Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The bar chart compares the frequency of eating at fast food restaurants among people in the USA between 2003 and 2013.

Overall, once a week and once or twice a month accounted for the highest percentage of eating at fast food restaurants, while everyday and never recorded lowest figures. Meanwhile, several times a week and a few times a year registered moderate proportions of eating at fast food restaurants.

Regarding once a week and once or twice a month, once a week and once or twice a month accounted for the highest percentage of eating at fast food restaurants at 31% and 29% in 2003 and 33% and 25% in 2006, before reaching 26% and 33% in 2013. In contrast, people who ate at fast food restaurants had the least figures for 2003, 2006 and 2013 were 4%,3% and 3%, respectively. In 2003, people who never ate at fast food restaurants accounted for 5% in 2003, compared with 4% in 2006 and remained unchanged in 2013.

Turning to several times a week and a few times a year, people who ate at fast food reastaurants had the moderate figures, at 16% and 13% in 2003 and 20% and 15% in 2006, before reaching to 16% and 15% in 2013.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern that weekly and monthly visits were the most common, while daily visits and never eating out were least common. You also include figures across all three years, and most are close to the chart. However, the overview is broad: it does not highlight the key shift from weekly visits being highest in 2003 and 2006 to monthly visits leading in 2013. Some details are also inaccurate: weekly eating in 2013 is about 28%, not 26%, and the never figures are about 4.5%, 3.5% and 3.5%, rather than 5%, 4% and 4%. The response covers the task, but the overview and selection of comparisons could be more precise and fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs grouping the frequency categories. This makes the information reasonably easy to follow, and transitions such as “Overall,” “In contrast,” and “Turning to” help signal relationships. However, some cohesion is mechanical or repetitive. The sentence beginning “Regarding once a week and once or twice a month” repeats both categories immediately, and “accounted for the highest percentage” is repeated from the overview. The sentence about the least figures is also awkwardly constructed, making its comparison less clear. To strengthen progression, avoid restating the same point and use clearer references when comparing years and categories.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “frequency,” “accounted for,” “proportions,” and “registered,” and the meaning is generally clear. There is some variety in how you describe the data, which suits the task. However, several choices are imprecise or unnatural: “everyday” should be “every day” when describing frequency, “had the least figures” is not a natural collocation, and “moderate figures” is vague. “Reastaurants” is also misspelled, and “reaching to” is an inaccurate phrase. Aim for precise reporting language such as “the lowest proportions,” “stood at,” and “rose to,” while checking spelling and avoiding repeated phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mixture of simple statements and longer comparative sentences, including the structure “before reaching…” to describe changes over time. Most of the data remains understandable, but some sentence structures are awkward or incomplete. For example, “In contrast, people who ate … had the least figures … were 4%” combines two competing sentence patterns; revise it as “The proportion who ate daily was 4%, 3% and 3%, respectively.” The sentence about people who never ate also repeats “in 2003” and has an unclear comparison. There are some punctuation and spacing slips, such as the extra space after “In contrast,”. More controlled clause construction and careful proofreading would improve accuracy.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.