Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-29

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)

We will talk about how frequently people in the USA ate in fast food restaurants between 2003 and 2013.Fast food industry is one of the most fastest growing industry in USA.Many peoples prefer to eat at Fast food restaurant rather than ordering it online.

In 2003,around 4% of people ate in fast food restaurants everyday.Around 17% of people ate in restaurants sometimes a week.While,31% of people ate once a week at restaurants.In a month,30% of people ate one or twice.The people who ate few times in 2003 is around 12%.While,5% never ate in 2003.

In 2006,3% of people ate in fast food restaurants everyday.While,20% ate several times a week.33% ate once a week.While,25% ate in restaurants once or twice a month,which is much lower than 2003.Around 15% of people ate few times at that year.Approximately,4% never ate in fast food restaurants in 2006.

In 2013,there are too much changes.Around 3% ate everyday and 16%of people ate several times a week in fast food restaurants.Arond 27% of people ate once a week from restaurants.Around,33% of people ate once or twice a month from fast food restaurants.10% of people ate few times a year.While,as 2006 also in 2013 4% of people never ate in fast food restaurants.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to address the task by reporting data from the bar chart across the years 2003, 2006, and 2013. However, there is no overall summary or overview provided, which is a key requirement for Academic Task 1. The introduction includes personal/conversational framing ("We will talk about...") and background commentary that is not directly from the prompt ("Fast food industry is one of the most fastest growing industry in USA"). While some main features and figures are reported (e.g., 31% eating once a week in 2003, 33% in 2013), the data reporting is somewhat repetitive and lists figures sequentially rather than effectively synthesising and comparing them. The response meets the minimum word count, but the lack of an overview and the inclusion of conversational elements limit the task achievement to Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response is structured into paragraphs representing the introduction and the three designated years (2003, 2006, and 2013), which provides a basic framework. However, progression is somewhat mechanical, relying heavily on repetitive transitions such as "In 2003...", "In 2006...", and "In 2013...". Cohesive devices are minimal or awkwardly applied, seen in phrases like "While, 31% of people..." and "as 2006 also in 2013 4%...", which disrupts the flow of the text. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal logical progression within paragraphs lacks clear overarching cohesion. These issues place the response at Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, relying on frequent repetition of phrases like "ate in fast food restaurants", "people", and percentages. There are lexical inaccuracies and unnatural phrasing, such as "most fastest growing industry", "restaurants sometimes a week", and "ate few times". Spelling is generally acceptable, but word choice lacks precision and flexibility. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey basic data points, it does not demonstrate the range or precision required for higher bands, fitting the Band 5.0 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response features a mix of simple and basic complex sentences, but grammatical accuracy is weak. There are frequent punctuation and phrasing errors, such as missing spaces after commas (e.g., "While,31%", "Around,33%"), subject-verb agreement issues ("there are too much changes"), and awkward modifiers ("one of the most fastest growing"). Complex structures are attempted but often faulty or non-standard. Although communication is generally maintained despite these errors, the density of grammatical slips prevents the response from reaching Band 6.0, warranting a Band 5.0.

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

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