Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-13

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 6.0)

The bar graph compares the habit of Americans how often they ate fast food over a period starting from 2003 to 2013.

Overall, most of the individuals preferred to eat fast food once a week and once or twice a month, while least proportion of people went to fast food restaurants every day.

In 2003, the figure of Americans who consumed fast food once a week was approximately 31%, making this the most popular frequency. A similar proportion of about 30% of individuals, visited at fast food restaurants once or twice a month. The percentage of citizens ate fast food several times a week was lower, at around 17%, whereas only nearly 4% ate it every day. Approximately 13% of people went to the fast food restaurants a few times a year.

In 2006, the percentage of Americans' habit of eating fast food for once a week increased to around 33%. However, the figure for those eating it once or twice a month decreased to 25%. The amount of American citizens rose to 20% for several times a week. By 2013, the pattern had changed again. The fast food eating habit once or twice a month was the most common, at nearly 33%, whereas the figure for once a week dropped to about 27%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response provides a clear overview of the main trends and selects key data points to support the description. You have successfully identified the shifts in popularity between 2003 and 2013, such as the transition of the 'once or twice a month' category to the most frequent by the end of the period. However, the report is incomplete as it fails to mention the data for 2006 or 2013 for all categories, specifically omitting the 'several times a week' and 'every day' figures for the final year. To reach a higher band, ensure all categories are tracked across the years provided to give a comprehensive summary.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs that group information by year. The progression of ideas is generally easy to follow. You use some cohesive devices like 'however' and 'whereas' to contrast data. However, the transition between the second and third body paragraphs is slightly abrupt, and the final paragraph feels incomplete as it does not fully synthesize the 2013 data. Improving the use of linking phrases to connect the years more fluidly would enhance the overall flow and coherence of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'proportion', 'consumed', and 'frequency' appropriately. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'the habit of Americans how often they ate' (which is grammatically awkward) and 'the figure of Americans' (where 'percentage' or 'proportion' would be more precise). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning, it lacks the sophistication and precision required for higher bands. Focusing on more varied collocations related to data description would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'visited at fast food restaurants' (unnecessary preposition) and 'the percentage of citizens ate fast food' (missing relative pronoun 'who'). Additionally, there are issues with article usage and phrasing, such as 'for once a week'. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Increasing your control over complex sentence structures and proofreading for minor grammatical slips will help improve your accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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