IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Household Appliances & Housework Line Graph (Band 9 Sample)
This Academic Task 1 asks you to summarise two line graphs: the percentage of households owning three electrical appliances, and the weekly hours spent on housework, in one country from 1920 to 2019. A band-9 response selects the key trends, gives a clear overview, and reports the main figures accurately. Below is a model answer of roughly 190 words, followed by why it scores 9 on all four criteria.
Get your own IELTS essay graded by AI
Band scores on all four criteria, line-by-line corrections and a model rewrite — free to start.
01 · The task
The graphs below show the changes in the percentage of households with washing machines, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners, and the number of hours spent on housework per week, in one country between 1920 and 2019. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
02 · Band 9 sample answer
191 words · Band 9The two line graphs illustrate how the ownership of three electrical appliances changed in one country between 1920 and 2019, alongside the average number of hours households spent on housework over the same period.
Overall, ownership of all three appliances rose substantially across the century, with refrigerators and vacuum cleaners eventually reaching almost every home. Meanwhile, the time spent on housework fell dramatically, suggesting that these labour-saving devices reshaped domestic life.
In 1920, washing machines were the most common appliance, found in 40% of households, whereas refrigerators were owned by almost no one. Over the following decades, refrigerator ownership climbed steeply, overtaking the other appliances by 1960 and reaching 100% by 1980, a level it then maintained. Vacuum cleaner ownership rose more steadily, also hitting 100% by 2000. Washing machines, by contrast, grew more slowly and somewhat erratically, standing at just 75% by 2019.
The second graph shows a clear opposite trend. Weekly housework fell sharply from 50 hours in 1920 to only 20 hours by 1960, before levelling off at around 15 hours from 1980 and dipping slightly to about 12 hours in 2019. In short, as homes acquired more appliances, the time devoted to housework more than halved.
03 · Why this scores Band 9
The response covers both graphs, opens with a clear overview of the two opposing trends, and reports accurate key figures (40% washing machines in 1920, refrigerators reaching 100% by 1980, housework falling from 50 to about 12 hours). It selects the main features rather than listing every data point, exactly as Task 1 requires.
The report follows the ideal Task 1 shape — introduction, overview, then two detail paragraphs (one per graph). Cohesion is natural — "Over the following decades", "by contrast", "The second graph shows", "In short" — and the inverse relationship between the graphs is drawn together explicitly at the end.
Data-description vocabulary is precise and varied — "climbed steeply", "overtaking", "levelling off", "dipping slightly", "labour-saving devices", "more than halved" — avoiding repetition of a single verb like "increased" and pairing each movement with an accurate degree.
A range of structures is controlled accurately: contrast with "whereas" and "by contrast", a relative clause ("a level it then maintained"), and a participle clause ("overtaking the other appliances by 1960"). Tenses are handled correctly across a period that runs to 2019, and the writing is error-free.
04 · Useful collocations for this task
Tap a phrase to see what it means and how to use it. Natural collocations like these lift your Lexical Resource score.
05 · Frequently asked questions
Do I need to include every number from the chart?
No. Task 1 rewards selecting the main features, not listing every point. This model reports the start and end values, the crossover points and the overall shape, and leaves out minor fluctuations. Cramming in every figure actually lowers the score.
How important is the overview?
It is essential — you cannot reach band 7+ without a clear overview. It should state the biggest-picture trends in a sentence or two (here, appliances rising while housework falls) without specific numbers, which belong in the body paragraphs.
What tense should I use?
Past tenses, since the data runs from 1920 to 2019 and is historical. Use past simple for completed changes ("ownership climbed") and note that a graph with future predictions would need "will" or "is expected to". Match the tense to the time frame shown.
How long should a Task 1 answer be?
At least 150 words; a band-9 answer is usually 170–200. This model is 191 words, enough to give an overview and report both graphs accurately without padding. Spend about 20 minutes on Task 1 and leave 40 for Task 2.
Want feedback on your own answer?
Toey grades your essay on Task, Coherence, Lexical Resource and Grammar, then shows exactly how to reach the next band — free to start.
Try the free IELTS Writing grader