Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The bar chart illustrates the frequency of eating in fast food restaurants in the USA between 2003 and 2013.

Overall, proportion of people eating in fast food restaurants once a week and once or twice a month is considerably higher than the remaining categories. Another noticable feature iss that the yearly percentage of people eating in a fast food restaurants is consistent in all categories.

Looking first at the two most frequent eating categories, more than 30 % ate in 2003 once a week, which gradually increased to almost 33 %, but it decreased to 27%. Moreover, 30% ate in these restaurants once or twice a month in 2003 that decreased to 25 % in 2006. However, in 2013 a postive change have been observed as more than 30% was engaged in this category.

Turning to the remaining categories, less than 5% took meal every day and never between 2003 and 2013. While the percentage of people reached to almost 20% when ate several times a week or few times a year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main pattern that weekly and monthly visits were more common than the other frequencies, and you compare the changes in these two categories across all three years. However, the overview is partly unclear: saying the percentages were “consistent in all categories” is not supported, since weekly visits fell by 2013 and monthly visits rose. Some figures are also inaccurate: weekly eating in 2013 was about 28%, not 27%, and “less than 5%” applies to daily eating and never, but not to the other remaining categories. The final paragraph gives only broad ranges for several-times-a-week and a-few-times-a-year visits. A clearer overview and more precise, selective comparisons would make the key features better developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs grouping the main categories and the remaining ones. This makes the information reasonably easy to follow. You also use transitions such as “Looking first” and “Turning to” to signal the shift between groups. However, some links are mechanical or unclear. For example, “While the percentage of people reached to almost 20% when ate…” is not a complete, clearly connected sentence, and “However” does not clearly explain the contrast in the monthly figures. The overview’s claim about consistency also makes the progression harder to follow. Use more precise links between comparisons and ensure each sentence has a clear relationship to the one before it.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “frequency,” “categories,” “percentage,” and “gradually increased,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There are also attempts at more formal reporting language, such as “a positive change” and “engaged in this category,” though these are not always natural choices for describing chart data. Spelling errors such as “noticable” and “postive” reduce accuracy, while phrases like “took meal” and “yearly percentage” are imprecise or awkward. Aim for standard collocations used in data description, such as “ate at fast-food restaurants” and “the proportion of people.” More accurate word choice and spelling would make the comparisons clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “but” and a subordinate clause beginning “as.” The main comparisons are usually understandable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. In the overview, “proportion of people” needs an article, and “is considerably higher” does not agree with the plural subject. The sentence “a positive change have been observed” has incorrect subject–verb agreement and tense, while “when ate several times a week” lacks a clear subject. Articles and prepositions are also inconsistent in phrases such as “in a fast food restaurants.” Work on agreement, complete clause structure, and article use while retaining your attempts at varied sentences.

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