Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The bar chart shows how regulary people ate fast food in restaurants in the USA from 2003 to 2013.

Overall, the bar chart illustrates that mostly people visit fast food restaurants once a week and once or twice a month. However percentage is least of those who ate every day or never ate in the fast food restaurants. Those who ate once a week were at peak in 2003 and 2006, And in 2013 people who ate once or twice a month were at the top.

In 2003, percentage of daily fast food consumer was at highest compare to those who ate in 2006 and 2013. Moreover, In 2006, those who use to go to fast food restaurants, surpass the percentage than remaining twice years consumers. Furthermore, in 2006 this reached at peak level of almost 33%, again more than remaining twice years who were at 30% and 27% respectivily.

Moreover, those who used to eat fast food once or twice a month had highest percentage in 2013 at 35%, people from 2003 were at second with 30% again, and in 2006 those were at 25%.

In 2006 and 2013 were at same level with 15% and those in 2003 were little behind with 13%. In the end of chart,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to address the task by summarizing the main features of the chart, but it only partially covers the information and contains several inaccurate readings of the data. For instance, the text states that those who ate once a week were at a peak in 2003 and 2006, whereas the chart shows 31% in 2003 and 33% in 2006, with other fluctuations not clearly or correctly contrasted. Furthermore, the overview is somewhat simplistic, stating that mostly people visit fast food restaurants once a week and once or twice a month, but it fails to effectively synthesize the overarching trends across the decade. The ideas remain limited and under-developed, and the conclusion is abruptly cut off mid-sentence. To move to a higher level, you should ensure all reported data points accurately reflect the visual information, provide a clearer overview of the main trends, and fully develop comparisons across all categories rather than focusing on disjointed details.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organization in the essay, attempting to group information by frequency and time period, but overall progression is lacking. The response feels somewhat disjointed because sentences often jump between years and categories without a clear, logical flow. Cohesive devices are used, but they are frequently repetitive or mechanically applied, such as the overuse of transitional phrases like 'Moreover' at the beginning of consecutive paragraphs. Paragraphing is attempted, but the text ends abruptly without a proper concluding sentence or fully formed final paragraph. To improve cohesion, you should ensure that each paragraph has a distinct focus, vary your cohesive devices more naturally, and build a clearer logical bridge between sentences so the reader can easily follow the comparison of data over time.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, providing basic terms related to frequencies and percentages. However, the range is limited and contains noticeable lexical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'regulary' (spelling error), 'mostly people', 'twice years' instead of 'two years', and 'respectivily' (spelling error). There are also collocation and word choice inaccuracies, such as 'percentage of daily fast food consumer' instead of 'consumers'. While the reader can generally understand the intended meaning, these errors restrict the response. To achieve a higher band, you need to expand your vocabulary range, incorporate less common lexical items with greater precision, and carefully proofread your writing to eliminate basic spelling and word-choice mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer uses a limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences alongside some attempts at complex forms that frequently turn out faulty. There are noticeable grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing or incorrect articles ('percentage of daily fast food consumer', 'at highest'), awkward prepositional phrases, and tense inconsistencies ('use to go' instead of 'used to go'). Punctuation is also problematic, evident in comma splices and the incomplete final sentence. These frequent errors can cause some difficulty and strain for the reader. To improve, you should focus on mastering basic sentence structures, ensuring accurate subject-verb agreement, using articles correctly, and practicing complex sentence patterns to minimize errors that disrupt the flow of your writing.

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

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