Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-11

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 5.0)

The bar graph below compaires the proprtion of how regularly people in the USA ate in fast food restaurants between the year 2003 and 2013.

Overall,the propotions show that people indulged at fast food restaurants peaked at when they visited once a week or once or twice a month.With people visiting such chains several times a week came second.

Observing the diagram, between the year 2003 and 2013 the portion of people visiting such fast food chains peeked between 25 to 35 percent from once a week to once or twice a month.

People visiting, only a few amounts of per year saw a stable proportions with 13 to 15% during the decade. Whereas, individuals visiting several times a week peeked in teh year 2006 with 20% and 2003 and 13 following behind.People visiting everyday and people never visiting sych chains both saw a similar proportion between 0 to 5% in all the the mentioned years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad pattern that weekly and monthly visits were the most common, and you note that daily visits and never visiting remained low. However, the overview is imprecise: weekly visits were highest in 2003 and 2006, while monthly visits became highest in 2013, rather than both categories simply “peaked” together. Some figures are also inaccurate: several-times-a-week visits were 17% in 2003, not 13%, and the chart shows a rise from 17% to 20% before falling to 16%. The response is 146 words, below the 150-word minimum; the 10 words copied from the prompt are excluded. Add a clearer overview and accurate comparisons to cover the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic paragraph structure, with an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs, and it generally stays focused on the chart. However, progression is limited because the details are not organised into a clear comparison of the three years. Phrases such as “Observing the diagram” and “Whereas” do not establish the relationships between the figures clearly, and the final paragraph combines several categories without a consistent order. The overview also repeats the idea that visits peaked. Group the data by meaningful trends—for example, weekly versus monthly visits, then the less frequent categories—and use clear links such as “by contrast” or “while” to show how the figures changed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant chart vocabulary, including “proportion,” “stable” and “similar,” and you attempt to vary the wording for people who visit restaurants. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling errors make parts difficult to understand. “People indulged at fast food restaurants peaked at” is not a natural way to describe the data, while “a few amounts of per year” is unclear. There are also repeated spelling errors, including “compaires,” “proprtion,” “peeked” and “teh.” Use precise reporting language such as “the proportion of people who ate there” and “reached a peak,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some complex sentence forms, including “Whereas, individuals visiting several times a week…” and a sentence comparing daily visitors with those who never visited. However, these structures are often incomplete or faulty, and the limited range means relationships between ideas are not always clear. For example, “Overall,the propotions show that people indulged … peaked at when they visited” has an unclear clause structure, and “between the year 2003 and 2013” needs a plural form. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing spaces after commas and an unnecessary comma after “Whereas.” Build accurate sentences around a clear subject and verb, and use full stops to separate comparisons when needed.

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.