Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-28

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)

cambridge writing task 1

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The line graph illustrates the changes in ownership of modern electrical appliances and amount of time spent while doing household work in one country between the year 1920 and 2019.

Overall, the highest percentage of households with electrical appliances was of refrigerator and vacuum cleaner and the lowest was of washing machine. However, after 2000 to 2019 use of washing machine and refrigerator was constant.

On the one hand, there was a rapid increase in utilisation of refrigerator from 1920 to 1960 and in next 20 years there was a slight change in its acquiring approx 10 percent. The people who sell washing machines face a major challenge. vacuum cleaner selling goes from 30 percent to 100 and then from 2000 to 2019 it was constant.

On the other hand, after providing technical facilities from year 1920 to 2019 there was a rapid decline in working hours of people for household work. In starting, there are 50 hours and later it goes to 10 hours.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad trends: refrigerator and vacuum-cleaner ownership rose, while weekly housework declined. You also include some relevant figures, such as the vacuum cleaner’s rise from 30% to 100%. However, the overview is partly inaccurate: washing-machine ownership was not the lowest overall, and refrigerator and vacuum-cleaner ownership were not consistently the highest; in 1920, washing machines led. The claim that both washing-machine and refrigerator use stayed constant from 2000 to 2019 is also incorrect: refrigerator ownership remained at 100%, but washing-machine ownership rose from about 70% to 75%. The housework figure falls to about 11 hours, not 10. Focus on accurate comparisons and summarise the main trends without unsupported claims about sellers or technical facilities.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and two body paragraphs, and the contrast marker “On the other hand” helps signal a shift to housework. However, the progression within the appliance paragraph is difficult to follow: it moves from refrigerators to washing-machine sellers and then vacuum cleaners, without a consistent comparison or clear grouping. “On the one hand” is not followed by a matching second side of that contrast, so the linking framework feels mechanical. Some references are also unclear, such as “in next 20 years” and “it was constant.” Organise the details by appliance or by period, and use transitions that accurately show the relationship between the points.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “rapid increase,” “decline,” “percentage” and “constant,” so the main trends are generally understandable. However, several word choices and collocations are awkward or imprecise, such as “time spent while doing household work,” “in its acquiring,” and “vacuum cleaner selling.” These expressions make the report sound less like a description of chart data and can obscure the intended meaning. “Utilisation” is also less natural here than a direct reference to household ownership. Aim for precise, conventional terms such as “ownership,” “the proportion of households,” and “weekly housework hours,” and avoid introducing people who sell appliances when the graph reports household ownership.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including a contrast with “However” and a time clause beginning “after providing technical facilities.” Nevertheless, control is uneven, and errors in sentence construction and tense are noticeable. For example, “the highest percentage … was of refrigerator and vacuum cleaner” has an unclear grammatical structure, while “in next 20 years there was a slight change” is missing an article and has an awkward time expression. Tense also shifts in “In starting, there are 50 hours and later it goes,” although the chart describes past data. Use consistent past-tense forms, check articles and subject–verb agreement, and build shorter, complete sentences before attempting more complex comparisons.

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