Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-22

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)

The bar chart illustrates that how often citizens in the USA consume junk food restaurants from 2003 to 2013.

Overall, the intake of processed food in once in a week and once or twice a month was highest approximatley 34 percent in year of 2013 and 2006.But it was at lowest point nearly 5 percent in 2003.

Additionally, the consumption of junk food for once in week in 2006, the percentage was about 34 percent and in 2003, its 31 percent and in 2013, the consumtion was approximately 28 percent. On the other hand, in once or twice a month, highest intake was in 2013 which was about 34 percent, while in 2006 , intake declined to 25 percent.Also in 2003, junk food intake was 30 percent.

Moreover, in several times a week and a few times a year from 2003 to 2013, the percentage was low ,in 2006, in several times a week percentage was 20 percent which was highest in both types.In every day and never, from 2003 to 2013, the percentage is quite low.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to cover the main features of the chart, reporting data for categories such as 'once a week' and 'once or twice a month'. However, the overview is weak and inaccurate, incorrectly stating that consumption was highest at approximately 34 percent in 2013 and 2006 for both categories combined. Furthermore, there are several misinterpretations of the data and some imprecise figures. While the response addresses the prompt and meets the word count requirement, the lack of a clear, accurate overview and occasional confusion with data points place this performance in Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response has some basic organisation, opening with an introduction and attempting to group body details. However, there is no clear overall progression, and the paragraphing is poor, resulting in a single dense block of body text. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or repetitively, such as the repeated use of 'in once in week', 'while in', and 'Also in'. Reference words are sometimes unclear, and the mechanical transitions impede the flow of ideas. This corresponds to Band 5.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and repetitive, with frequent reliance on basic phrasing and awkward collocations such as 'consume junk food restaurants' and 'intake of processed food'. Spelling and word choice errors are noticeable, such as 'approximatley', 'consumtion', and 'severaltimes'. The range is minimally adequate for the task, but the frequent lexical errors and lack of sophisticated phrasing restrict the score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures. There is a frequent reliance on simple or faulty complex structures, such as the initial grammar error 'The bar chart illustrates that how often...'. Other errors include missing verbs or incorrect prepositions, such as 'in once in week... its 31 percent'. Frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues cause some difficulty for the reader, aligning with the Band 5.0 descriptors.

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

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