Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-08

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 5.0)

The given diagram illustrates how usually people use to eat food in restaurants between 2003 and 2013. Overall, it shows frequency of people visit restaurants at different times in year, month and some are everyday visitors in restaurant to eat food and enjoy their life. It also gives the information of three years 2003, 2006 and 2013.

Firstly, it can be observed from the graph some durations remain higher during the whole time and some decreases with time. I would like to discuss about the higher frequencies. Top frequency is in 2003 was once a week, mainly on weekends. It grows higher in 2006 but falls in 2013. Secondly, the people who often visit it in a month once or twice a month it decreased from 30% in 2003 to 25% in 2006, but shinily rises in 2013.

Some of the least frequent type of people remained least and even decreased with time those were the people who used to go to hotel/restaurant every day. People eating fast food few times a year increased in 2006 and then stayed same.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to summarise the data but fails to provide a clear overview of the main trends. While it mentions the years 2003, 2006, and 2013, the description of the data is fragmented and lacks precision. For example, the phrase 'some durations remain higher' is vague and does not accurately describe the categories of frequency. Furthermore, the report lacks a clear selection of key features; it focuses on specific fluctuations without highlighting the most significant changes or comparing the categories effectively. The analysis is somewhat superficial, and the lack of clear data points makes it difficult for the reader to follow the trends described.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. The introduction is repetitive and does not clearly state what the chart represents. While transition words like 'Firstly' and 'Secondly' are used, they feel mechanical and do not always connect the ideas logically. The referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'the people who often visit it in a month', where the pronoun 'it' does not clearly refer back to a specific noun. The overall structure is disjointed, making it difficult to follow the comparison of the data across the three years.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and often imprecise. There is a reliance on basic phrasing, such as 'how usually people use to eat' and 'enjoy their life', which is not appropriate for an academic report. The word 'shinily' is used incorrectly to describe a rise in data, and 'hotel/restaurant' is an inaccurate descriptor for the context of fast food. There is little evidence of less common lexical items or an attempt to use precise terminology related to data description (e.g., 'fluctuated', 'remained stable', 'peaked').

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. There are issues with subject-verb agreement ('some decreases with time'), incorrect verb forms ('people use to eat'), and awkward sentence construction ('Top frequency is in 2003 was once a week'). The range of structures is limited, consisting mostly of simple sentences with some errors in punctuation and word order. While the meaning is generally understandable, the lack of control over basic grammatical rules prevents the response from reaching a higher band.

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