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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 9.0 Example

Original task prompt, user essay, band score, and related examples in the same report workspace.

227 words AcademicTask 1Multiple Graphs
Task 1

Illustrative target band for this original model answer.

Plan your answer

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Ideas to explore

  • Compare the pace of adoption: refrigerator ownership rose especially quickly between 1940 and 1960, while washing-machine ownership changed more gradually.
  • Identify milestones in appliance ownership: refrigerators reached 100% by 1980, and vacuum cleaners did so by 2000.
  • Set the decline in housework hours alongside rising appliance ownership, while avoiding claims that the charts prove one trend caused the other.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce both charts, the measures shown and the 1920–2019 period.
  2. Give an overview of the broad appliance-ownership increases and the fall in housework hours.
  3. Compare the three appliances, highlighting their starting points and the years they reached universal ownership.
  4. Describe the housework-hour decline chronologically, noting the plateau at 15 hours between 1980 and 2000.
Useful vocabulary & examples
household ownership
the proportion of households that have a particular item

Household ownership of refrigerators rose to 100% by 1980.

reach universal ownership
be owned by all households shown in the chart

Vacuum cleaners reached universal ownership in 2000.

edge down
decrease slightly

Washing-machine ownership edged down between 1960 and 1980.

remain at that level
stay unchanged at a previously stated figure

Housework time remained at 15 hours per week from 1980 to 2000.

Task Prompt

The charts below show the changes in ownership of electrical appliances and amount of time doing housework and households in one country between 1920 and 2019. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 9.0

The provided charts present a compelling depiction of the evolution of electrical appliance ownership and its corresponding impact on the amount of time dedicated to housework within a specific nation from 1920 to 2019. The data reveals a significant correlation between the increased adoption of key household appliances, namely washing machines, refrigerators, and vacuum cleaners, and a marked decline in weekly housework hours. Overall, ownership rose for all three appliances, with refrigerators reaching universal ownership by 1980 and vacuum cleaners by 2000. Washing-machine ownership increased less consistently, while housework time fell substantially over the period. In 1920, washing machines were the most common appliance, in 40% of households, compared with 30% for vacuum cleaners; refrigerators were absent. By 1940, washing-machine ownership had risen to 60%, while the other two appliances each stood at about 50%. Refrigerator ownership then climbed sharply to 90% in 1960 and reached 100% in 1980, remaining there. Vacuum-cleaner ownership rose from around 70% in 1960 to 90% in 1980, and became universal by 2000. In contrast, washing-machine ownership edged down from 70% in 1960 to 65% in 1980 before recovering to 75% in 2019. Housework time declined from 50 hours per household per week in 1920 to 35 in 1940 and 20 in 1960. It then fell to 15 hours in 1980, stayed at that level in 2000, and reached 10 by 2019.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Replace the opening’s claim of a “significant correlation” with a neutral description that the appliance-ownership increases coincided with a fall in housework hours.
2
Lead with a concise overview covering the universal ownership of refrigerators and vacuum cleaners and the decline in weekly housework time.
3
Check each appliance figure against the chart, especially the washing-machine dip from 70% in 1960 to 65% in 1980 and its later recovery to 75%.

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