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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 5.0 Example

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

208 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 5.0

The two line graphs illustrate the proportion of electrical appliances ownership for families and total of time doing chores for each family per week in one country during 1920 to 2019. Concentrate on the first graph firstly. It is obvious that all kind of electrical appliances ownership grew in that period time. Refrigerator shows the most dramatic increase, rising from almost no households in 1920 to 100% by 1980, where it remained through 2019. Vacuum cleaner ownership also rose steadily, from 30% in 1920 to 100% in 2000, and then stayed at that level. Washing machine ownership increased overall, from 40% to 75%, although it fell slightly from 70% in 1960 to 65% in 1980. In 1920, washing machines were the most common of the three appliances, while refrigerators were rare. By 2019, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners were present in all households, but washing machines were less widespread. The second graph shows that housework hours declined throughout the period. Each household spent 50 hours per week on housework in 1920, compared with 35 in 1940 and 20 in 1960. The figure then fell to around 15 hours in 1980 and 2000, before reaching 10 hours in 2019. Overall, appliance ownership increased as the time spent doing housework decreased.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Write a one-sentence overview immediately after the introduction, stating that appliance ownership rose while weekly housework hours fell.
2
Group appliance data by trend: compare the refrigerator’s rapid rise, the vacuum cleaner’s steady rise, and the washing machine’s small dip around 1980.
3
Check every opening noun phrase for a clear relationship, such as “the percentage of households owning each appliance” and “hours spent on housework per household.”

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