Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The chart illustrates the information of people's frequency in the USA preferring to eat in fast food restaurants between 2003 and 2013.

Overall, once a week and once or twice a month categories experienced the highest percentage of people eating in a fast food restaurant whereas every day category showed the lowest percentage of people who preferred eating in a fast food restaurant. However, once a week presented more percentage of people compared to once or twice a month in the specified time period.

In 2003, almost 31 percent people preferred to eat in fast food restaurants once a week which was the highest number of that time. Additionally, around 30% and 13% people used to eat once or twice a month and few times a year respectively. Moreover, 4% people ate every day and 5% people never did. Once a week and once or twice a month represented 33% and 25% respectively in 2006. Simultaneously, every day and never categories encountered a decline except for few times a year frequency.

In 2013, eating once or twice a month noticed significant increase around 33% whereas once a week showed a decline around 27%. Few times a year, never and every remained stable around 15%, 4% and 3% 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 visits are among the least common. You also report several relevant figures, including the 2003 weekly and monthly values and the 2013 rise in monthly visits. However, the overview is not fully accurate across the period: once a week was not consistently higher than once or twice a month, since the monthly figure was higher in 2013. The 2006 account is also incomplete, and “every day and never categories encountered a decline” does not clearly distinguish their changes. To strengthen the response, compare the three years more precisely and include the notable shift from weekly visits peaking in 2006 to monthly visits becoming the leading category in 2013.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, an overview and paragraphs describing the data by year. This makes the information easy to locate, and linking expressions such as “Additionally” and “Moreover” help connect details. However, the year-by-year approach sometimes produces a list of figures rather than a clear comparison across categories. The sentence beginning “Simultaneously” is especially unclear because it groups changes without specifying the relevant values, while “However” in the overview introduces a claim that conflicts with the 2013 data. Organise details around meaningful trends—for example, compare weekly and monthly frequencies across all three years—and use linking words only where the relationship between ideas is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe the chart, including “decline,” “increase,” “percentage” and “represented.” The repeated category labels also help keep the data identifiable. Some word choices and collocations, however, are unnatural or imprecise: “the information of people's frequency,” “encountered a decline,” and “eating once or twice a month noticed significant increase” do not express the trends naturally. “Highest number” is also less suitable for percentages than “highest proportion.” Aim for standard chart-reporting phrases such as “the proportion of people who ate out,” “fell to,” and “rose to.” This would make the account more precise while retaining the useful range already shown.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex forms, including the overview’s contrast between categories and the sentence beginning “which was the highest number of that time.” Most of the message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors affect accuracy. For example, “31 percent people” needs an article or a different construction, and “every day and never categories” lacks clear grammatical framing. In “Few times a year, never and every remained stable,” the subject is incomplete and the verb does not clearly agree with the intended categories. There are also awkward sentence constructions that make relationships between figures difficult to follow. Check articles, plural forms and complete subjects, and use straightforward comparative sentence patterns to improve control.

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