Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-31

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 assigned bar graph illustrates how often individuals in USA ate junk food outside te house in hotels and restaurants from 2003 and 2013.

Overall, it is clear that number of people preferred fast food every day is lowest while once a week or once or twice in month is highest.

In detail, less than 5% of individuals preferred to ate fast food in past 3 years. Moreover, consumers of several times a week lie between 15% to 20% in three years. Surprisingly, once a week is most preferred option by USA people in every given year remained highest around 28% to 33%.

Moving towards the remaining data, once a month or twice remained approximately around 25%to 33%. Furthermore, consumers who preferred few times in a year was 8% in first year but same in 2006 and 2013. Lastly, people who never ate fast food was not more than 5%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response provides a general overview and selects some key features, such as the most and least preferred frequencies. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial and lacks precision. For example, stating 'less than 5% of individuals preferred to ate fast food in past 3 years' is vague and does not accurately reflect the data points provided in the chart. The comparison between years is also underdeveloped, as the response fails to highlight significant trends or fluctuations over the decade. To improve, ensure that data points are cited accurately and that the relationship between categories is clearly explained rather than just listed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. There is an attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'In detail', 'Moreover', and 'Moving towards'. However, some of these transitions feel mechanical or slightly misused, such as 'Moving towards the remaining data'. Additionally, the referencing is sometimes unclear, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. The paragraphing is appropriate for a task of this nature, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs needs more variety to achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. There are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'junk food outside te house in hotels and restaurants' (the chart refers to fast food restaurants, not hotels) and 'preferred to ate' (grammatical error affecting lexical accuracy). The vocabulary is repetitive, relying on simple descriptors. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more precise terminology related to data description, such as 'fluctuated', 'remained stable', or 'accounted for', and avoid repeating the same sentence structures.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'number of people preferred fast food every day is lowest' (missing articles and relative pronouns), 'once a week is most preferred option' (missing article), and 'preferred to ate' (incorrect verb form). Punctuation is generally functional, but the frequency of errors in basic sentence construction prevents the writing from being considered error-free. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles will significantly improve your accuracy.

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

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