Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows how frequently people in the USA ate in fast food restaurants between 2003 and 2013.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

 

Student answer (Band 4.5)

FROM THE FOLLOWING BAR CHART WE CAN ILLUSTRATE FROM THE AGE OF 2003 TO 2013 HOW THE USA PEOPLE ATE FAST FOOD IN RESTURANTS .

OVERALL,WE CAN HIGHLIGHT THE HIGHEST AND THE LOWEST AMOUNT OF A FAST FOOD THEY ATE IN RESTURANTS ([redacted phone]0) WITH THE PERCENTAGE. 2013 YEAR IS MOST TOP LEVEL BY 33 PERCENTAGE FOR EATING FAST FOOD IN RESTURANTS.SIMILARLY 2006 YEAR IS MOST LEAST FOR EATING FAST FOOD AMONG ALL OVER YEAR HAVIN WITH 3 PERCENTAGE. WE CAN ALSO CLEARLY DESCRIBE NON OF THE YEAR LIKE( SEVERAL TIMES WEEK ,ONCE A WEEK , A FEW TIMES A YEAR ETC )THE PEOPLE OF USA AVOID EATEN FAST FOOD .IN THE GIVEN PICTURE WE CAN CLEARLY ASSURE THE YEAR 2003 , 2006, AND 2013 BECAUSE OF THE DIFFRENT TYPES OF DRAW FOR THE EACH YEAR.

ONCE OR TWICE A MONTH AND ONCE A WEEK YEAR IS THE MAXIMUM YEAR WHERE PEOPLE ATE FAST FOOD IN RESTURANT IN THE USA.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.0
Coherence and Cohesion4.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall4.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response identifies the chart’s subject and attempts an overview, but it reports the main features inaccurately or unclearly. The claim that 2013 was the “most top level by 33 percentage” does not specify that this was for eating fast food once or twice a month; that category reached 33% in 2013. The statement that 2006 was the “most least” at 3% is also misleading: 3% refers to eating fast food every day, while the lowest figures vary by category and year. The response does not clearly compare the three years or summarise the main shifts, such as weekly eating peaking in 2006 and monthly eating becoming most common in 2013. Select key categories and report their trends precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response with an opening, an overview paragraph, and a final statement, and phrases such as “Overall” and “Similarly” signal relationships. However, the progression is difficult to follow because several ideas are combined without clear explanation. For example, the sentence beginning “We can also clearly describe none of the year…” is unclear and does not connect logically to the preceding comparison. The final sentence repeats that weekly and monthly eating were high without giving figures or clarifying how the categories compare. Use separate paragraphs for the introduction, overview, and selected data, and connect each comparison explicitly to a year and frequency.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some task-related vocabulary, including “percentage,” “highest,” “lowest,” and “fast food,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several repeated or inaccurate expressions make the data difficult to interpret. Phrases such as “most top level,” “most least,” and “maximum year” are not natural ways to describe chart values, while “ate fast food in restaurants” is repeated frequently. There are also spelling errors, including “resturants” and “diff rent” (written as “diff rent”/“diffre nt” in the response), which reduce clarity. Build a small set of accurate chart terms—such as “proportion,” “accounted for,” “rose,” and “fell”—and use them with the relevant category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts longer sentences and uses basic linking structures, but grammatical control is inconsistent and errors often obscure the intended comparisons. For example, “From the following bar chart we can illustrate from the age of 2003 to 2013” has an unclear sentence structure, and “Once or twice a month and once a week year is the maximum year” lacks a clear grammatical relationship between the categories and the years. There are also problems with articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries, as in “the highest and the lowest amount of a fast food they ate.” Aim first for accurate simple sentences with a clear subject, verb, category, and percentage; then add controlled comparisons using “whereas” or “while.”

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