Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-02

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 two line graphs illustrate changes in the ownership of electrical appliances, such as washing machines, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners, as well as the amount of time spent doing housework in households in one country between 1920 and 2019.

As we all can see the time spent on housework has declined significantly, in contrast, there is a rise in ownership of electrical appliances which shows most of the peolple have stopped working and has started using the appliances namely washing machines, refrigerator and vacuum cleaner.

In 1920, 0% of households had owned a refrigerator after that it was 55% in the year 1940 and then in the year 1980 it was at its peak and after that it remain constant. But the Number of hours of housework per week per household was at its peak at 50 hours but it started declining after that. Whereas, The ownership of vacuum cleaner started at 30% in the year 1920 and after that it rise till 50% in the year 1940. Its peak was at 70% in 1960 and 2000 year. it had a fall in the year 1980. During 1980 number of hours per week was 15 hours only as peolple started using the appliances more than oing the work by themself.

If we talk about the ownership of washing machines, It started from 40% and in the the year 1940 it was 60% but it had a fall in the year 1980, around 65% of population had owned. In the year 2019 the ownership of refrigerator was at its peak with almost 75% of population owning a refrigerator.

Overall, it can be concluded that the ownership of all three electrical appliances increased over the period, while the time spent on household work decreased considerably from 50 hours to approximately 10 hours per week in 2019. This shows that the use of electrical appliances became more common and made household chores easier.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the overall contrast between rising appliance ownership and falling housework time, and include several relevant figures. However, some key data are misreported or confused: refrigerator ownership was about 2% in 1920, not 0%, and reached 100% by 1980; the 75% figure in 2019 belongs to washing machines, not refrigerators. Vacuum-cleaner ownership rose to 90% in 1980 and 100% by 2000, rather than peaking at 70% in 1960 and 2000. The claim that people “have stopped working” is unsupported, and the explanation that appliances made chores easier is not shown directly by the charts. A more accurate overview and clearer selection of the main trends would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an introduction, a broad overview, and paragraphs discussing the appliances, so there is some organisation. However, the progression is difficult to follow because trends are mixed together and some comparisons are misplaced. For example, the vacuum-cleaner paragraph shifts to housework hours, then returns to appliance ownership, while the final appliance paragraph incorrectly assigns the 2019 figure to refrigerators. Linking phrases such as “Whereas” and “If we talk about” are used mechanically or do not create a clear relationship between ideas. Group the information more systematically—for instance, describe the three appliance trends together and then compare them with housework hours—and use clear references to avoid confusion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “ownership,” “declined significantly,” “constant,” and “approximately,” and the reader can generally understand the intended comparisons. However, the range is limited and several expressions are imprecise or unnatural, such as “at its peak” for a series that later rises again, “the ownership … started from,” and “population had owned” appliances. The phrase “stopped working” also gives an unsupported interpretation rather than describing the data. Spelling errors such as “peolple” and “oing” reduce accuracy. Aim for precise trend language and natural collocations, such as “the proportion of households owning…” and “remained stable.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

There are attempts to combine ideas using clauses and contrast markers, but control is uneven, and errors recur in verb forms, articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries. Examples include “the time spent on housework has declined” in a past-period report, “it remain constant,” “it rise till 50%,” and “the ownership … was at its peak with … population owning.” Capitalisation after commas is inconsistent, and the long sentence beginning “As we all can see” joins several ideas without clear punctuation. Use past simple consistently for the historical data, check subject–verb agreement, and build shorter, complete sentences before adding more complex structures.

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.