Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-17

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 first line graph illustrates three different types of electric devices bought by the people. On the other hand, a second graph gives information about time taken for doing a housework(in hours) per week, comparing with per household between 1920 and 2019.

Overall, a fridge and a Vacumm had the highest demand over the period. While washing machine showed many fluctuations between the years. Whereas number of hours of housework decreased gradually over the years.

In 1920, a fridge was just introduced and stated at 0 but washing machine and vacuum cleaner already had around 40% and 30% respectively. After just 40 years a refrigerator showed significant increase of 90%. However, rest of the two devices remained at 70%. at the end of 2019, both the fridge and a vacuum cleaner rose upto 100% and washing machine had just upto 70% demand.

Secondly, there was a slow decline started from 1920 with 50%. By the time it was going downwards and in 2019, the working hours for house finally reduced to 10 hours per week.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover both charts and identify the main overall patterns: appliance ownership generally rose, while weekly housework time fell. You also include useful comparisons, such as the refrigerator and vacuum cleaner reaching 100% by 2019. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear. The refrigerator began at about 2%, rather than zero, and the washing-machine figure in 2019 was about 75%, not 70%. The overview also says the fridge and vacuum had the “highest demand over the period,” which overlooks that the refrigerator started far below the other appliances. The housework trend is reported, but its intermediate decline is not described. More precise figures and a clearer summary of the key contrasts would make the report more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and separate paragraphs for appliance ownership and housework. This makes the information generally easy to follow. Some connections between ideas are less clear or mechanical, however. For example, “On the other hand” suggests a contrast between the charts, although they are simply two related sets of information, and “Whereas” begins a fragment in the overview. The appliance paragraph moves through selected years but does not consistently signal the comparisons, while “Secondly” is an awkward transition to the second chart. Use straightforward linking phrases such as “Regarding housework” and organise each chart’s figures in a clear chronological sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing trends, including “significant increase,” “fluctuations,” “decline” and “reduced.” These choices show an adequate range for the task, but several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, sometimes making the meaning less precise. “Electric devices bought by the people” does not accurately describe household ownership, and “highest demand” refers to demand rather than the percentage of households owning appliances. “A housework” and “the working hours for house” are also unsuitable expressions. There are spelling and form errors, including “Vacumm” and “upto.” Choose standard chart language such as “ownership,” “proportion of households” and “hours spent on housework,” and check spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a comparison introduced by “While” and a time clause beginning “After just 40 years.” The main message is usually understandable, but some sentence structures and punctuation are faulty. “While washing machine showed many fluctuations…” is not a complete sentence, and “Whereas number of hours…” is also a fragment. In “a second graph gives information about time taken…,” articles and sentence construction need attention; the final sentence, “By the time it was going downwards,” is not grammatically complete. Capitalisation after full stops is inconsistent, as in “at the end.” Practise forming complete clauses and use accurate past-tense descriptions consistently, for example, “Housework fell from 50 hours in 1920 to 11 in 2019.”

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.