Back to Writing Hub

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.

201 words AcademicTask 1Multiple Graphs
Task 1

Illustrative target band for this original model answer.

Plan your answer

Try your own response before reading the samples.

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 line graphs depict the evolution of household ownership of electrical appliances and the amount of time spent on housework in a particular country from 1920 to 2019. Overall, there was a notable reduction in the time allocated to housework on a weekly basis over the years. Concurrently, the prevalence of all three electric appliances increased, although their patterns differed. In 1920, washing machines were the most common appliance, present in 40% of households, compared with 30% for vacuum cleaners; refrigerators were almost absent. Washing-machine ownership rose to 60% in 1940 and 70% in 1960, before falling slightly to about 65% in 1980. It then recovered, reaching 75% by 2019. Refrigerator ownership climbed much more sharply, to 50% in 1940 and 90% in 1960, and reached 100% in 1980, remaining at that level thereafter. Vacuum-cleaner ownership increased steadily from 30% to 50% in 1940, 70% in 1960 and 90% in 1980, attaining 100% by 2000. The decline in housework was consistent overall: households spent 50 hours per week on it in 1920, falling to 35 in 1940 and 20 in 1960. The figure then decreased to around 15 hours in both 1980 and 2000, before reaching 10 hours in 2019.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Make the overview state the central contrast directly: appliance ownership rose overall, while weekly housework hours declined.
2
Keep appliance figures grouped by series, and use a comparison phrase when one series changes more sharply than another.
3
Use concise measurement phrases such as “75% of households” and “15 hours per week” to reduce wordiness while retaining exact data.

Related examples for this topic

Compare different bands on the same IELTS prompt.

Browse all