Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The bar chart illustrates the percentage of adoption of electrical machineries and the number of hours people spent for doing house chores in a country from 1920 to 2019.

Overall, the percentage of households with all electrical equipments surged throughout the timeperiod. At the start, the number of hours of housework per week were used to be high. Towards the end, the time required for houseworks decreased.

In 1920, electrical washing machines were the most used applinace with 30%, the percentage kept on increasing till the 1960. Afterwards, it fluctuates slightly but eventually reached to approximately 72% in 2019. In contrast, the purchases of refrigerator were negligible at the start of period, it followed surging trend till 1980 and became constant at 100% till the 2019.

While, the vacuum cleaner used to 30% in 1920 and constantly increased till 2000 and even

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the broad trends: appliance ownership generally rose, while weekly housework time fell. You also report the refrigerator reaching 100% by 1980 and remaining there, which matches the chart. However, the response is incomplete: it ends mid-sentence after “and even”, so the vacuum-cleaner trend is not fully reported and the housework figures are not compared beyond the overview. There is also a key factual error: washing machines were at 40% in 1920, not 30%, and they peaked at about 75% in 2019. The overview is relevant but broad, and the response is 8 words below the required minimum. Include the missing comparisons and complete the report.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and detail about the appliances, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In contrast” help signal relationships. However, progression is limited because the final paragraph breaks off at “and even”, leaving the vacuum-cleaner comparison unfinished and the housework series without detailed treatment. Some links are also awkward or inaccurate: “While” begins a sentence without a matching clause, and the refrigerator sentence joins two independent ideas with a comma. Organise the details into clear groups—for example, appliance ownership in one paragraph and housework hours in another—and use complete sentences with explicit comparisons to create a more coherent progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “percentage”, “surged”, “constant” and “decreased”, and the main subject remains understandable. However, several word choices and collocations are unnatural or imprecise, such as “electrical machineries”, “percentage of adoption”, “used appliance” and “purchases of refrigerator”. Spelling errors in “applinace” and “equipments” also reduce accuracy. The repeated use of general terms such as “increased” and “trend” limits precision, while “houseworks” is not the natural form for this meaning. Aim for standard chart language such as “the proportion of households owning…” and “housework hours fell”, and check spelling and countability when editing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, but errors are frequent enough to make some relationships difficult to follow. For example, “the number of hours … were used to be high” combines an incorrect agreement pattern with an unsuitable verb construction; “it followed surging trend” is missing an article; and “the purchases of refrigerator were negligible …, it followed…” creates a comma splice. The opening sentence also has an awkward structure around “hours people spent for doing”. Use straightforward, controlled forms such as “Households spent 50 hours per week on housework” and “Refrigerator ownership rose sharply, reaching 100% in 1980.” Check subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries, and ensure every sentence is complete.

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