clear overview of the main patterns: appliance ownership generally rose, while housework time fell. Several key figures are accurately reported, including refrigerators reaching 100% by 1980 and washing-machine ownership dipping before recovering. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: refrigerators were already present in about 2% of households in 1920, rather than not being used, and washing-machine ownership was about 40% in 1920, not 1940. The final figure for housework is approximately 11 hours, not 10%, and the series levels off around 15 hours from 1980 to 2000. The response covers both charts, but these misreadings and the limited comparison between the series keep some information less fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is organised effectively into an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs, and the reader can follow the broad movement from rising appliance ownership to declining housework time. Sequencing expressions such as “then,” “finally” and “before” help show changes over time. Some links and references are less precise, however. For example, “The households saw a mixed trend towards washing machines” is an awkward transition, and “The households had an increasing linear trend” makes the subject of the trend unclear. The final paragraph also combines the stable period and the later decline without clearly identifying the years. More direct comparisons and clearer references would make the progression smoother and less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of trend vocabulary, including “increased sharply,” “peaked,” “remained stable” and “decreased moderately,” and the meaning is generally clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “accounted for” and “linear trend.” Some choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing chart data: “households using refrigerators” suggests active use rather than ownership, “mixed trend towards washing machines” is unclear, and “increasing linear trend” overstates the pattern. “Falling to 10%” also uses the wrong unit for hours. Aim for precise collocations such as “the proportion of households owning” an appliance and “hours per week,” while varying repeated references to “households.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a clear overview sentence with coordinated trends and a sequence of changes linked by “then” and “before.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, and punctuation is generally controlled. Some grammatical choices reduce precision, particularly in longer sentences. In “The households didn't use the refrigerators till 1920, but they increased dramatically,” the pronoun “they” has an unclear reference; the sentence would be clearer with “ownership” as the subject. The construction “starting from 30% in 1920 to 100% in 2000 till 2019” also combines time expressions awkwardly. Use parallel structures such as “rose from … to …, then remained at …” to improve control.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.