Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-25

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 6.5)

The given bar graph depicts the percentage of people who ate in fast food restaurants in the USA in the years of 2003, 2006, and 2013.

Overall, it is clear that the majority of people ate fast food once a week, while a smaller number of people had meals once or twice a month in a restaurant in 2006. The people in the USA who went to restaurants every day and never visited restaurants were in a minority.

The frequency of people who ate fast food at restaurants every day were less than 5%, although the residents who never ate at fast food restaurants were only 5% in 2003. Additionally, the proportion was less than 5% in 2006 and 2013. Furthermore, the residents in the USA who only ate a few times a year were 13% in 2003. The proportion of individuals was 15% in 2006 and 2013. Residents who had their meal several times a week in restaurants were 17% in 2003 and the figure rose to 20% in 2006. In addition, the number of customers who ate at fast food outlets declined to 16%.

Individuals who ate at fast food chains once a week were 31% in 2003, although there was a slight rise in the number of customers, from 31% to 33% in 2006. Moreover, the figure dropped to 27% in 2013. The percentage of people in the USA who ate at fast food chains once or twice a month were 30% in 2003 and declined to 25% in 2006. After that in 2013, there was a significant increase of 33% in the number of individuals who ate at fast food restaurants.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by providing an overview and reporting the main features of the data across the three given years. Key comparisons are made, such as noting that eating fast food once a week was the most common frequency. The overview effectively captures the general trends, and specific data points (e.g., 31% in 2003 for once a week, 17% for several times a week) are accurately cited from the chart. The response covers all categories (every day, several times a week, once a week, once or twice a month, a few times a year, and never) without significant omissions or inaccuracies. Data selection is logical, supporting a well-developed, clear summary that meets all the core requirements of Task 1.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The report exhibits a clear overall progression and logical organization. Information is grouped reasonably well, moving from an introduction and overview into detailed body paragraphs analyzing the data categories. Cohesive devices are used effectively to link ideas and guide the reader, such as 'Overall', 'Additionally', 'Furthermore', and 'Moreover'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different segments of the data. While some referencing could occasionally be tighter (for example, the transition between sentences in the final paragraph feels slightly mechanical), the overall structure remains coherent, logical, and easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate and generally appropriate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing terms such as 'proportion', 'percentage', 'individuals', 'residents', 'declined', and 'significant increase'. There are some attempts to use less common vocabulary ('minority', 'outlets'), though phrasing is occasionally repetitive or slightly unnatural, such as 'ate fast food in a restaurant' or 'had their meal several times a week in restaurants'. Spelling and word choice are generally accurate, and errors do not impede communication, allowing the reader to easily follow the intended meaning. However, a slightly wider variety of synonyms for numerical changes would elevate the lexical score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response features a satisfactory mix of simple and complex sentence forms. The writer successfully uses subordinate clauses and comparative structures, such as 'The given bar graph depicts...' and 'while a smaller number of people had meals...'. There are some minor grammatical inaccuracies, such as subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'The frequency of people who ate fast food... were less than 5%' should use 'was', and 'The percentage of people... were 30%' should be 'was'). Despite these persistent minor errors, the majority of sentences are grammatically sound, punctuation is handled correctly, and the errors do not impede communication or obscure the data being reported.

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