Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-23

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 illustrates the information about the variations in the ownership of electrical appliances and amount of time spent doing housework in households in a country from 1920 to 2019.

overall, it is clear that the refrigerator made up the highest trend and the washing machine end up with lowset value. The number of hours of household per week were maximum in 1920 but with time it showed the downward progress in 2019.

Refrigerator started with zero value in 1920 but claimed the highest value at 100 in 2019 along with vaccum cleaner. The value of washing machine made a slow intent and recorded 74 percentage at 2019.

Highest value of housework was 50 hours per week in 1920, while the 10 hours per week appeared in 2019 with lowest points. There were the significant change observed during the 1920 to 1960. This showed the 30hours per week. After 1960, there were only 20 hours difference from 1980 to 2019.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad contrast between rising appliance ownership and falling housework hours, and include some relevant figures, such as 50 hours in 1920 and around 100% refrigerator ownership by 2019. However, the overview is unclear and partly inaccurate: the washing machine did not finish with the lowest ownership; it reached about 75%, while the refrigerator and vacuum cleaner were both at 100%. The response also omits important comparisons, including the vacuum cleaner’s steady rise and the refrigerator reaching full ownership by 1980. Some housework figures are misreported: 2019 was about 11 hours, and the 1980–2019 difference was only about four hours, not 20. The response is 146 words, below the 150-word minimum, with 14 prompt words excluded from the count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for appliance ownership and housework. This gives the reader some sense of organisation, and contrast markers such as “while” help connect information. However, progression within paragraphs is limited, and the comparisons are not consistently grouped or clearly explained. For example, “There were the significant change observed during the 1920 to 1960. This showed the 30hours per week” leaves the reader unsure which change is meant and how the figure relates to the chart. The overview also does not clearly guide the report. Use a more purposeful sequence—overview first, then appliance trends, then housework—and make references and comparisons explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “ownership,” “household,” “downward progress,” and “percentage,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes obscuring the intended meaning. “The refrigerator made up the highest trend” is not a natural way to describe the data, while “washing machine made a slow intent” appears to mean a gradual increase. “Lowset value” and “lowest points” are also awkward, and “vaccum” is misspelled. Aim for precise trend language such as “rose steadily,” “peaked at,” “remained stable,” and “declined,” and use “hours of housework” rather than “hours of household.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a contrast with “while” and a time clause beginning “After 1960.” However, the range is limited, and errors in sentence construction and grammatical forms occur often enough to make some statements difficult to follow. For example, “The number of hours of household per week were maximum” has problems with the noun phrase and subject–verb agreement, while “There were the significant change observed” has an incorrect construction and article use. The sentence “This showed the 30hours per week” does not clearly express a complete relationship. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and build clear comparisons with structures such as “Housework fell from 50 hours in 1920 to 20 in 1960.”

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

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