Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 chart illustrates how the ownership of electrical appliances and time spent on doing housework in households changed in one country from 1920 to 2019.

Overall, At the end point, Both refrigerator and vacuum cleaner reached the same point,

While the washing machine is moderately used in households. In contrary, the number of hours per week is drastically fell down .

The usage of refrigerators very low at beginning and it reached to the peak in 1960 with 100% usage. There after the usage of refrigerators remain unchanged till 2019. The vacuum cleaner usage is about 40% in 1920 then it reached the highest point in 2000 with 100% usage and remain untouched till 2019.

The usage of washing machine in 1920 is 30%, After it shows a considerable fluctuations until 2019. In 1920, Each household works almost 50 hours per week, later in the next decades the working hours has gradually decreased till 1980. In contrast , after 1980 the next two decades the working hours become constant and in the following years there is a slight decrease in the working hours to almost 10.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover both charts and identify the broad contrast: appliance ownership generally rose while weekly housework time declined. You also report the stable period for housework after 1980 and the eventual fall to about 10 hours, which are relevant features. However, several figures and trends are inaccurate: refrigerators reached 100% in 1980, not 1960; vacuum-cleaner ownership was about 30% in 1920, not 40%; and washing-machine ownership began at 40%, not 30%. Its trend was not marked by considerable fluctuations: it rose overall, with a modest dip around 1980. The overview also says refrigerators and vacuum cleaners reached the same point without clearly stating that both reached 100%. More precise reporting of these key comparisons would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to appliance details and then housework, so the reader can follow the main topics. However, progression within the overview is weakened by the unclear phrase “reached the same point,” and some links are awkward or inaccurate, such as “In contrary” and “There after.” The appliance details are grouped together, but the paragraph would be clearer if each series were described in a consistent order and the housework trend were given its own paragraph. Several sentences also join contrasting information without a clear relationship. Use a small number of accurate transitions, and make each paragraph develop one chart or comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “ownership,” “usage,” “reached,” “decreased,” and “constant,” and you attempt to describe change rather than simply list figures. However, some word choices and collocations are unnatural or imprecise: “moderately used,” “reached the peak,” “remain untouched,” and “working hours” do not describe the chart as clearly as “ownership,” “rose to,” “remained stable,” and “hours spent on housework.” “Drastically fell down” is also an awkward combination, while “considerable fluctuations” mischaracterises the washing-machine trend. Aim for precise verbs and standard collocations for graphs, and avoid repeating “usage” when “the proportion of households owning…” is clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including contrasts introduced by “While” and “In contrast,” and most of the intended meaning remains understandable. However, errors in verb forms and sentence construction are noticeable. For example, “the number of hours per week is drastically fell down” combines incompatible verb forms; “the usage … remain unchanged” needs subject–verb agreement and past tense; and “the working hours has gradually decreased” has an agreement error. Capitalisation after commas and full stops is also inconsistent, as in “Overall, At” and “In 1920, Each.” Practise forming past-tense trend descriptions consistently, and check agreement and punctuation when editing. More accurate complex sentences would improve control.

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

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