The bar chart below shows the average duration of housework women did (unemployed, part-time employed, and full-time) when compared to men who had full-time work in the UK between 1985 and 2005.
Sample Response
The given bar chart demonstrates the proportion of time spent by three categories of women such as unemployed, part-time employed and full time employed on domestic chores and full time employed male in the UK on the years of 1985,1995 and 2005
Overall, it can be seen that over the years, unemployed women have spent a considerable amount of time on housework while men with full type jobs consistently account for less time.
The jobless women devoted the same proportion of hours to domestic work for two decades from the year 1985, whereas in 1995 the figure reduced at a minimal rate. The second-largest proportion was females with part-time employees who invested approximately five to six hours in three years.
The men who had full-time jobs spent half of the time on household chores as their female counterparts. However, the hours spent by females moderately reduced while the figure of men remained unchanged in 1995. In the year 2005 women and men significantly increased for accounting time on house works which was about 1.5 and 2.5 hours respectively.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Specify chart years Original: over the years Suggested revision: in all three years Why it matters: The chart compares three selected years rather than an uninterrupted period.
- 2. State main comparison Original: a considerable amount of time Suggested revision: the most time Why it matters: Unemployed women form the highest category in every year shown.
- 3. Correct employment term Original: full type jobs Suggested revision: full-time jobs Why it matters: Full type is a word-choice error for full-time employment.
- 4. Clarify lowest group Original: account for less time Suggested revision: spent the least time Why it matters: Men in full-time work have the lowest housework figure in each year.
- 5. Use hours measure Original: second-largest proportion Suggested revision: second-highest figure Why it matters: The chart reports numbers of hours rather than proportions.
- 6. Correct employment phrase Original: females with part-time employees Suggested revision: women in part-time employment Why it matters: The original incorrectly describes the women as having employees.
- 7. Use time verb Original: invested Suggested revision: spent Why it matters: People spend time on housework rather than invest hours in it here.
- 8. Clarify repeated values Original: in three years Suggested revision: in each of the three years Why it matters: Each makes clear that the five-to-six-hour range applies separately to all three years.
- 9. Use concise group label Original: The men who had full-time jobs Suggested revision: Men in full-time employment Why it matters: The revised group label is more concise and matches the chart category.
- 10. Correct comparison pattern Original: half of the time on household chores as Suggested revision: about half as much time on household chores as Why it matters: The comparison requires the half as much as structure.
- 11. Identify comparison group Original: female counterparts Suggested revision: female counterparts in full-time employment Why it matters: The chart supports this comparison specifically with full-time employed women.
- 12. Correct change expression Original: the hours spent by females moderately reduced Suggested revision: housework hours for all three groups of women decreased Why it matters: Hours decreased; they did not reduced, and the revised subject identifies the affected groups.
Suggested Rewrites
- over the years in all three years
- a considerable amount of time the most time
- full type jobs full-time jobs
- account for less time spent the least time
- second-largest proportion second-highest figure
- females with part-time employees women in part-time employment
Why this response received Band 5.5
The response has a recognisable structure and correctly highlights unemployed women as spending the most time on housework while full-time employed men spend the least. However, coverage is sparse and the final 2005 figures reverse the values for full-time women and men, weakening accuracy. The priority is to report all four groups systematically with correct values and clear year-to-year comparisons.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A relevant overview identifies the broad extremes, but key categories and changes are insufficiently covered and the final comparison is inaccurate.
Compare all four groups across the three years and report the 2005 figures correctly, with full-time women at about 2.7 hours and men at 1.5.
Coherence and Cohesion
Paragraphing provides a basic progression, but unclear references to women and their counterparts weaken the links between comparisons.
Organise details by employment group or year and name each group explicitly whenever the comparison changes.
Lexical Resource
The response shows some range for trends and employment categories, but frequent imprecise collocations reduce clarity.
Use accurate combinations such as hours spent, part-time employed women, fell slightly, and household chores.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning is generally recoverable, but frequent errors in sentence boundaries, agreement, articles, and clause construction limit control.
Build shorter comparison sentences with explicit subjects and check verb forms and punctuation before adding complex clauses.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The bar chart below shows the average duration of housework women did (unemployed, part-time employed, and full-time) when compared to men who had full-time work in the UK between 1985 and 2005.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.