Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-01

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 provided bar graph illustrates the information about how frequently individuals in the USA ate fast food restaurants over the period of ten years. The data is calibrated in percentage.

Overall, eating food once or twice a month and once a week accounted for the highest proportion, while the proportion of people who ate fast food every day recorded the lowest figure.

At the beginning, the figure for people who consumed processed food every day had the least preferred in given the period of three years. However, the proportion of people who ate prepared food several times a week was roughly 15% in 2003 followed by 20% in 2006, while it fell rapidly by 4% in 2013.

Moving further, in the case of once a week the proportion of individuals who ate restaurant food was above 30%, around 35%, and approximately 30% in year of 2003, 2006 and 2013 respectively. Additionally, it was around one third in the year of 2003 for once or twice a month who ate fast food, after that it showed up and down trend in 2006 and 2016. In terms of people who not preferred ate fast food, which was second lowest.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially. While you attempt to provide an overview and mention several data points from the chart, the selection of features is somewhat incomplete and confused. For instance, your overview correctly highlights the highest and lowest categories, but your body paragraphs contain inaccurate readings and under-developed descriptions. You state that people consuming processed food every day 'had the least preferred in given the period of three years', which is confusingly phrased. Furthermore, your description of trends contains inaccuracies, such as mentioning the year 2016 which is not present in the chart, and misinterpreting the categories (e.g., 'people who not preferred ate fast food'). To reach a higher level, you need to ensure all data points are accurately reported, the overview clearly captures the main overall trends without minor details, and comparisons between the three surveyed years are fully developed and logically supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some organisation present in the essay, as you attempt to divide your thoughts into an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs. However, there is no clear overall progression, and the logical flow between sentences is frequently disrupted. Cohesive devices are sometimes used awkwardly or inaccurately, such as 'Moving further' and 'Additionally', and referencing is occasionally unclear, making it hard for the reader to follow which year or category is being discussed. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal paragraph cohesion is weak. To improve Coherence and Cohesion, you should ensure that each paragraph has a clear central topic, use referencing words more precisely to link ideas across sentences, and employ cohesive devices more naturally to guide the reader smoothly through the comparative data.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your lexical range is limited but minimally adequate for the task. You attempt to use some less common vocabulary related to the topic, such as 'proportion', 'individuals', and 'consumed', but your vocabulary choice is frequently imprecise or inappropriate. Phrases like 'eating food once or twice a month', 'restaurant food', and 'people who not preferred ate fast food' demonstrate noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations that cause some difficulty for the reader. There are also instances of word form errors, such as 'trend' instead of 'trends'. To achieve a higher band in Lexical Resource, you need to expand your vocabulary to include more precise synonyms for data reporting and ensure that collocations and word forms are used accurately according to standard English usage.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a limited range of sentence structures, and your attempts at complex sentences are often faulty. You rely heavily on simple or awkwardly constructed complex clauses, leading to frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'illustrates the information about how frequently', 'had the least preferred in given the period of three years', and 'after that it showed up and down trend'. There are errors in prepositions, verb forms, and missing elements that cause strain for the reader. To improve your grammatical range and accuracy, you should focus on mastering basic sentence patterns while gradually introducing error-free complex structures. Pay closer attention to verb tenses when describing past data and ensure that all clauses are grammatically complete and correctly linked.

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

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