Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-13

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 5.0)

There is a chart below which shows that how frequently people in USA ate fast food in restaurants between 2003 and 2013.

In 2003 to 2013 less than 5% of people in USA goes at fast food restaurants everyday. But people likes to go to the fast food restaurants several time a week, the percentage of those people who would like to go to the fast food restaurants several times a week is 15% to 20% . But more than 25% to 30% people in USA likes to ate in fast food restaurants and the percentage of those people who likes to ate in fast food restaurants once or twice in a month are almost same. There are also those people in USA who likes to ate in fast food restaurants a few times in a year. The percentage of these people is 10% to 15% . Surprisingly, there are less than 5% people in USA who never likes to ate in fast food restaurants. These less than 5% people can be more curious for their health.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to summarise the main features of the chart, mentioning categories such as eating fast food every day, several times a week, and never. However, the response fails to provide an effective overview and contains inaccurate or vague reporting of the data. For instance, the writer states that 'more than 25% to 30% people in USA likes to ate in fast food restaurants and the percentage of those people who likes to ate in fast food restaurants once or twice in a month are almost same,' which is confusing and lacks precise data extraction. Comparisons are attempted, but the lack of structure and imprecise referencing of the percentages prevent a fully developed response. Therefore, it meets the criteria for a Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response suffers significantly from a lack of paragraphing, being presented as a single dense block of text, which severely hampers the overall progression. While some basic cohesive devices are used, such as 'But' and 'There are also', they are frequently overused or misused, resulting in mechanical and repetitive transitions (e.g., beginning multiple sentences with 'But'). Referencing is also unclear at times, making it difficult to follow the logical flow of information. Overall organisation is weak, corresponding to a Band 5.0 level.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive, heavily relying on simple phrases like 'people in USA', 'fast food restaurants', and 'likes to ate'. There are noticeable word choice and morphological errors, such as 'likes to ate' instead of 'like to eat' and 'goes at' instead of 'goes to'. The range of vocabulary is limited and minimally adequate for the task, causing some awkwardness for the reader, which fits the descriptor for Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures. Simple sentences dominate, and attempts at more complex structures are heavily flawed by persistent errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('people... goes', 'people likes') and incorrect infinitive structures ('likes to ate'). Punctuation is also problematic in places. Frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader, placing this response firmly at Band 5.0.

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

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