Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-13

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 5.0)

The given line chart reflects the changes in ownership of electrial appliances and amount of time spend doing housework in households in one country between 1920 and 2019.

Overall, ownership of all three electrical appliances increased over the period. Refrigerators and vacuum cleaners became almost universal in household, while washing machines experienced a more gradual rise. meanwhile, the amount of time spent on household decreased considerably.

In 1920, approximately 40% of households owned washing machines, compared with around 30% for vacuum cleaners. Refrigerators were not commonly used at that time, with almost no households owing one. by 1940, refrigentors

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the overall direction of the charts: appliance ownership rises, while time spent on housework falls. You also give relevant starting figures for washing machines and vacuum cleaners, and note that refrigerators were rare in 1920. However, the response stops partway through the 1940 comparison (“by 1940, refrigentors”), so it does not report the later trends or the housework figures in detail. The overview is useful but too broad to substitute for a complete summary of the main changes and comparisons. The response contains 88 words, below the required 150; 11 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. To improve, complete the comparisons across the period, include key end-point figures, and summarise the decline in housework hours.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph beginning with the 1920 figures. This gives the reader a basic route through the information, and “Overall” appropriately signals the summary. However, the final paragraph breaks off at “by 1940, refrigentors,” leaving the sequence incomplete and preventing clear progression through the years. The transition “meanwhile” is also not capitalised after a full stop, and the short response offers few links between the appliance trends and housework hours. Organise the details into complete comparisons—for example, appliance ownership in one paragraph and housework hours in another—and use clear time markers such as “By 1940” and “By 2019” to guide the reader.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “ownership,” “electrical appliances,” “approximately,” and “gradual rise,” which helps communicate the main trends. There is some variation in phrasing, such as “amount of time spent on household” and “became almost universal.” However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable: “electrial,” “owing,” and “refrigentors” make parts of the response less polished, while “amount of time spent on household” is an awkward expression. The vocabulary range is adequate for describing basic trends, but the unfinished response gives little opportunity to show precision across the data. Check spelling carefully and use standard collocations such as “time spent doing housework” and “households owned refrigerators.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You produce several understandable sentence forms, including a complex comparison: “In 1920, approximately 40% of households owned washing machines, compared with around 30% for vacuum cleaners.” The overview also uses a contrast between appliance ownership and housework time. However, control is uneven. In “amount of time spend doing housework,” the participle should be “spent,” and “in household” needs a plural or article (“in households” / “in the household”). The sentence beginning “by 1940” is incomplete, so it has no finished grammatical structure. Capitalisation after full stops is inconsistent, as in “meanwhile” and “by.” Use complete sentences, check verb forms and articles, and vary sentence structures while keeping each comparison grammatically finished.

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

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