Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-15

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 provides data on the amount of times the people in the USA ate fast food in restaurants between 2003 and 2013.

Overall, the one's who ate once a week in 2006 and people who ate once or twice a month in 2003 accounted for the highest percentage, while the members who ate food outside everday was ranked for the lowest percentage in 2006 and 2013.

In the years 2006 and 2013, residents who ate once a week and once or twice a month was accounted for the highest percentage, at about 33% each. Followed the people who consumed food once a week in 2003, at about 31%. Then restaurant visitors of once or twice a month in a year stood at 30%. In 2013 and 2006, people who went to restaurants once a week and the memebers who vistied once or twice a month stood at approximately 27% and 25% respectively. In terms of several times a week , 2006 sttod at 20% while 2003 and 2013 ranged at approximately 17% and 16% respectively.

A few times eater a year, 2006 and 2013 remained same at 15% and 2003 with about 13%. the once who have never ate outside 2003 ranked with 5% then 2006 and 2013 along with everyday eaters in 2003 had same figure of about 4%. everyday eaters with lowest percentage in 2006 and 2013 at about 4%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s subject and include several relevant comparisons, including the high figures for weekly and monthly visits and the lower figures for daily eating and never eating fast food. However, the overview is unclear and contains a factual error: the highest figure is 33% for weekly visits in 2006, while monthly visits peak at 33% in 2013—not both in 2006 and 2013. Some later figures are also misreported: monthly visits in 2003 were 30%, and weekly visits in 2013 were 28%, rather than about 27%. The response reports many categories, but the main trends are not consistently selected or accurately summarised. A clearer overview and careful checking of comparisons would make the account more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic paragraph structure, moving from an introduction and overview to comparisons across the years. However, progression within the body is difficult to follow because the categories and years are revisited in a confusing order. For example, the paragraph first discusses 2006 and 2013, then returns to 2003, and later repeats the weekly and monthly figures. Linking phrases such as “Followed” and “Then” do not always form complete or clear connections, while the final paragraph shifts abruptly between yearly frequency, never, and daily eating. Group the data consistently—for example, compare the most common frequencies first, then the less common ones—and use clear references to avoid repetition.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing the chart, including “accounted for,” “approximately,” “ranged,” and “stood at.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are inaccurate or unnatural, which sometimes makes the meaning difficult to interpret. For instance, “the amount of times” is not an appropriate collocation for frequency, and “members” is unclear when referring to people in the survey. “A few times eater a year” and “ate food outside” are also awkward formulations. Spelling errors such as “memebers,” “vistied,” and “sttod” further reduce precision. Build a reliable set of chart-description phrases and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts to use longer sentences and comparisons, but complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences hard to follow. For example, “residents who ate once a week and once or twice a month was accounted for” has subject–verb agreement problems and an unclear structure. “Followed the people…” is a sentence fragment, while “the one's who ate” uses an incorrect apostrophe and awkward construction. Tense and verb forms are also inconsistent, as in “who have never ate.” Punctuation and capitalisation are uneven, particularly at the start of the final paragraph. Practise complete comparison sentences with accurate agreement and past-tense forms before adding more complex clauses.

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