Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-09

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 given bar graph depicts how often USA residents ate in quick service resturants from 2003 to 2013.

Overall, it is readily apparent that most of the citizens prefer to eat fast food resturant in once a week and once or twice a month, among all the given years, while least percentage of residents prefer eat every day and never.

To commence with, in year 2003, under a one quarter of US residents eat several times a week. Moreover, around 31% percentage of citizens prefer to eat once a week, which is the highest. Also, one third of people eat once or twice a week, whereas less than a fifth residents choose a few times a year. In year 2003, 2006, and 2013 a tiny fraction of people choose every day eating from quick service resturants.

In 2006, one fifth of residents eat quick service food, while more than a third and one quarter of US citizens prefer to eat once a week and once or twice a month, respectively. Only 15% of people try fast food resturants a few times a year.

Furthermore, in 2013 US people prefer several times a week, once a week and once or twice a month, approximately 16%, 28%, and one third, respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern: weekly and monthly visits account for the largest shares, while daily eating and never eating are least common. Several figures are also reported accurately, including 31% eating weekly in 2003, 20% eating several times a week in 2006, and about 16%, 28% and one third for the three main frequencies in 2013. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: in 2003, “one third” refers to once or twice a month, not once or twice a week, and “under a one quarter” does not accurately describe 17%. The overview could also explain the key change: monthly visits become the most common frequency by 2013, while weekly visits decline. The less prominent daily and never categories are mentioned but not compared with precise figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, an overview and separate paragraphs describing the years. This makes the information easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “Also” and “Furthermore” help signal additions. However, the organisation is somewhat mechanical and the comparisons across years are limited: the year-by-year paragraphs mostly list figures rather than showing how categories changed over time. Some references are also unclear, particularly “one third of people eat once or twice a week,” which makes it difficult to identify the intended category. Grouping the main frequencies together and then briefly comparing the smaller categories would create a more connected progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing the chart, including “depicts,” “percentage,” “fraction” and “prefer,” and the meaning is generally clear. There are, however, some inaccurate or unnatural choices and collocations. “Quick service restaurants” is less suitable than the chart’s “fast food restaurants,” while “prefer to eat fast food restaurant in once a week” is not a natural way to describe frequency. “One third of people eat once or twice a week” also uses the wrong category wording. Spelling errors such as “resturants” recur, and “31% percentage” is redundant. Aim for precise chart vocabulary and natural phrases such as “ate fast food once a week” or “the proportion of people who ate out.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and the overall meaning can usually be understood. Some grammatical errors remain, especially with articles, verb forms and sentence construction. For example, “prefer to eat fast food resturant in once a week” has an incorrect article and preposition pattern, while “in year 2003” needs an article. The past-tense reporting is also inconsistent: “residents eat” and “people choose” should generally be “ate” and “chose” when describing the chart’s past years. In “less than a fifth residents,” a grammatical link is missing. Check agreement and use consistent past-tense forms; these corrections would make the comparisons more accurate and fluent.

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