Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-06

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 4.5)

The bar chart illustrate frequently people in the USA ate in fast-food restaurants between 2003 and 2013 including who ate everyday, once week and few times a year.

OVERVIEW:

Overall, we can seen its Once or twice a month and Once a week was highest percentage people frequency of eating at fast food restaurants among people in USA ([redacted phone]).The lowest percantage people Never and Every day ate a food from restaurants in USA.The other percentage of people increase/decrease including Several times a week A few times a year.

BODYPARAGRAPH:

Looking we now the graph the highest people ate the food from the restaurants was Once a week the year was 2003 32% the food compare this year 2006 low people 2006 was the percantage of people eating the food from the restaurants 35% and 2013 of the year people ate the food from the restaurants was quantity people 28%.The other all value decrease the value of quantity.Once or twice a month was quantity of people this year start 2003 people had ate food from the restaurants 30% and the year 2006 the decrease quantity of people reached 25% and the year 2013 people again ate the food from the restaturants.Other comapre this two other all quantity of people decrease the quantity.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially. While the student attempts to summarise the main features of the chart, the selection of data is erratic and poorly reported. For instance, the opening sentence contains awkward phrasing ("The bar chart illustrate frequently..."), and the overview attempts to highlight trends but lacks clarity. Furthermore, some of the data reported in the body paragraphs contains inaccuracies or confusion, such as stating that the percentage for 2006 was "35%" when describing certain categories. The ideas are limited and under-developed, and the response lacks a clear, fully realised overview of the main trends across the decade. To reach a higher level, the student needs to select key features more accurately, provide a clearer overview without raw data listing, and fully develop comparisons across all years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is some organisation attempted, but the response lacks a clear overall progression. The student uses uppercase labels like "OVERVIEW:" and "BODYPARAGRAPH:", which feels mechanical rather than using natural paragraphing. Cohesive devices are largely inadequate or inaccurate; transitions between sentences are abrupt, and referencing is frequently unclear (e.g., "Other comapre this two other all quantity..."). The logical flow is disrupted by fragmented sentences and disjointed clauses, making it difficult for the reader to follow the progression of information. To improve coherence, the student must use standard paragraphing, avoid unhelpful section headings, and employ appropriate cohesive devices to link ideas smoothly.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is limited and repetitive, with a heavy reliance on words directly copied from the prompt or basic terms like "food", "people", "quantity", and "year". There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations that cause some difficulty for the reader, such as using "quantity people" instead of "proportion of people" or "percentage", and non-standard word forms like "percantage". Attempts to use less common vocabulary are either inaccurate or marred by spelling errors. To achieve a higher band, the student needs to build a wider range of vocabulary related to data trends and paraphrase the prompt effectively using accurate word choices and correct spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response demonstrates a very limited range of structures. Simple sentences dominate, and attempts at more complex or longer sentences are frequently faulty, resulting in ungrammatical constructions such as "The bar chart illustrate frequently people in the USA ate..." and "Looking we now the graph the highest people ate...". There are frequent errors in verb forms, tense consistency, word order, and missing prepositions or articles. These errors can cause confusion and difficulty for the reader. To improve in this area, the student should focus on forming grammatically complete sentences, ensuring proper subject-verb agreement, and correctly structuring subordinate clauses.

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

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