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)

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The given charts illustrated infomation about the transformation in ownership which included electrical appliances and amount of the time spent doing housework in one country from 1920 to 2019 , over a 99 years.

Overall, the most striking aspect shown in this figure is that the number of washing machine,refrigerator and vacuum cleaner increased, whereas there was a downward trend in the fighure of housework during the period.

At the beginning, the figure for washing machine increased slowly from 40% in 1920 to 70% in 1960. The period between 1960 to 1980 experienced a gradual fall in this figure, which went down from 70% to just below 67%.Between 1980 and 2019 , there was a slow rise in the number of percentage from washing machine,that increased from 67 to nearly 75. The amount of refrigerator a drastic rise from 0 in 1920 to 100 in 2019.

However, the period between 1920 and 2019 went through a dramatic alteration in this figure for housework, went down from 50 to 10.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad contrast between rising appliance ownership and falling housework time, and your overview captures the main direction of change. However, the report covers the data only partially: it gives some washing-machine figures and the housework endpoints, but says little about vacuum cleaners and does not describe the refrigerator’s intermediate rise. The refrigerator starts at about 2%, not zero, and reaches 100% by 1980 rather than only by 2019. Housework falls from 50 to about 11 hours, so the endpoint is slightly understated. To strengthen the response, compare all three appliances and include the key milestones, especially the near-universal ownership of refrigerators and vacuum cleaners by the later years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and detail paragraphs, with a generally sensible movement from the overall trends to individual figures. Time markers such as “At the beginning” and “Between 1980 and 2019” help orient the reader. However, progression is incomplete because the vacuum-cleaner series is omitted and the final paragraph shifts abruptly to housework without a fuller comparison of the appliance trends. Some linking is mechanical or unclear, particularly “However” before the housework trend, which is not a contrast to the preceding information. Improve cohesion by grouping related appliance trends together, then presenting housework as a clear comparison, and use more precise references between sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some suitable trend vocabulary, including “downward trend,” “gradual fall,” “dramatic alteration” and “increased slowly,” showing an attempt to describe change rather than simply list figures. However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or repetitive: “the amount of refrigerator,” “the number of percentage,” and “the figure of housework” do not express the data naturally. There are also noticeable spelling errors, such as “infomation” and “fighure,” which reduce accuracy. Use standard chart language consistently—for example, “the proportion of households owning a refrigerator” and “hours spent on housework”—and check spelling and singular/plural forms. More precise vocabulary would make the comparisons easier to follow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses such as “whereas there was a downward trend” and “which went down from 70% to just below 67%.” However, errors in sentence construction and punctuation are frequent enough to make parts of the report awkward. For example, “The amount of refrigerator a drastic rise” lacks a finite verb, while “the period … went through a dramatic alteration in this figure for housework, went down” joins clauses incorrectly. There are also inconsistent spaces before punctuation and missing spaces after commas. Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and use a full stop or a conjunction rather than joining independent clauses with a comma.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.