Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 graph shows the results regarding the fast food eating habits of US citizens in a decade. The propotion of people having the fast food has always been low with further reduction in the following years. The highest portion belongs to the people who prefer to eat such diet weekly or monthly as there is little or no damage in satisfying your cravings while still able to mantain a good overall health. Additionally, the graph also suggests that not many people avoid this kind of junk food as represented by the the lengths of last two categories due to the fact that fast food are generally cheaper and delicious, providing a good value to money for the citizens.

As we talk about the trend, it shows that people are inclined towards healthy eating habits as the graphs points out a decrease in the first few categories which are usage intensive. Overall, the change seems to be generally steady with considerable amount of habit changes in terms of healthy eating.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response makes a limited attempt to describe the chart, but it does not report the main numerical patterns accurately or clearly. It says fast-food eating “has always been low” and that the first categories decreased, although weekly eating was the most common in 2003 and 2006, while monthly eating became the most common in 2013. The claim that people are increasingly choosing healthy habits is not established by the figures, and explanations about health, price and taste are speculation rather than chart information. There is also no clear overview of the key changes across the three years. To improve, summarise the leading frequencies and their shifts, then support that overview with a few accurate comparisons and figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure, moving from an opening description to a paragraph about trends, and it uses linking expressions such as “Additionally” and “Overall.” However, the progression is difficult to follow because the first paragraph mixes supposed chart findings with unsupported explanations, while the second repeats a broad claim about healthy eating without showing how the data supports it. Phrases such as “As we talk about the trend” do not clearly signal a specific comparison, and “the first few categories” is vague. Organise the response into a concise overview followed by comparisons across years, using explicit references to categories and dates so the reader can follow the data.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

There is some range in expressions such as “proportion,” “inclined towards,” and “considerable,” and the general topic remains understandable. However, several choices are inaccurate or informal for describing a chart: “fast food eating habits,” “usage intensive,” and “good value to money” are awkward, while “damage” is an imprecise way to describe health effects. Spelling errors in “propotion” and “mantain,” along with the repeated phrase “fast food,” also reduce control. Aim for precise chart language and natural collocations, such as “the percentage of people who ate fast food” and “the most common frequency.” Avoid adding evaluative language about cravings, deliciousness or value, which does not describe the visual data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “as” and “while,” and the overall meaning is generally recoverable. Some grammatical errors remain. For example, “the graphs points out” has a subject–verb agreement error, and “fast food are generally cheaper” uses an incorrect verb form with an uncountable noun. The phrase “the the lengths” contains a repeated article, while “as we talk about the trend, it shows” has an unclear reference for “it.” These issues do not usually prevent understanding, but they make the description less controlled. Check agreement, articles and pronoun references, and use direct sentence structures when reporting comparisons.

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