Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-07

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 6.5)

The bar chart illustrates how frequenlty people in the USA ate at fast-food resturants between 2003 and 2013.

Overall, eating food once a week and once or twice a month were the most common frequencies, whereas eating fast food on every day was least common.

To begin with, In 2003, around 17% of people ate fast food several times a week. This figure rose to approximately 20% in year 2006 before slightly decreased to about 16% in 2013. In contrast, eating fast food once a week was more common, accounting for approximately 31%, 33%, and 28% in 2003, 2006, and 2013 respectively.

On the other hand, proportion of people ate fast food once or twice a month was 30% in 2003, before falling down to 25% in 2006, and then recover again around 33% in 2013. Meanwhile, the percentage of people ate fast food a few times a year remained level off throughtout the timeframe around 13 to 15%. Finally, people who never ate fast food or ate it every day reamined under 5% in most years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response identifies the main pattern accurately: weekly and monthly visits account for the largest shares, while daily eating is uncommon. It also reports the key changes in the three main categories, including the rise and subsequent fall in several-times-a-week visits and the monthly figure’s recovery to its highest level in 2013. The overview is clear, though “once a week and once or twice a month were the most common” could be more precise: the leading category changes from once a week in 2003 and 2006 to once or twice a month in 2013. The final statement groups daily and never eating together and says they remained under 5% “in most years”; this is broadly accurate but could distinguish their small differences more clearly. More precise comparisons would strengthen an otherwise well-selected summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is organised into a clear introduction, overview and two detail paragraphs, with a logical progression from frequent eating to less frequent patterns. Linking expressions such as “In contrast,” “Meanwhile,” and “Finally” help signal comparisons and additions, and the figures are generally grouped sensibly. Some transitions are less effective: “On the other hand” suggests a stronger opposition than the monthly-frequency data requires, while “To begin with” and “Finally” make the account feel somewhat formulaic. The final sentence also combines two distinct categories without explaining their separate trends. To improve, use transitions that express the precise relationship between figures and make the final comparison more explicit; this would make cohesion more flexible while retaining the clear overall structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

There is adequate vocabulary for describing the chart, including “accounting for,” “proportion,” “remained,” and “timeframe.” The writer also varies some reporting language rather than repeating one verb throughout. However, several spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “frequenlty,” “resturants,” and “throughtout” are misspelled, while “falling down” and “recover again” are less natural choices for describing chart movements. “Eating food” is also less specific than “eating fast food.” These errors do not prevent understanding, but they show that vocabulary control is not consistently accurate. Focus on correct spelling and standard collocations for trends, such as “declined” and “recovered,” and use precise labels for the categories.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex structures, including comparisons and time clauses: “This figure rose … before slightly decreased” and “30% in 2003, before falling … and then recover.” The overall meaning remains clear, but some verb forms and sentence patterns are inaccurate. After “before,” the parallel construction should be “before decreasing,” and the sequence describing the monthly figure should use consistent past-tense forms, such as “fell … and then recovered.” There are also missing articles or subjects in phrases such as “In 2006” and “the proportion … was,” and the capitalisation after “To begin with,” is incorrect. The range is developing, but more consistent tense control and careful editing are needed for greater accuracy.

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