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 provided data illustrates the frequency of individuals in the USA ate fast food in restaurants in 2003,2006 and 2013.

Overall, it is immediately apparent that the majority of people ate fast food in 2006, once a week, while the lowest number of people who ate fast food was every day among the period.

Turning to every day fast food, among the period, less than 5% of share ws eating fast food. whereas this number experienced a significant upword trend to 20% of individuals in 2006. People who tried fast food once a week witnessed a considerable increase at around 33%.

Regarding the frequency of once or twice a month, the largest share was in 2013 which stood at approximately 35%. However, people who ate fast food a few times a year accounted at just 15% in both years 2006 and 2013. Ultimately, there were people who never ate fast food which accounted for 5% in 2003 and around 4% for both 2006 and 2013.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several relevant features, including the low proportion eating fast food every day and the high figures for weekly or monthly visits. You also report some values accurately, such as 33% eating once a week in 2006 and 15% eating a few times a year in 2006 and 2013. However, the overview is unclear and partly inaccurate: 2006 was not the year with the highest overall frequency, and the largest category in 2013 was once or twice a month at about 33%, not 35%. The claim that daily eating rose to 20% confuses it with eating several times a week. Several categories and the overall shifts between years are not clearly compared. A more precise overview and accurate selection of key trends would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing selected categories. Sequencing phrases such as “Overall,” “Turning to,” and “Regarding” help signal movement between points. However, the progression is not consistently clear because categories are mixed together: the paragraph beginning “Turning to every day” then discusses the 20% figure and once-a-week eating, making it difficult to follow which data belong to which category. “Ultimately” also introduces the never-eating figure without a clear reason for that transition. Grouping related frequencies and comparing the three years within each group would improve cohesion. Some linking expressions feel mechanical, and clearer references to the category being discussed would help readers track the comparisons.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “frequency,” “majority,” “considerable increase,” and “accounted for,” and the meaning is generally recoverable. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “the frequency of individuals … ate,” “share ws eating,” and “witnessed a considerable increase” when describing a percentage. “Upword” is also misspelled, and “among the period” is not a natural expression. Repetition of “people who ate fast food” limits flexibility. Aim for precise chart language such as “the proportion of people who ate…” and use verbs like “rose,” “fell,” or “stood at” with the correct category and figure. This would make the vocabulary more natural and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex forms, including a relative clause in “people who never ate fast food” and contrastive linking with “However.” Some sentences communicate the intended point, but grammatical errors recur and occasionally make relationships unclear. For example, “The provided data illustrates the frequency of individuals … ate” lacks a grammatical link between “frequency” and “ate”; “the lowest number of people who ate fast food was every day” has an awkward comparison structure; and “accounted at just 15%” uses an incorrect pattern. Punctuation and sentence boundaries also need attention, as in “fast food. whereas.” Practise accurate clause construction and patterns such as “accounted for 15%” and “the proportion who ate…” while retaining your attempts at complex sentences.

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