Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-19

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 bar graph illustrates the frequency of eating at fast food restaurants among people in the USA from 2003 to 2013. Overall, it is noticeable that eating fast food once a week showed the highest figure in 2006, while eating fast food once or twice in a month recorded the highest number of people in 2013.

Turning to the details, In 2003, people who ate fast food once a week and once or twice a month accounted for approximately 32% and 30% respectively. Fuethermore, people who visited a few times in a year and several times in a week recorded at around 12% and 17%. Moreover, In 2006, eating fast food in restaurants recorded 32% people once a week, whereas 25% of people showed eating fast food once or twice in a month. Afterward, several times in a week visitors at restaurants recorded 20% in the USA. Lastly, In 2013, the number of people who visited once or twice in a month witnessed the highest figure over the period. people who visited everday and those who never came recorded the lowest percentage throughout the period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully covers the main features of the chart, reporting data for different frequencies of fast food consumption across the three years (2003, 2006, and 2013). An overview is provided at the end of the first paragraph, identifying key trends such as the peak for eating once a week in 2006 and once or twice a month in 2013. Key data points are selected and compared, such as the percentages for eating once a week and once or twice a month in 2003. However, some minor inaccuracies occur in the data reporting (e.g., stating '32%' for once a week in 2003 when the chart shows around 31%, though this is within acceptable reading tolerance), and the response could have integrated a more cohesive and comprehensive overview of the extreme categories like 'every day' or 'never' earlier in the response. Overall, the task is addressed well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into two main paragraphs, separating the introduction/overview from the detailed body points. Logical progression is generally maintained using transition signals such as 'Turning to the details,' 'Furthermore,' 'Moreover,' and 'Lastly.' However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical, such as the abrupt transition 'Afterward, several times in a week visitors at restaurants recorded 20% in the USA.' Additionally, paragraphing could be improved by separating the detailed years into distinct paragraphs rather than cramming multiple years into a single dense body paragraph. Overall arrangement is coherent, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'illustrates,' 'frequency,' 'accounted for,' and 'percentage.' There are, however, several lexical and spelling inaccuracies that prevent a higher band, such as the spelling typo 'Fuethermore' and awkward phrasing like 'eating fast food once or twice in a month' (rather than 'a month') and 'people who visited everday.' Less common vocabulary is attempted with some success, but collocation errors prevent fluent flexibility. The range is sufficient to convey the main points clearly without impeding communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses ('people who ate fast food...') and participial structures. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text, including capitalization errors (e.g., 'In 2003', 'Fuethermore', 'Lastly, In 2013'), missing articles, and awkward syntactic positioning ('25% of people showed eating fast food' instead of '25% of people reported eating'). Despite these frequent minor errors in grammar and punctuation, they rarely impede overall communication, placing the response firmly at Band 6.0.

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

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