Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-12

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 line graphs show the changes in ownership of electrical devices and amount of time utilized doing housework in household in specific country for over 99 year-period between 1920 and 2019.

Overall, increase in the percentage of households with electric appliances is observed throughout the period,conversely number of hours per week substantialy decreases with respect to period. Refrigerator and Vaccum cleaner shows rapid owner than washing machine.

Firstly observing percentage of households with electrical appliances, Refrigerator ownership initated from 0% in contrast to 30% and 40% of vacuum cleaner and washing machine respectively in 1920.

For vaccum cleaner percentage of household gradually incrases from 50,70,90% in 1940,1960 and 1980 respectively, afterward plummeted in 2019 while for washing machine, percentage increases to 75% in 2019 before dipping to 65% in 1980.For refrigerator percentage of households rose to 90% in 1960, soared to 100% in 1980 and plummeted in 2000 to 2019.

Number of hours per week decreases with passage of time, it decreases from 50 hours in 1920 to 15hours in 1980, remained same in 2000 and decreases to 10 hours in 2019.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the two broad trends: appliance ownership generally rises, while weekly housework time falls. You also include several relevant figures, such as refrigerators reaching 100% by 1980 and housework declining from 50 hours to around 10–11. However, the account only partly reports the main features because some key trends are misrepresented: vacuum-cleaner ownership did not plummet in 2019 but remained at 100% from 2000, and refrigerator ownership did not fall after reaching 100%. The overview claim that refrigerator and vacuum-cleaner ownership grew faster than washing-machine ownership is also not clearly supported or explained. Select the most important comparisons accurately, and distinguish the washing machine’s temporary dip from the other appliances’ continued rises or plateaus.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to appliance details and then housework hours. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression within the appliance paragraph is difficult to follow: the vacuum-cleaner figures are mixed with the washing-machine trend, and the sequence “afterward plummeted … while for washing machine” makes the comparisons unclear. Some linking is mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “for” and “while,” and punctuation around transitions is inconsistent. Use one focused paragraph for appliance ownership, grouping the series clearly, and a separate paragraph for housework. Clear time markers and comparison phrases would make the relationships between figures easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “ownership,” “percentage,” “decreases,” and “remained,” and you attempt more formal alternatives such as “soared.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “time utilized doing housework,” “rapid owner,” and “plummeted” where the data actually show a plateau. Spelling errors such as “Vaccum,” “incrases,” and “initated” are noticeable, and inconsistent forms reduce precision. Aim for straightforward, accurate chart language rather than forcing less familiar expressions: for example, describe a figure as “rose,” “fell,” or “remained stable” according to the data. Check spelling and use natural phrases such as “the proportion of households owning…”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including an overview with a contrast and a sentence comparing appliance trends. However, errors are frequent enough to make some relationships difficult to understand. Examples include missing articles and number agreement in “in household in specific country,” “Refrigerator and Vaccum cleaner shows,” and “percentage of household.” The long sentence beginning “For vaccum cleaner percentage…” has unclear clause structure and punctuation, while “it decreases from 50 hours … remained same” shifts awkwardly between verb forms. Use shorter, complete sentences with consistent past-tense reporting, and check subject–verb agreement, articles, plurals, and punctuation. This would make your comparisons clearer while retaining some sentence variety.

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

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