Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-12

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 5.5)

the bar chart illustrates, what amount of people are eating at a fast food restaurent in the United States of America between the year 2003, 2006 and 2013.

Overall it can be seen that most number of fast food eaters are eating once a week or once or twice a month. The least amount of food eaten is on everyday basis.

In the year 2003 the most number of fastfood consumed is once a week with approximately 32% and once or twice a month with 30% people. the least is on every day r=with 4% people approximately. In the year 2006 the most fast food consumed is once a week with 33% people appeoximately. whereas the least is in everyday with 3% appeoximately.

whereas in the year 2013 highest is in once or twice a month with 33% and the least with everyday with 3% respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main pattern that weekly and monthly visits were the most common, and you compare the leading category across all three years. However, the overview is incomplete: it says daily visits were the least common, but in 2003 “Never” (about 4.5%) was slightly higher than “Every day” (4%). Several important changes are also omitted, especially the rise in monthly visits to 33% in 2013 and the decline in weekly visits from 33% in 2006 to 28% in 2013. The response is 146 words, below the required 150, and the limited coverage leaves the summary only partially developed. Include the less frequent categories and a clearer overview of the main shifts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the years. This makes the information generally easy to follow, and phrases such as “In the year 2006” help signal the comparisons. However, the year-by-year approach becomes repetitive, and the final paragraph is very brief. The repeated “whereas” does not always create a clear contrast, while the overview and details are not fully connected through comparisons across years. Grouping the data by frequency pattern—for example, comparing weekly and monthly visits across the period—would create stronger progression. Use linking expressions selectively and ensure each paragraph develops a distinct comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “bar chart,” “approximately,” “highest,” and “least,” so the reader can understand the general subject and comparisons. However, the range is limited and several phrases are unnatural or imprecise, such as “most number of fast food eaters,” “most fast food consumed,” and “least amount of food eaten.” The chart reports how often people ate at restaurants, not the amount of food consumed. There are also spelling errors, including “restaurent” and “appeoximately,” and inconsistent forms such as “fastfood.” Use precise terms for frequency and proportions, and check spelling and collocations. This would make the description clearer and more appropriate for an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both an overview sentence and longer comparisons, but the response relies mainly on simple, repetitive sentence patterns. Several grammatical errors affect clarity, including “what amount of people are eating,” “most number … are eating,” and “the least is on everyday basis.” Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention: “the least is in everyday with 3% approximately” is not a complete, natural comparison, and the lowercase “whereas” after a full stop disrupts sentence punctuation. Try structures such as “The proportion who ate weekly was highest in 2006” and “Monthly visits rose from 25% to 33%.” More accurate clauses and consistent past-tense reporting would improve control.

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