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.
This response is estimated at Band 8.5. Can you write a better one?
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Sample Response
The first graph displays the percentage of households owning each electrical appliancepercentages of households that owned electrical appliances in one country between 1920 and 2019, while the second graph illustrates how much time households in that country spent doing housework during the same period.
Overall, ownership of all three appliances increased during this period, with refrigerator ownership showing the greatest increasewith that of refrigerators having the greatest growth. At the same time, the amount of time spent on housework decreased.
Washing machines were the most common of the three electrical appliances in 1920, with ownership reaching 40% of households40% of the population. This figurenumber then rose to about 75% in 2019, with a small dip in 1980. Thirty per centNearly a third of households owned vacuum cleaners in 1920. Although ownership climbed steadily, it did not reach 100% until 2000.
In comparison, almost no households had a refrigerator in 1920. However, ownership increased rapidly and by 1980 there was one in every household.
The amount of time spent doing housework, by contrast, first fell significantly from 50 to 15 hours per week between 1920 and 1980. After that, it only experienced a small drop to 10 hours per weekjust over 10 hours a week in 2019.
Why this response received Band 8.5
The response is strongest in its clear overview and accurate selection of the main appliance and housework trends, supported by well-chosen figures and logical grouping. Its main limitation is a small loss of precision, especially describing household ownership as a percentage of the population and the final housework figure as just over 10 hours; prioritise exact units and values throughout.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and accurate supporting figures cover all principal trends, with only minor imprecision in the unit for washing-machine ownership and the 2019 housework value.
Keep every figure tied to the chart’s exact unit—percentage of households or hours per household—and report the final value as 10 hours.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses smoothly from the overview to appliance-specific trends and then housework, with cohesive comparisons and purposeful paragraphing.
For an even tighter report, combine the short refrigerator paragraph with the other appliance details while preserving the clear comparison.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and precise for trends and comparisons, with natural phrases such as ‘climbed steadily’ and ‘in comparison’.
Refine the remaining unit language by replacing ‘40% of the population’ with ‘40% of households’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex sentence structures is used accurately and flexibly, with virtually no grammatical disruption.
Maintain this control while continuing to vary comparative structures and avoid any ambiguity in pronoun reference.