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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 6.0 Example

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

221 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 6.0

There are two graphs, one illustrates the percentage of families owning electrical appliances while the other shows the accumulated time spent on housework in most homes in a specific country from 1920 to 2019. Overall in the first chart, there are three main appliances that are highlighted. In the second, the number of hours spent on housework per household fell steadily. Refrigerators and vacuum cleaners became almost universal by the end of the period, whereas washing-machine ownership rose more slowly overall.

In 1920, around 40% of households had a washing machine and 30% owned a vacuum cleaner; virtually none had a refrigerator. By 1940, washing machines were the most common appliance, at about 60%, while the figures for refrigerators and vacuum cleaners were close to 55% and 50%. Refrigerator ownership then climbed sharply to 90% in 1960 and reached 100% by 1980, remaining at that level. Vacuum-cleaner ownership increased from about 70% in 1960 to 90% in 1980, and became universal by 2000. Washing-machine ownership reached roughly 70% in 1960, dipped slightly to 65% in 1980, and then rose to around 75% in 2019.

Meanwhile, weekly housework decreased from 50 hours per household in 1920 to 35 in 1940 and 20 in 1960. It fell further to about 15 hours in 1980 and 2000, before reaching approximately 10 hours in 2019.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Replace the general overview of “three main appliances” with a direct summary of the two dominant trends: appliance ownership rose overall, while weekly housework hours declined.
2
Check the opening sentence for clause boundaries; use a colon after “graphs” or divide the sentence into two.
3
Use the chart’s measurement language consistently: describe housework as weekly hours per household, and compare appliances by percentage of households.

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