Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-20
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 chart illustrate change in percentage of households owning electrical appliances and the number of hours spent on housework per week in one country between 1920 and 2019.Overall, the ownership of all three elictrical appliances increased over the period, while the time spent doing housework decreased significiently.Refrigerator and vaccume cleaners became almost universal in household by 2000.In 1920, appraxiomately 40% of households owned a washing machine, while 30% had a vaccume cleaner. Almost no household had a refrigerator.By 1940 washing machine ownership had risen to 60% while the fighure for refrigerators and vaccume cleaners were arouned 50% and 45%,respectively. In 1960 refrigerator ownership increased dramatically to 90% whereas washi ng machine and vaccume cleaner were both owned by appraxiomately 70% of househols.By 1980, almost all household had a refrigerator, and 90% owned a vaccume cleaner ownership reached appraxiomately 100% while washingmachine ownership stood at 75%.in coclusion, the increasing use ofelectrical appliances was accompained by a considerable reduction in the time spent on housework
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
You identify the main overall contrast: appliance ownership generally rose while housework time fell, and you note that refrigerators and vacuum cleaners became widespread. However, the report covers the data only partially. It gives no figures for housework hours, despite this being a major feature of the second chart, and it stops at 1980 rather than describing the 2000 and 2019 endpoints. There is also a factual mismatch: in 1940 vacuum-cleaner ownership was about 50%, not 45%, and the washing-machine figure in 2019 was about 75%, not 1980. To strengthen the response, compare the full period and include key figures for the decline in housework, from 50 to about 11 hours.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has a recognisable sequence, beginning with an introduction and overview before moving through selected years, so the reader can follow the broad direction of change. However, the information is compressed into one continuous block, and the progression becomes unclear near the end: “By 1980” is followed by several appliance figures and then an incomplete-sounding conclusion. The final sentence repeats the overview rather than adding a clear comparison. Use separate paragraphs for the overview and the detailed comparisons, and organise the body by trends or time periods. Clearer sentence boundaries and linking phrases would also help the reader distinguish the figures for each appliance and the housework series.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “ownership,” “increased dramatically,” “almost universal,” and “considerable reduction,” which helps communicate the main trends. However, spelling errors are frequent and sometimes make the text harder to read, for example “elictrical,” “significiently,” “vaccume,” “appraxiomately,” and “accompained.” Some phrases are also imprecise or awkward, such as “almost no household” and “vacuum cleaner ownership reached approximately 100%” when the figure described is for 1980. Check spelling carefully and use precise collocations such as “the proportion of households with” and “housework hours fell.” This would make the limited range more accurate and easier to understand.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “while” and a time clause beginning “By 1940.” However, errors in sentence construction and punctuation are frequent enough to affect clarity. The opening has subject–verb disagreement (“The chart illustrate”), and “whereas washi ng machine…” lacks a complete grammatical structure after “whereas.” The long run-on sequence from “By 1980” combines several ideas without clear sentence boundaries, while “in coclusion” is joined directly to the preceding text. Use complete clauses, check subject–verb agreement and articles, and place full stops and commas consistently. Shorter, accurately controlled sentences would make the comparisons clearer.
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.