Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-09

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 given first line graph depicts the changes in ownership of electrical appliances in a country from 1920 to 2019. The second graph shows the time consumed by these items to perform house chores.

Overall, the dramatic entry of refrigerator in 1920 is clearly evident that rose to 100% ownership in 2000. While, the houses containing washing machines showed variations. Conversly, the other graph shows a significant decrease in time of housework that showed drammatical fall.

Starting with vacuum cleaner, that was owned by 30% people in 1920 and it continue rising and reached 100% in last year. However, ownership of washing machines is 30% in 1920 and fluctuated between the years and before reaching over 70% in 2019 it decreased around 60% in 1980. Conversly, the popularity of refrigerator surge suddenly in 1920 and in 2019, 100% homes contained this appliance. On the other side, the time spent on various house chores like washing clothes and cooking continue decreasing in all years. It was around 50 hours per week in 1920 and finally it touched a lowest level of 10 hours in 2019.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover both charts and identify the main broad patterns: appliance ownership generally increased, while weekly housework time fell. You also include relevant figures, such as vacuum-cleaner ownership rising from 30% to 100% and housework declining from about 50 to 11 hours. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear. Washing-machine ownership was 40% in 1920, not 30%, and it fell to about 65% in 1980, rather than around 60%; the refrigerator began at about 2%, so describing its “dramatic entry” in 1920 is misleading. The overview would be stronger if it clearly compared the appliances, noting that refrigerators reached full ownership by 1980 and vacuum cleaners by 2000, while washing machines remained lower and fluctuated.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and a paragraph of details, and it addresses both charts. However, progression within the overview and detail paragraph is not always clear. The repeated “Conversly” and “However” do not consistently signal the relationships between points, and “On the other side” is an awkward transition to the housework data. Some references are also unclear: “these items” suggests appliances perform housework, while “that showed drammatical fall” does not clearly identify what fell. Organise the body into a paragraph about appliance ownership and one about housework, and use linking phrases only where they express a precise comparison or contrast.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “ownership,” “fluctuated,” “decrease” and “per week,” so the main information is generally understandable. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “time consumed by these items,” “dramatic entry of refrigerator,” and “popularity of refrigerator surge.” The charts show household ownership, not popularity or appliances performing chores. Spelling errors such as “Conversly” and “drammatical” also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise chart language—for example, “the proportion of households owning refrigerators rose” and “time spent on housework declined”—and check spelling and word forms before finishing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast with “While” and a time clause beginning “before reaching.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but some grammatical errors make relationships unclear. For example, “Overall, the dramatic entry of refrigerator in 1920 is clearly evident that rose to 100%” has a faulty sentence structure, and “While, the houses containing washing machines showed variations” is an incomplete clause with incorrect punctuation after the linker. There are also tense and agreement problems in “it continue rising” and “the time … continue decreasing.” Use complete sentences, maintain past-tense reporting consistently, and check articles and subject–verb agreement.

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

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