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 charts illustrates the changes in ownership of electrical appliances and amount of time spent doing housework in one country from 1920 to 2019.

Overall, the number of hours of housework had sharply fell, while electrical appliances recorded the countiously rose. Refrigerator had started at the lowest point and end at the highest point. In additional, washing machine and vacuum cleaner also measured at sharply rose.

In 1920, the refrigerator started at lowest percantage, at approximately 2%, while vacuum cleaner stood at around 30%. In 1940, 1960 and 1980, it was reported at around 55%, 90% and 100%, compared with 50%,70% and 90% for vacuum cleaner over the same period. By 2000 and 2019, refrigerator and vacuum cleaner both shared the equal ratio, at approximately 100%.

From 1920 to 1960, the washing machine was stayed at almost 70%, followed by 65% in 1980,almost 70% in 2000, just over 75% in 2019. However, In 1920, 1940 and 1960, the number of hours of housewwork, at approximately 50, 35 and 20 hours per week. In 1980 and 2000, it was recorded at same hours, at 15 hours per week, around 11 hours in 2019

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover both charts and provide a relevant overview: housework time declines, while appliance ownership generally rises. You also identify the refrigerator’s low starting point and its eventual near-universal ownership, and include several useful comparisons across years. Most figures are consistent with the chart. However, the overview is not fully precise: washing-machine ownership does not rise continuously, since it falls from about 70% in 1960 to 65% in 1980. The detail that it then recovers is reported, but the overall fluctuation is not made clear. The statement that it “started at the lowest point and end at the highest point” is also imprecise because the refrigerator finishes level with the vacuum cleaner. Make the overview more exact and highlight the washing machine’s comparatively modest change.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs. Grouping the refrigerator and vacuum-cleaner figures together makes their comparison easy to follow, and the final paragraph covers the remaining series. However, progression within sentences is sometimes awkward, and the overview’s ideas are not clearly separated or expressed. For example, “In additional” and “However” do not establish accurate relationships between the points that follow, while the final sentence runs several years and figures together without clear punctuation. Use linking phrases only when their logical function is clear, and divide the final sequence into shorter, well-punctuated sentences. This would make the organisation more consistently clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “ownership,” “approximately,” “compared with,” and “hours per week,” so the reader can understand the main subject and comparisons. However, several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “countiously,” “percantage,” and “housewwork” are misspelled, while “shared the equal ratio” and “measured at sharply rose” are unnatural expressions. “The lowest point” and “the highest point” are also less precise than describing ownership percentages. Aim for accurate, natural collocations such as “rose steadily,” “reached 100%,” and “the same proportion.” Proofreading spelling and choosing standard trend language would make your vocabulary more reliable and flexible for describing data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex forms, including comparisons with “while” and “compared with,” and the main trends are generally understandable. However, some errors in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction remain. For example, “The charts illustrates” should use plural agreement, and “had sharply fell” has an incorrect verb form. “The washing machine was stayed” is also ungrammatical, while “In 1920, 1940 and 1960, the number of hours …” is left without a main verb. These errors make some sentences difficult to process, even though the intended figures can usually be recovered. Practise forming complete clauses and checking subject–verb agreement and past-tense forms; vary sentence structures while keeping each comparison grammatically complete.

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