Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-20

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 presents information on how usually individual in the USA ate in fast food restaurant during 2003, 2006 and 2016.

Overall, highest number of people in the USA used to visit fast food restaurant once a week or once or twice a month from start of 2003 and same trend is observed in 2013 too. Similary, people going to fast food restaurant daily or never used to be lowest in the graph in 2003 and still in 2013.

In 2003, about 31% of individuals use to eat at fast food restaurant once a week which is the highest that year followed by 30% peoples visiting fast food restaurant once a week. In contrast, other frequecy of visit was least that year, where around 17% peoples visited several times a week, 13% peoples visited once a year, and around 5% peoples visited the restaurant daily or never.

In 2006, people visiting the restaurant once a week and several times a week were increased by remarkable figure than in 2003. That year around 33% and 20% peoples visited the restaurant respectively. Furthermore, frequency of people visiting the restaurant once or twice a month was decreased reaching 25% that year.

In 2013, similar trend was observed as in 2006 where least frequecy of visiting restaurant was on daily basis(less than 4%), followed by around 4% people never visiting restaurant and 15% individuals visiting fast food outlets couple times a year. In contrast, around 33% peoples visited restaurant once or twice a month which is the highest.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers all major parts of the task, presenting an overview and reporting key features from the chart across the three given years. However, there is a notable data misinterpretation in the first body paragraph: the student states that 30% of people visited the restaurant 'once a week' after mentioning the 31% figure, whereas the chart shows 30% for 'once or twice a month'. Additionally, the end year is incorrectly cited as '2016' in the introduction instead of '2013'. Despite these data inaccuracies, the main trends—such as the popularity of visiting once a week and once or twice a month—are identified. To reach a higher band, greater precision in reading and reporting numerical data from the visual prompt is required.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organised into five paragraphs, including a clear introduction and an overall summary statement. There is a logical progression moving from the overview into specific years (2003, 2006, and 2013). However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'In contrast' and 'Furthermore'. Paragraphing is generally appropriate, but referencing and transitions between sentences could be smoother. For instance, the transition into the 2013 data relies heavily on formulas seen in previous paragraphs rather than varied linking structures. Overall arrangement is coherent, placing it firmly in the mid-band range.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The lexical resource is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic trends using terms like 'proportion', 'frequency', and 'outlets', though many choices are repetitive. There are noticeable lexical and collocational errors throughout the text, such as 'how usually individual' instead of 'how frequently individuals', 'peoples' instead of 'people' (plural), and 'frequecy' instead of 'frequency'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success, and spelling slips ('Similary', 'frequecy') occur. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general message, but errors in word form and choice restrict the score to a 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses and comparative constructions ('which is the highest that year'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in verb forms, articles, and pluralisation. Examples include 'individuals use to eat' instead of 'used to eat', 'other frequecy of visit was least' instead of 'other frequencies of visits were lower', and missing articles before percentages and nouns. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur with enough frequency to disrupt the flow and affect overall grammatical control.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.