Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-03

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 6.5)

The bar chart illustrates how frequently individuals in the USA ate at fast food restaurants in 2003, 2006 and 2013.

Overall, eating fast food once a week and once or twice a month were the most preferable frequently, while eating fast food every day or never were much less common.

In 2003, about 31% of people ate fast food once a week, while 30% prefer once or twice a month. Around 17% visited fast food restaurants several times a week. In 2006, the figures were approximately 33%, 25% and 20% respectively.

By 2013, the proportion of eating fast food once or twice a month surged to about 33%, became the largest contribution, whereas the figure for once a week gradually fell to 28%. Those who eating several times a week decreased to around 16%. Meanwhile, approximately 15% ate fast food few times a year, while only 3% ate fast food every day and 4% never ate it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your response addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the chart and making appropriate comparisons across the three years. You successfully identify the dominant categories, such as eating fast food once a week or once or twice a month, and contrast them with the extremes of eating every day or never. However, the response sits at this level because some details are slightly underdeveloped or imprecise, such as the awkward phrasing when describing categories. To reach a higher level, you could ensure all comparisons are fully integrated with precise data points and a more cohesive overview that highlights broader temporal trends across the entire ten-year period.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

Your writing demonstrates a clear overall progression and logical organisation. The response is divided into logical paragraphs, starting with an introduction, followed by an overview paragraph, and then detailed body paragraphs. You make effective use of time markers and transition words like 'In 2003', 'In 2006', and 'By 2013' to guide the reader through the data. Cohesive devices are generally well managed, although occasional referencing could be smoother, such as 'became the largest contribution' where the subject linkage is slightly mechanical. To achieve a higher score, ensure that every transition feels entirely natural and that referencing pronouns or substitute phrases connect ideas seamlessly without any slight awkwardness.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and descriptive verbs such as 'surged' and 'gradually fell'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'the most preferable frequently' instead of 'the most frequent frequencies', and 'prefer once' instead of 'preferred'. You also write 'Those who eating' instead of 'Those who ate'. These lexical errors do not impede communication, but they prevent you from achieving a higher band. To improve, focus on precise word forms, correct collocations, and natural phrasing when discussing statistical data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

Your response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, with a good variety of structures used to report the statistics, such as 'while 30% prefer once or twice a month' and 'whereas the figure for once a week gradually fell to 28%'. There are some errors in grammar, including tense consistency ('prefer' instead of 'preferred') and gerund/infinitive clause structures ('the proportion of eating' or 'Those who eating'). Nonetheless, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication. To reach a higher band, aim for a wider variety of error-free complex sentences and ensure strict grammatical consistency when switching between past and present reference points.

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

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