Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-02

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 given graph shows the fast food eating habits of American people between the time span of 2003 and 2013.

Overall, the trend shows a fluctuating behaviour in regards to the frequency of eating outside. Predominantly, people ate once a week or once or twice a month, across all the years with eating everyday or never enjoying fastood being on the lowest end.

In 2003, the lowest percentage i.e < 5% is of the people who consume fast food on a daily basis and most of the people preferred it once a week with a whooping 31%, though a considerable amount of people also chose to eat once or twice a month just a little below weekly. After them, people seemed to prefer eating several times a week followed by eating only a few times a year with percentages near 16% and 13% respectively. Moving onto 2006, it showed a similar trend to 2003 but with an overall increase in the number of people who went for fast food but the percentage of once or twice a month dropped for in favour of others

By 2013, we see some drop in the percentage of people who eat at fastfood restraunts comapred to the previous years and most people started to prefer eating fast food just once or twice in a month followed by once a week.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have successfully identified the main features of the chart, such as the most common eating frequencies and the general trends over the decade. However, the response lacks sufficient data support. For instance, you mention an 'overall increase' in 2006 and a 'drop' by 2013, but you do not provide specific percentages or comparative figures to substantiate these claims. To reach a higher band, ensure that every trend described is backed by data from the graph. Additionally, the description of the 2013 data is quite vague, missing the opportunity to compare the specific categories against the 2003 baseline effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices like 'Overall', 'In 2003', and 'Moving onto 2006' to guide the reader. However, the progression within the body paragraphs is slightly mechanical. The transition between the 2006 and 2013 data is abrupt, and the use of referencing could be improved to avoid repetition. Paragraphing is present, but the final paragraph is quite brief and lacks a clear concluding synthesis of the data provided.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to describe trends with terms like 'fluctuating behaviour' and 'consume'. However, there are several spelling errors, such as 'fastood', 'restraunts', and 'comapred', which detract from the professional tone. You also rely on some informal phrasing, such as 'whooping 31%'. To improve, focus on using more precise academic collocations and ensure careful proofreading to eliminate basic spelling mistakes that hinder the clarity of your report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. There are some grammatical slips, such as 'the lowest percentage i.e < 5% is of the people' and 'dropped for in favour of others', which make the sentences slightly awkward. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they occur frequently enough to limit your score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and ensuring that your comparative structures are complete and grammatically sound.

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

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