Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-07

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 two line graph illustrate change in the percentage of household owning three electical appliances and the average number of hours of housework done per household per week in one country between 1920 and 2019.

Overall,ownership of all three appliances increased over the period, while the amount of time spent on housework decreased considerably. Refrigerater experienced the most dramatic growth, whereas washing machine showed a more gradual change.

In 1920, around 40% of household owned a washing machine, comapred with approximately 30% that had a vaccum cleaner. By contrast, rafrigerator were almost non-existent at the beginning of the period. The proportion of household with washing machine rose to about 55% in 1940, and reached 60% in 1960, before falling gradually to around 20% in 2019. Refrigerator ownership increaded sharply, reaching about 50% in 1940, and 75% in 1960. It then peaked around 98% in 2000, then slighly decresed at around 95%.

Similarly, vaccum cleaner experienced grow steadly at around 50% in 1940, and 70% in 1960. and peaked at 100% in 2000, then remained stable thid period before fell slightly around 90%.

Moreover, number of housework per week fall steadly. In 1920 around 50 hours spent time on housework than decreased gradully at around 35% in 1940, and 20% in 1960. then slighlty decreased at 15% remained stable in 2000. Finally, housework fell at around 10% at the end of the period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You provide an overview of the broad trends, noting that appliance ownership rose while housework declined, and you identify refrigerators as showing the sharpest growth. However, several key figures and trends are misreported, which makes the account only partially accurate. Most notably, washing-machine ownership did not fall to 20% in 2019; it rose to about 75%, after a small dip around 1980. Refrigerator ownership reached about 90% by 1960 and then remained at 100% from 1980 onward, rather than peaking near 98% in 2000 and declining. The vacuum-cleaner figures also end at 100%, not 90%. Housework is measured in hours, but you sometimes describe it as a percentage. Check each series against the chart and report the main comparisons accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a general overview, and separate paragraphs describing appliance ownership and housework. This gives the reader a clear broad route through the information, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “By contrast,” and “Moreover” help signal relationships. The progression is not consistently smooth, however. The appliance paragraph moves between series and years, while the final paragraph contains abrupt sentence breaks, including “in 1960. then slightly decreased,” which interrupts the flow. Some transitions, such as “Similarly,” do not clearly explain the comparison being made. Group the appliance trends more systematically and connect each time point within complete sentences; use linking words only where they express a precise relationship.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of chart vocabulary, including “ownership,” “proportion,” “dramatic growth,” “gradually,” and “remained stable.” These choices show an attempt to describe trends rather than simply list figures. However, spelling errors are frequent, including “electical,” “comapred,” “vaccum,” “increaded,” and “slighlty,” and some word combinations are inaccurate or unclear. For example, “experienced grow steadily” is not a natural construction, and “number of housework” does not fit the meaning. There is also imprecise use of “peaked” for a series that reaches a high level and then remains unchanged. Proofread spelling and choose standard trend collocations so the reader can understand the data without having to interpret awkward phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including clauses with “while,” “whereas,” and “before,” but control is inconsistent. Errors in agreement and sentence structure appear in examples such as “The two line graph illustrate” and “Refrigerator were almost non-existent.” Several sentences are fragments or are joined incorrectly, as in “in 1960. then slightly decreased,” and “peaked at 100% in 2000, then remained stable … before fell slightly.” Articles and plural forms are also often missing or mismatched, for example “number of housework” and “50 hours spent time.” These recurring problems sometimes make the timeline and relationships difficult to follow. Practise complete sentences with consistent past-tense verbs, and check subject–verb agreement, articles, and clause connections.

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