Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-18
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 bar chart illustrates information on how people residing in USA went to fast food restaurants to have food from 2003 to 2013.
Overall, data is given about paticularly 2003, 2006 and 2013 in form of bars. People who went to restaurant once a week had the maximum percentage in almost all of these years, while the indiviuals going once or twice to a fast food chain were slightly lower as compared, over thegiven period of time.
To begin with, the people who were having meals at fast food restaurants on daily basis were extremely low, close to 5% as compared to people who were going on once a weak between 28% to 38% over all these years. Persons who were having meals at a frequency of few times a years remain almost same throughtout all the years which was 15%.
To conclude, the information from chart shows the most amount of people visiting fast food restaurants were visiting at a frequency of once a weak, while the least percentage group was people who were going every day and other who never visted the fast food chains.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student attempts to address the task by summarizing the main features of the chart regarding the frequency of eating at fast food restaurants in the USA from 2003 to 2013. An overview is present, noting that eating once a week was the most common frequency, while daily visits and never visiting were the least common. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting specific data points. For instance, the student states that the percentage for 'a few times a year' remained 'almost same throughtout all the years which was 15%', whereas the chart indicates 12.5% in 2003 and 15% in subsequent years. Furthermore, the description lacks sufficient comparison across categories and years, limiting the depth of the response. Overall, it covers the general task requirements but suffers from minor data misinterpretations.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into four distinct paragraphs, including an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression, such as 'To begin with' and 'To conclude'. However, the logical flow is occasionally disrupted by awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. For example, referencing pronouns and linking clauses are at times unclear, such as 'while the indiviuals going once or twice to a fast food chain were slightly lower as compared, over thegiven period of time.' Paragraphing is attempted appropriately, but the overall coherence is hindered by somewhat disjointed sentence connections and repetition of ideas.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic trends and categories, such as 'percentage', 'frequency', and 'fast food restaurants'. However, the lexical range is limited and contains frequent spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'paticularly', 'indiviuals', 'throughtout', and repeated typos like 'once a weak' instead of 'once a week'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are often imprecise or awkwardly phrased, such as 'maximum percentage' or 'least percentage group'. These lexical slips and inaccuracies demonstrate the characteristics of a Band 5 performance.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses ('the people who were having meals...'). However, grammatical control is weak, with frequent errors in prepositions, article usage, and verb tenses, including 'went to fast food restaurants to have food from' and 'were having meals at a frequency of few times a years'. Punctuation and spacing errors are also noticeable throughout the text (e.g., 'over thegiven period of time', 'meals at'). While simple sentences are generally understandable, attempts at more complex formations often result in ungrammatical constructions that cause some difficulty for the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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