Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-30

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 charts compares the proportion of the people who ate at the fast food restaurants at six different frequencies in 2003,2006 and 2013.

Overall eating fast food once a week or once or twice a month was one of the common habit throughout a period, together accounting for around 60% of people each year. It is also noticeable the two most important extremes that the people who are eating fast food everyday or never eating it all ,involves a very small or largely unchanging minorities .

Although in 2003 and 2004,the weekly consumption was a single most popular option at approximately 30% to 33% respectively, this fell to about 25% in 2013. Eating out once or twice a month followed an opposite pattern, declining from 30% in 2003 to 25 % before climbing to 33% in 2013, of which point it became the leading category.

The remaining frequencies accounted by considerably fewer people.

However, about 16% of Americans who ate fast food several times a week, peaking at the 20% in 2006 and returning to the similar level in 2013. The figure for those eating it out a few times a year slightly rose from 12% to under 15% in 2013. While 5% of fewer people either who ate fast food everyday or never did so in any of the years surveyed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully identifies the main features and trends of the data. You have provided a clear overview and supported your points with relevant data from the chart. However, there are some inaccuracies in the data reporting; for instance, you mention '2004' in the text, but the chart only provides data for 2003, 2006, and 2013. Additionally, the statement about '5% of fewer people' is slightly confusing and could be expressed more clearly. Overall, you have covered all parts of the task well, but greater precision in data interpretation is needed to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'Although', 'However', and 'While' to link ideas. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'of which point it became the leading category', where the phrasing is awkward. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the main trends, which helps the reader follow the progression of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'proportion', 'frequencies', and 'minorities'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'eating it out' instead of 'eating out' and 'one of the common habit' (should be plural 'habits'). While you attempt to use more sophisticated vocabulary, some phrasing remains slightly unnatural. To improve, focus on more precise collocations and ensure subject-verb agreement when using plural nouns.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'The bar charts compares' (subject-verb agreement) and '5% of fewer people either who ate fast food everyday or never did so' (clunky syntax). Punctuation is generally acceptable, though there are some missing spaces after commas (e.g., '2003,2006'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on proofreading for basic agreement and sentence structure errors.

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