The table below shows the consumer durables (telephone, refrigerator, etc.) owned in Britain from 1972 to 1983.

Same questionCompare 5 different answers (Band 6–7)

Sample Response

1

The table showstable data shows the percentage of British households which owned a range of consumer durables between 1972 and 1983.

2

Overall, the proportion of British householdsthe ratio of British families owning those household appliances steadily increased between 1972 and 1983, and television was the most common household electronic itemitems during this period while telephone ownership showed the largest risetelephone ownership increased steadily.

3

In detaildetails, the greatest increase in the electronic household item possession by the British families was in telephone ownership, rising from 42% in 1972 to 77% in 1983. Next came central-heating ownership, rising from 3337% of households in 1972 to 64% in 1983. Moreover, the percentage of households with a refrigerator rose 21% over the same period, and washing-machine ownership rose by 14 percentage pointswith a washing machine by 14%. Households with vacuum cleaners, televisionsvacuum-cleaners. televisions and dishwashers increased by 8%, 5% and 2% respectively. In 1983 - the year of their introduction - 18% of households had a video recorder. Besides, over the period, the proportion of British householdshouses with central heating rose from one to two thirds, and of those with a phone from under a half to over three-quarters. Together with the big increases in the ownership of washing machines and refrigerators, they are evidence of wider ownership of household durablesevidence of both rising living standards and the trend to lifestyles based on comfort and convenience.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.0

The report provides a clear overview of rising ownership and highlights major changes such as growth in telephone and central-heating ownership. Its main weaknesses are an incorrect starting figure, one comparison based on unavailable data, and some crowded or unnatural phrasing; the priority is to check every table value, avoid unsupported interpretation, and organise details into clearer comparison groups.

Band score breakdown

IELTS Writing Criteria Scores

TA

Task Achievement

7.0
Scoring rule

The report gives a strong overview of rising ownership and identifies major increases such as telephones and central heating. It includes one wrong starting figure for central heating, overlooks that vacuum-cleaner data is unavailable in 1983, and adds a little unsupported interpretation about living standards.

Next step

Report only what the table shows and check each starting and ending figure before making summary claims.

CC

Coherence and Cohesion

7.0
Scoring rule

Organisation is mostly clear, with an introduction, overview, and detailed paragraph, but the final paragraph becomes crowded and partly repetitive.

Next step

Split the details into high-ownership items and fastest-growing/new items to make the table easier to compare.

LR

Lexical Resource

6.5
Scoring rule

Lexical range is good enough, but collocations such as “In details” and “electronic household item possession” sound unnatural.

Next step

Use concise table language such as “ownership”, “households with”, “rose from”, and “was introduced”.

GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

6.5
Scoring rule

The report has many accurate structures, but number agreement, punctuation, and preposition errors remain.

Next step

Proofread compound nouns and plural agreement, especially after “items”, “households”, and “percentage”.

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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

The table below shows the consumer durables (telephone, refrigerator, etc.) owned in Britain from 1972 to 1983.

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