Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-20

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 given graph provides us with information about the people in the USA usually ate fast food in resturants among the year of 2003 and 2013. Overall, the people who eat the fast food once a week and once or twice a month show the highest percentage and the people who eat fast food every day show the lowest percentage.

First of all, the graph represents the highest number of people who ate fast food once a week which is about 30% to 35%. Consequently, the second highest percentage is of that people that ate fast food once oe twice a month which show the percentage of almost 33%. The third highest percentage is the people who ate the fast foos several times in a week which is about 15% to 20%. Similarly, the people who eat fast food few times a year is the third lowest percentage in table which is about 10% to 15%. The second lowest percentage in the table are those people that never eat fast food and the lowest percentage are those people who eat fast food every day which is 0% to 5%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response identifies the broad pattern that weekly and monthly eating were the most common, while daily eating was among the least common. However, the overview is incomplete and some comparisons are inaccurate: once or twice a month was not consistently second-highest, as it peaked at about 33% in 2013, while once a week peaked at about 33% in 2006. The response also gives broad ranges rather than comparing the three years, and it does not clearly report the changes over time—for example, monthly eating fell from about 30% to 25% before rising to 33%. Several categories are ranked incorrectly or unclearly, including “a few times a year” and “several times a week.” Select the main trends and support them with accurate year-by-year figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is a basic structure: an opening statement and overview are followed by a paragraph describing categories, and sequencing phrases such as “First of all,” “Consequently,” and “Similarly” help signal movement between points. However, the response does not progress through the data in a clear comparative order. The repeated ranking language (“highest,” “third highest,” “third lowest”) makes the paragraph feel like a list, and “Consequently” does not express a logical result between the points it connects. Group the categories by their trends or compare the years within each category, using clear references to 2003, 2006, and 2013. This would make the relationships between figures easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant chart vocabulary, including “percentage,” “highest,” “lowest,” and “ate fast food,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several expressions are inaccurate or awkward, such as “the people who eat the fast food,” “percentage is of that people,” and “third lowest percentage in table.” There are also spelling errors, including “resturants,” “oe,” and “foos,” which reduce the accuracy of the report. Use more precise terms for describing data, such as “proportion,” “accounted for,” and “rose/fell,” and avoid repeating the same ranking words. Check spelling and use natural collocations when describing restaurant visits.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a compound overview and sentences beginning with “which” and “that.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but grammatical control is uneven. For example, “the people in the USA usually ate fast food in restaurants among the year of 2003 and 2013” has an unclear structure and incorrect time expression, while “once oe twice a month which show the percentage” contains faulty agreement and an incomplete relative clause. Articles and sentence construction are also inconsistent in phrases such as “in table.” Aim for direct, complete comparisons—for example, “The proportion eating weekly was highest in 2006”—and check subject–verb agreement, tense, and sentence boundaries.

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