Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-05

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 infographic bar graph demonstrates the how frequently consumers in the USA ate in junk food restaurants from 2003 to 2013

Overall, the highest number of people ate junk food in once a week, while the least people ate junk food daily in 2003. The highest amount of people ate junk food in once or twice in a month, whereas the lowest percent of people ate fast food every day after a decade in 2013

First of all, around 4% of people ate junk food every day in 2003. After 2003 1% of people declined to almost 3% in 2006 and 2013. 17% of consumers ate junk food many times in a week in 2003, while in 2006 it was 20% of people. and over 15% of people consumed fast food in 2013. over 31% of people ate junk food once in a week in 2003, while around 33% of people ate fast food once a week in 2006. in 2013 the percentage declined to around 28%.

In addition, almost 30% of consumers ate fast food once or twice in a month. the consumer fell 10% in 2006, which was a quarter[25%] people. then in 2016 33% of people ate junk food once or twice in a month. around 13% of people ate junk food a few times in a year, while almost 15% of people ate fast food a few times in a year in rest of two years 2006 and 2016. under 5% of people never ate fast food in given time period

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers the main features of the chart, but there are significant inaccuracies in data reporting. For instance, you mention '2016' as a year, which is not present in the source data (the chart ends in 2013). Additionally, some figures are misread or inconsistently stated, such as the claim that 'the consumer fell 10% in 2006'. The overview is present but lacks clarity due to the confusing phrasing regarding the 'highest' and 'lowest' categories. To improve, ensure you carefully verify the years and percentages against the provided visual data and focus on highlighting clear trends rather than listing every single data point.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the logical flow is often disrupted by mechanical transitions and repetitive sentence structures. While you use some cohesive devices like 'First of all' and 'In addition', they are used somewhat formulaically. The progression of ideas is occasionally difficult to follow because the data points are presented in a disjointed manner without clear comparative analysis. Improving the use of referencing (e.g., 'this figure', 'the latter') and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear thematic focus would help improve the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it is somewhat repetitive and occasionally imprecise. You frequently use the term 'junk food' and 'fast food' interchangeably; while acceptable, using more varied terminology like 'quick-service dining' or 'frequent consumption of fast food' would enhance the quality. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'the consumer fell 10%'. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider range of precise vocabulary to describe trends, such as 'fluctuated', 'remained stable', or 'experienced a marginal increase', rather than relying on simple verbs like 'ate' or 'declined'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There is a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. You have frequent errors in articles ('the highest number of people ate junk food in once a week'), preposition usage, and subject-verb agreement. Punctuation is also problematic, with several sentences lacking proper capitalization or ending with run-on structures. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to distract the reader. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for small grammatical slips will significantly improve your score in this area.

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