Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-05

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 6.0)

The bar chart illustrates how often people in USA ate fast food in restaurants from 2003 to 2013.

Overall, many people ate food once a week or once or twice a month, while few peoples ate everyday in the period. Most if people who never ate fast food at restaurants was in the year 2003.

The people who ate fast food at restaurants everyday was just under 5%, while the ratio was declined in 2006 and 2013 to about 2.5%. The people who ate junk food several times a week was around 18% in 2003, which increased gradually to 20% in 2006 and dropped to just over 15% in 2013. Looking for people who ate fast food once a week was higher in 2006, which is approximately 33%. The figure declined incrementally to about 28% in 2013.

Percentage of people eating fast food once or twice a month was higher in 2013 as compared to 2003 and 2006, whereas people who ate fast food few times a year was same 15% in 2006 and 2013, while the percentage is quite lower to about 13% in 2003. Moreover, there was 5% peoples who never ate fast food in 2003 in contrast to around 4% in 2006 and 2013.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear overview and reporting the main features of the chart across the years 2003, 2006, and 2013. You have made relevant comparisons, such as noting that once a week or once or twice a month were the most common frequencies, while daily fast-food consumption was much lower. However, some ideas tend to over-generalize or lack full extension, which keeps the response at this solid level. For instance, while you mention general trends, further synthesis of the overall pattern between the beginning and the end of the period would help elevate the task response. Overall, the data points selected are accurate and well-supported by the visual information provided.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and logical grouping of data by frequency categories across paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different sections of the chart data. However, cohesion is occasionally mechanical or faulty. For example, phrases like 'Looking for people who ate' are unnatural transitional devices, and referencing is not always completely clear. To reach a higher level, you should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices to link your sentences and ideas smoothly without relying on repetitive or awkward transitional phrases, ensuring a seamless flow throughout the report.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your lexical range is adequate for the task, allowing you to discuss percentages, trends, and frequencies effectively with attempts at less common vocabulary such as 'incrementally' and 'proportion'. However, there are some noticeable lexical and word-form errors that prevent a higher score, such as 'peoples' instead of 'people' and non-standard collocations like 'ratio was declined' instead of 'proportion declined'. Additionally, minor inaccuracies appear in phrasing, such as 'few peoples ate everyday'. To improve, focus on precise word choice, correct plurals, and natural collocations when describing statistical data, while minimising spelling and lexical slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at relative clauses and comparative structures such as 'The people who ate fast food...'. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that persist throughout the text. Noticeable issues include subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'Most if people who never ate' and 'percentage is quite lower', as well as tense shifts. While these errors rarely impede communication, they restrict the range of error-free sentences. To achieve a higher band, you need to exercise greater control over complex sentence patterns and eliminate basic grammatical inaccuracies.

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

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