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)

cambridge writing task 1

Student answer (Band 5.5)

the given line graphs illustrates the differences in ownership of electrical appliances and amount of time spent doing house work in one country between 1920 to 2019

Overall, it can be seen that the ration of household with electrical appliances experienced a sharp upword trajectory in 100 years of time period. As a result, the time that used to take before have experienced a quite sharp downword trajectory.

Looking at the first line graph, at the begining of 1920 hardly someone use refrigerator but just after 40 years refrigerator became the most used electrical appliance surpassing washing machines and vacuum cleaner. If we look at the vacuum cleaner it faced a quite steady upword trajectory throught first 80 years before becaming unchanged. Compearing others washing machine faced a slight downword between 1960 and 1980 before facing a steady rise.

In the second line graph it is clear that after a grate rise of electrical appliences it is ovious that the time that used before for per household hase decreased significantly. By the end of the period over 40 hours had been decreased.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad contrast accurately: appliance ownership generally rose while weekly housework fell. You also report several relevant patterns, including the refrigerator’s rapid rise, the vacuum cleaner’s eventual levelling off, and the washing machine’s dip between 1960 and 1980. However, the overview is imprecise, and some key comparisons are missing. The refrigerator did not become the most-used appliance after 40 years: in 1960 it was at 90%, while the washing machine and vacuum cleaner were both at about 70%. The final statement that “over 40 hours had been decreased” is unclear; housework fell from 50 to 11 hours, a decrease of 39 hours. Include a few accurate figures and describe the overall trends more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for the two graphs. This helps the reader follow the main topics, and phrases such as “Looking at the first line graph” signal a shift. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear, and several linking expressions feel mechanical or imprecise. For example, “As a result” suggests that increased appliance ownership caused the reduction in housework, which the charts show as a parallel trend rather than proving a cause. The final paragraph repeats the overview instead of clearly reporting the housework figures. Organise the details in chronological order and use direct comparisons and references to the data to connect ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “ownership,” “trajectory,” “surpassing,” and “decreased significantly,” and the reader can generally understand the intended trends. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, such as “ration of household,” “the time that used to take before,” and “a grate rise.” Spelling errors—including “begining,” “upword,” “Compearing,” and “appliences”—are noticeable and reduce precision. Some phrases are also unnecessarily elaborate when simpler chart language would be clearer. Build a reliable set of terms for describing proportions and changes, such as “the proportion of households,” “rose,” “fell,” and “remained stable,” and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including a comparison with “before becoming unchanged” and a subordinate clause beginning “before facing a steady rise.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles, and verb forms sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For instance, “the given line graphs illustrates” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “the time that used to take before have experienced” has an unclear clause and faulty verb construction. “Hardly someone use refrigerator” also needs a more accurate negative structure and article use. Practise writing shorter, complete sentences first, then add comparisons using controlled clauses. Check that each sentence has a clear subject and correctly formed verb.

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