Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The supplied bar graph compares the frequency of eating at a fast food restaurants among individuals in the USA from 2003 to 2013.

Overall, it is evident that most people preferred going to fast food restaurants once a week in 2003 and 2006, while in 2013 this got changed and maximum individual started eating in fast food restaurants once or twice a month. Only very few percentage of people ate every day and never at fast food restaurants.

Looking at it in more detail,

4% of people were found going to fast food restaurants in 2003 that reducted to 3% in 2006 and 2013. People eating several times a week at fast food restaurants accounted for 17%, 20% and 16% in 2003, 2006 and 2013 respectively. Highest proportion of individuals ate once a week at fast food restaurants about 31% in 2003 that increased to 33% in 2006 and dropped to 28% in 2013.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by providing an adequate overview and selecting key features from the chart. The writer identifies the main trends, noting that eating once a week was initially most common before being overtaken by eating once or twice a month in 2013, and correctly highlights the extreme categories such as eating every day or never. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others; while data for 2003 is explored with specific figures like 4% and 31%, the body paragraph trails off abruptly mid-sentence and lacks a complete reporting of the 2013 data set. This uneven development prevents the response from reaching a higher level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response presents an overall coherent arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the answer into an introduction, an overview, and a detailed body paragraph. Information is generally ordered logically, starting with general trends before moving into specifics. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical; phrases like 'Looking at it in more detail' introduce the body section, but referencing and logical progression are disrupted by the abrupt ending of the text. Furthermore, paragraphing is affected by unusual spacing and a lack of completion in the final sections, meaning that cohesive devices and overall flow are not fully sustained throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying information about chart trends and percentages. The student makes clear attempts to use less common items and functional language, such as 'compares the frequency', 'proportion of individuals', and 'accounted for'. However, there are noticeable word choice and morphological inaccuracies that reflect a standard mid-level range, such as 'a fast food restaurants' (incorrect article and pluralisation), 'this got changed', and 'maximum individual started' instead of the plural form. Spelling and word formation are mostly functional, and while these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the lexical range from appearing more precise or sophisticated.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and introductory participial phrases such as 'People eating several times a week... accounted for'. There are some grammatical errors in punctuation, preposition use, and verb forms, such as 'that reducted to 3%' (incorrect past tense formation of 'reduce') and missing articles before singular nouns. Nevertheless, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the intended data points easily. To reach a higher standard, the writer needs a wider variety of error-free complex structures and tighter control over verb morphology.

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