Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-28

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 6.0)

The bar chart shows how often people in the USA ate at fast food restaurants in 2003,2006 and 2013.

Overall, most people ate fast food eitgher once a week or once or twice a month in all three years. In constrast, only a small number of people ate fast food everyday or never ate it.

In 2003, about 30%of people ate fast food at restaurants once a week, while around 29%nate there once or twice a month. Around 17% of people ate fast food several times a week, and about 12%ate it a few times a year. Only about 4% ate fastfood everyday, and the same percentage never ate it.

In 2006, the percentage of people eating fast food once a week increased slightly to about 33%, making it the highesgt figure. However, the number of people eating it once or twice a m0onth fell to around 25%. Around 20% ate fast food several times a week, while about 15% ate it a few times a year. The figures for everyday and never were both close to 3%.

In 2013, eating fastfood once or twice a month became the most common habit at about 33%, while once a week decreased to around 27%. The percentage for a few times a year stayed at about 15%, and the lowest figures were again for evryday and never, at around 3%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by selecting and reporting the main features of the chart regarding the frequency of eating fast food in the USA between 2003 and 2013. An appropriate overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting the dominant eating frequencies and the extreme categories. Key trends and figures, such as the peak in 2003 for once a week and the shift in 2013 towards once or twice a month, are accurately reported and supported with data from the chart. The response covers all years and categories without missing significant details or presenting major inaccuracies, demonstrating a clear understanding of the visual data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is logically organised, with a clear introduction, an overview paragraph, and well-structured body paragraphs dedicated to individual years. Progression is clear throughout the text, allowing the reader to follow the comparison easily. Cohesive devices are used effectively to guide the reader through the data, as seen with phrases like 'In contrast', 'while around', and 'In 2006'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different temporal data points. While some cohesive relationships are slightly repetitive, overall cohesion is well managed, supporting a clear and logical flow of information.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate and generally appropriate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully discussing percentages and frequencies with phrases such as 'most people', 'a small number of people', and 'increased slightly'. However, there are several typographical and spelling errors, such as 'eitgher', 'In constrast', 'everyday' (used instead of 'every day' as an adverbial phrase), 'nate', 'fastfood', and 'highesgt'. These errors slightly detract from the lexical score, but communication is never impeded, and the vocabulary remains sufficient to convey the intended meaning accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses effectively (e.g., 'while around 29% nate there once or twice a month' and 'making it the highesgt figure'). Grammatical control is generally good, and many sentences are error-free. However, there are occasional typographical and spelling-related grammatical oversights, such as spacing issues ('30%of', '12%ate') and the incorrect spelling 'nate'. Despite these minor flaws, the variety of structures attempted demonstrates a solid command of grammar that does not impede communication.

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