Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-16

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 6.5)

The bar graph illustrates the frequency of consuming at fast food restaurants among people of the USA from 2003 to 2013.

Overall, it is evident that for all the three years, the majority of people prefer to eat at fast food restaurants once a week and once or twice a month. In contrast, consumers barely gravitate towards eating at fast food restaurants for a daily basis.

For the years 2003 to 2013, people mostly preferred to go processed food restaurants once a week, with about 32%, 35% and 28% in 2003, 2006 and 2013 respectively. After that the second popular option was once or twice a month, at 30% in 2003, 25% in 2006 and approximately 35% in 2013.

The third preference was going to the restaurants in several times a week, with around 17%, 20% and 16% consumers in 2003, 2006 and 2013 respectively. Furthermore, people less likely to went fast food hotels a few times a year, where about 13.5% people in 2003, and 15% people both in 2006 and 2013. However, the percentage of consumers who went to restaurants for grabing fast foods every day and who never visited any restaurants for ready foods were very small, all of which were under 5% from 2003 to 2013.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response gives a clear overview of the main pattern: weekly and monthly visits account for the largest shares, while daily visits and never visiting are uncommon. It also compares all three years and reports the key categories, which makes the summary relevant and well supported. Most figures are close to the chart, but the weekly figures are overstated for 2003 and 2006 (about 32% and 35% rather than 31% and 33%), and the monthly figure for 2013 is given as approximately 35% rather than 33%. The 2003 figure for a few visits a year is also slightly high. These are limited inaccuracies; the overall trends remain clear. To strengthen the report, use closer estimates and avoid implying that the leading category is the same in every year, since monthly visits lead in 2013.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The information is organised in a clear sequence: an introduction, an overview, and then paragraphs comparing the main and less common frequencies. The progression from weekly and monthly visits to the remaining categories is easy to follow, and linking phrases such as “Overall,” “After that,” and “Furthermore” help signal relationships. The final sentence also groups the two smallest categories effectively. Some transitions are slightly mechanical, and “For the years 2003 to 2013” is imprecise because the chart compares three separate years rather than showing continuous data. More direct links between comparisons—for example, highlighting the shift from weekly visits to monthly visits by 2013—would make the progression more flexible and cohesive.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

There is an adequate range of vocabulary for describing the chart, including “frequency,” “majority,” “percentage,” and “preference.” The writer also attempts varied expressions such as “gravitate towards” and “the second popular option.” However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for this topic: “processed food restaurants” and “fast food hotels” do not describe the chart’s category, while “grabing fast foods” is both awkward and misspelled. “Consumers barely gravitate towards” is also an unnatural way to describe the low daily figure. These choices do not prevent the reader from understanding the comparisons, but more precise, conventional chart language would improve control and naturalness. Prefer consistent terms such as “fast-food restaurants” and “people who ate there.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a clear overview sentence and clauses introduced by “where” and “who.” Most of the meaning is understandable, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “people less likely to went” has an incorrect verb form, and “in several times a week” uses an incorrect preposition within the phrase. In “all of which were under 5%,” the reference is not fully clear because it could refer to the people or the percentages. The sentence beginning “Furthermore” also combines several details in a way that makes its structure less controlled. Review verb patterns after “likely,” use standard frequency constructions, and make pronoun references explicit while retaining the useful range of sentence structures.

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