Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-28

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 chat illustrates the frequent eaters of USA in fast food establishments from 2003 to 2013

Overall, the everyday eaters is relatively lower than the masses that visit the restaurants in a gigantic scale one time in a week and a couple of times a month.

In 2003 the weekly and monthly fast food consumers are around 30% in the US and if we examine the daily consumers' data and the non-visitors of fast food chains it's between 4%-5%.

When we notice the statistics of 2006 the bar peaked at around 33% in the case of monthly footfall. And the next place is secured by the weekly crowd at 25% and the number comes down almost to a flat like in the matter of persons who prefer many times a week and nominal times annually.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the task achievement score. While you have identified some main features, the analysis is incomplete. You have only covered data for 2003 and 2006, completely omitting the trends for 2013. Furthermore, the description of the data is somewhat vague; for instance, referring to 'nominal times annually' is imprecise. To improve, ensure you cover the entire timeframe provided in the chart and provide a more comprehensive summary of the key trends and comparisons across all years, rather than focusing only on the beginning of the period.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into short paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. The transition between the overview and the body paragraphs is abrupt. While you use some cohesive devices like 'Overall' and 'In 2003', the connection between sentences is often mechanical. The final paragraph is particularly disjointed, with phrases like 'the next place is secured by' feeling slightly unnatural in this context. To improve, focus on using a wider range of linking words to connect your ideas more fluidly and ensure that each paragraph has a clear, singular focus that contributes to the overall summary.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision required for a higher band. Phrases like 'gigantic scale' and 'nominal times' are not appropriate for describing statistical data. You also have some awkward phrasing, such as 'frequent eaters of USA' and 'the number comes down almost to a flat'. To improve, focus on using more academic collocations suitable for data description, such as 'a significant proportion' or 'a marginal percentage'. Expanding your range of reporting verbs and adverbs will also help you describe the trends more accurately and professionally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. For example, 'the everyday eaters is relatively lower' contains a subject-verb agreement error, and 'in the matter of persons' is an unnatural construction. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing commas and periods in several places. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of prepositions. Proofreading your work for basic sentence structure errors will help you achieve a higher level of accuracy and ensure your meaning is conveyed clearly to the reader.

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

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