Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-10

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 5.5)

THE BAR CHART ILLUSTRTES THE DATA OF PEOPLE WHO ATE THEIR FOOD IN FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS IN THE USA BETWEEN ( 2003 TO 2013 )

OVERALL, IT WAS CLEAR THAT MANY PEOPLE IN THE USA USUALLY USE FAST FOOD RESTAURANT TO CANSUME THEIR FOOD. IN ONCE A WEEK AND ONCE OR TWICE A MONTH PEOPLE PERCENTAGE WERE VERY HIGH. HOWEVER PEOPLE WHO USED RESTAURANTS IN SEVERAL TIME A WEEK AND A FEW TIMES A YEAR WERE LOWER (15-20%). APART FROM THIS PEOPLE WHO USED EVERY DAY AND NEVER USED IT WERE VERY LOW (2-3%).

IN A WEEK AND ONCE OR TWICE A MONTH POPULATION (25-35%) WERE HIGH IN ALL THE YEARS LIKE THEY INCREASED FROM 2003 TO 2013. BUT ONCE A WEEK CONSUMERS REDUCED FROM 2006 TO 2013.

IN SEVERAL TIME AND A FEW TIME IN A YEAR CONSUMER OF RESTAURANTS WERE LOWER LIKE THEIR POPULATION WERE INCREASED (15%)WHO ATE FEW TIMES A YEAR. AND REDUCED IN SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK (15-18%).

POPULATION WHO NEVER USED RESTAURENTS AND EVERY DAY USERS WERE REDUCED FROM 2003 T0 2006 AND STEADY FROM 2006 TO 2013. LESS THAN (5%) OF POPULATION LIES ON THIS.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main pattern that weekly and monthly visits account for the largest shares, and you compare several categories across the three years. The overview also notes that daily visits and never visiting are uncommon. These are relevant features, and your account includes some accurate trends, such as weekly visits falling after 2006 and monthly visits reaching their highest level in 2013. However, some claims are unclear or inaccurate: weekly and monthly figures did not both increase from 2003 to 2013, since weekly visits fell from about 31% to 28%; daily and never figures were around 3–4.5%, not 2–3%. The overview also misses the key shift from weekly visits being most common in 2003 and 2006 to monthly visits leading in 2013. More precise comparisons would strengthen an otherwise relevant summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs grouping the more common and less common frequencies. This gives the reader a general route through the information. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow, particularly in “IN A WEEK AND ONCE OR TWICE A MONTH POPULATION … WERE HIGH … LIKE THEY INCREASED,” where the comparison and trend are not clearly separated. Linking words such as “however,” “apart from this,” and “and” are used, but connections can feel mechanical or imprecise. Some references, including “they” and “this,” do not clearly identify the category being discussed. Organise each paragraph around a clear comparison, and use explicit category names and year-to-year transitions to make the relationships easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “bar chart,” “percentage,” “increased,” “reduced,” and “steady,” so the reader can identify the subject and some trends. However, the range is limited and several expressions are repeated or used in unnatural combinations, such as “population … were high,” “consumer of restaurants,” and “used restaurants.” Spelling errors, including “ILLUSTRTES,” “CANSUME,” and “RESTAURENTS,” also reduce accuracy. Choose vocabulary that describes proportions and visit frequency directly, and check spelling carefully. More precise terms such as “proportion,” “share,” “visited,” and “declined” would help you report the chart clearly without relying on repeated, awkward phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences with contrast, for example, “However people who used restaurants … were lower” and “But once a week consumers reduced from 2006 to 2013.” This shows some effort to vary sentence forms. However, errors in sentence construction and agreement often make the relationships unclear. In “people percentage were very high,” the noun phrase and verb do not agree naturally; “their population were increased” also uses an incorrect verb pattern. Articles and prepositions are frequently missing or misplaced, and punctuation is inconsistent, including the all-capital presentation and incomplete sentence-like fragments. Practise building clear subject–verb sentences, such as “The proportion of people eating weekly fell,” and use commas and full stops to separate comparisons.

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