Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The bar graph depicts the information about how regularly individuals in the USA consumed junk food at hotels in 2003 and 2006 as well as 2013.

Overall, the largest proportion of USA residents ingested conventional food in once a week at food courts. Never and every day catogries represented the least preferred by the USA peoples'.

In 2003, the highest number of people liked to eat fast food once a week at dining venues, which was more than one-third. A significant incline was seen in 2006 to approximately 33% and it minimally fell in 2013. Meanwhile. Once or twice a month category ranked second highest with 30% ib 2003 and a quarter in 2006. there was a sudden rise was seen in proportion in 2013 by 7%. Regarding several times a week, above 15% citizens chosen to consume unhealthy food several times a week in Food outlets in 2003 and a slight growrth was noticed in 2006 to 20%. It dramatically dropped in 2013, with around 16%.

Turning to the a few times a year, it recorded below 15% in 2003. While, the same percentage of residents chose to went Cafe in a few times a year in 2006 and 2013, that was 15% each. The lowest amount of people like to go restaurant for fast food never and every day in 2006 and 2013. which was between 0% to 5%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially by attempting to cover the main features of the chart, but some parts are under-developed or inaccurately reported. The overview attempts to capture general trends, but it is somewhat vague and awkward in its wording. While the student selects key data points such as the categories for once a week and once or twice a month, some comparisons are confused or lack clarity. For instance, the reference to '33% in 2003' for the once a week category is imprecise, and the description of the lowest categories is disjointed. To reach a higher level, the response needs to present a clearer and more accurate overview of the main trends without getting bogged down in minor, confusing details, and all reported figures must align more closely with the visual data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response displays some organization with a clear paragraph structure dividing the introduction, overview, and body details. However, there is no consistent overall progression, and the logical flow is occasionally disrupted by mechanical or faulty cohesive devices. For example, sentences such as 'Meanwhile. Once or twice a month category ranked...' exhibit incorrect punctuation and disjointed transitions. Reference words are sometimes unclear, making it occasionally hard to follow which data point is being discussed. To move up, the writer needs to ensure smoother logical transitions between sentences and paragraphs, employ a wider and more accurate range of cohesive devices, and maintain a clear, cohesive thread throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and contains noticeable errors that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. The student attempts to use less common items, but these attempts often lead to unnatural collocations or word choices, such as 'ingested conventional food', 'USA peoples', and 'food courts' or 'hotels' instead of fast food restaurants. There are also several spelling errors, including 'catogries' and 'growrth'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate for the task, these frequent lexical inaccuracies and inappropriate terms restrict the score. To improve, the student should focus on using precise vocabulary appropriate to the context of academic data reporting and practice standard collocations for describing charts.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple constructions alongside attempts at complex sentences that are frequently faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors in verb forms, prepositions, and articles, such as 'chosen to consume', 'chose to went Cafe', and missing determiners before categories. Punctuation errors are also present, including sentence fragments like 'Turning to the a few times a year...' and misplaced periods. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reveal a lack of firm control over basic and complex grammatical patterns alike. To progress, the writer must work on sentence variety, accurate verb tense usage, correct prepositions within data descriptions, and reliable punctuation.

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