Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-04

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 char compare how frequent people in USA ate fast food resturants between 2003 and 2013. Given stats are of three years which are 2003, 2006 and 2013.

There were few people who ate fast food daily and never in a week. These peoples had lowest numbers as compare to the other categories peoples less than 5%. Highest numbers were of those peoples who ate once a week and once or twice a month. They had numbers of over 30% peoples. The peoples who had average number equal or less than 20% peoples were those who ate fast food a few times a year and several times a week.

Every day and never categories have lowest and there numbers were same across the three years with a slight change. several times a week shows a rise in the 2006 after that year in 2003 they came to less numbers they where in 2003. once a week peoples are over 30% peoples in both 2003 and 2006 and ends at 28% peoples in 2006. Once or twice a month have variable stats staring from 30% peoples shown a dip in 2006 to 25% people and then a rise over 30% peoples in 2013. A few times a year peoples number are same across the years starting from under 15% peoples in 2003 and reach 15% peoples in 2006 which were same in 2013 aswell.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially by attempting to summarise the main features of the chart, such as identifying the categories with the highest and lowest frequencies. However, the progression of information lacks clarity, and some details are imprecise or repetitive. For instance, stating that 'every day and never categories have lowest and there numbers were same across the three years' overlooks minor fluctuations and fails to integrate the data effectively. While the main trends are touched upon, the overview is limited, and some data points are under-developed, resulting in a partial coverage of the prompt's requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation evident in the response, but it lacks a clear overall progression. Paragraphing is not used effectively to structure the ideas, with the second paragraph collapsing multiple disparate trends into a single, dense block of text. Cohesive devices are repetitive and sometimes mechanical, with excessive repetition of phrases like 'peoples' and 'numbers'. Referencing between sentences is occasionally unclear, making it hard for the reader to follow the flow of comparisons across the years. To improve, the writer needs to group related data logically into distinct paragraphs and use a wider variety of cohesive links.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The lexical resource is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, heavily relying on words like 'numbers', 'peoples', and 'categories'. There are noticeable lexical errors, such as 'bar char', 'resturants', and the persistent incorrect plural form 'peoples' instead of 'people'. These errors and the restricted range of vocabulary cause some difficulty for the reader. To move to a higher band, the student must demonstrate a wider range of vocabulary, improve spelling accuracy, and use precise terminology related to data description.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a limited range of grammatical structures. While there are some attempts at complex sentences, they are often faulty or awkward, such as 'The peoples who had average number equal or less than 20% peoples were those who ate...' Frequent grammatical errors occur, including issues with subject-verb agreement ('there numbers were same', 'every day and never categories have lowest'), missing articles, and awkward prepositional usage ('in the 2006 after that year in 2003'). These frequent errors can cause difficulty for the reader and reflect a weak control over basic sentence patterns.

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

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