Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-27
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 4.5)
The bar chart illustrates the proportion of how frequently individuals in the USA consumed food restaurants between 2003 and 2013.
Overall, it is evident that people who ate food once a week and once or twice a month, which experienced the biggest share of frequently eating ratio. Furthermore, many people were eating food several times a week, and some individuals did not eat.
To begin with, the USA most of the people ate fast food once a week and once or twice a month it was dominant proportion at over 30% and 30%, followed by the second highest percentage of two time, which were people eat to street food a few times a year and several times a week at 17% and 13%.
Turning to the next details, once a week people ate around 33% in 2006 and 25% individuals ate once or twice a month in 2006. In addition, people who never ate that was 4% in 2006 and 2013.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5
The student attempts to address the task by describing parts of the bar chart regarding fast food consumption in the USA from 2003 to 2013. However, the response falls short of fully satisfying the criteria for higher bands due to significant inaccuracies and confusion in reporting the data. For instance, the overview states that eating once a week and once or twice a month 'experienced the biggest share of frequently eating ratio', which is awkwardly expressed. Furthermore, the body paragraphs contain numerous data misreadings, such as claiming that 'people eat to street food a few times a year and several times a week at 17% and 13%' (which contradicts the chart values for those years). The selection of features is disjointed, and key trends over the decade are largely missed or incorrectly cited, resulting in an underdeveloped response.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0
The response is divided into four paragraphs, showing an attempt at a standard report structure. However, the logical progression is severely disrupted by confusing sentence structures and poor referencing. Transition phrases like 'To begin with' and 'Turning to the next details' are used mechanically and somewhat inappropriately for an academic data summary. Cohesive devices within sentences are frequently misused, making it difficult to follow the flow of information. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of ideas lacks clear thematic consistency, as data points from different years are mixed confusingly within the paragraphs.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.5
The lexical range is quite limited and repetitive. The student uses basic phrasing such as 'proportion of how frequently', 'people who ate food', and 'biggest share'. There are several unnatural collocations and word choices, such as 'frequently eating ratio', 'eating food', and 'street food' (when the chart refers to fast food restaurants). Vocabulary errors occasionally impede communication and lead to confusion about what is being reported. Spelling is generally acceptable, but the overall lexical control remains at a basic level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0
The student demonstrates a very limited range of grammatical structures. Most complex sentence attempts are heavily flawed and ungrammatical, such as the opening sentence: 'The bar chart illustrates the proportion of how frequently individuals in the USA consumed food restaurants between 2003 and 2013.' There are frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions, and clause structures, such as 'people eat to street food' and 'people who never ate that was 4%'. These persistent errors cause frequent strain and difficulty for the reader in parsing the intended meaning.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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