Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
The chart illustrates the percentage of people in the USA ate in fast food restaurants between 2003 and 2013.
Overall, the most noticeable feature is that it shows highest for people eating once or twice a month in year 2013. Whereas in 2006 people eating every day shows the least amount of people.
In detail, the number of people eating every day in 2003, 2006, 2013 showed least which was around 3%. By contrast, the number of people eating in serveral times a week showed highest in 2006 which was 20% and maximum in 2003 and 2013 which was around 15% for both the years.
Subsequently, the amount of people eating once a week showed utmost in 2006, 2003 and 2013 which was approximately 30%. However, the people eating once or twice in 2003 showed topmost which was 30%, in 2006 showed least which was 25% and in 2013 it showed supreme which was around 32%.
Similarly, the number of people eating few times a year showed smallest in 2003 which was around 10% and highest in 2006 and 2013 which was 15% for both. Whereas, people who never eat at the restaurants showed lowest in 2003, 2006 and 2013 which was around 5%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student attempts to address the prompt by reporting several features from the chart, but there are notable inaccuracies and confusions regarding the data. For example, the student states that eating once or twice a month showed the highest percentage in 2013 (which is correct at 33%), but mixes up trends and peak values elsewhere, such as claiming 'every day' showed the 'least amount of people' in 2006 when it was 3%, which is similar to other years. The overview is rather weak, identifying only a single specific data point rather than a broad trend. Data is sometimes misreported or awkwardly compared. To reach a higher band, the overview needs to synthesize the most significant overarching trends, and data points must be reported with greater accuracy.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is organized into paragraphs, beginning with an introduction and followed by body paragraphs attempting to break down the categories. However, the progression is mechanical and sometimes confusing due to repetitive and unnatural transitional phrases such as 'In detail,' 'Subsequently,' and 'Similarly.' Referencing within sentences is occasionally unclear, making it hard to follow which year or category is being discussed. Paragraphing is present, but the internal logical flow between sentences needs improvement to achieve a clearer overall progression of ideas.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is somewhat repetitive, relying heavily on phrases like 'number of people,' 'amount of people,' 'highest,' 'lowest,' and superlatives like 'topmost' and 'supreme,' which sound unnatural in an academic context. There are also noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'eating in serveral times a week' instead of 'eating fast food several times a week' or 'eating fast food on a weekly basis.' While the range is adequate to convey basic information, it lacks the precision and flexibility expected at higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There is a missing relative pronoun in the opening sentence ('percentage of people in the USA ate' instead of 'who ate'). Other errors include preposition misuse ('eating in serveral times') and awkward phrasing in relative clauses. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent minor errors in grammar and word forms detract from the overall fluency of the writing, though they do not completely impede communication.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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