Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The charts illustrates us how often the indiviuals in the USA ate in fast food restraunts between 2002 and 2013.

The most noticeable features in the given data is that once a week and once or twice a month people remained highest who was dinning out for junk food in usa while lowest was indiviuals who never ate out or had it every day.

The population who contributed in once a week ration was peaked up in 2006 around 33% and droped down to 27% in 2013. However, the other highest trend was with people who ate fast food once a month which was escalated most in 2013 reaching around 33% which was only 25% in 2006 and 30% back then in 2003. The people eating out many times a week never surged more than 20% in all these years whilw highest was in 2006 and lowest in 2013 while in between was 200 around 16%.

Furthermore,Few times a year showed 13% in 2003 and stayed constant on 15% on all upcoming years. people with everyday eating junk reamined below 5% just like people who never ate out. These both categories never showed much changes .

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern: weekly and monthly visits account for the largest shares, while eating fast food every day or never is uncommon. You also report several useful comparisons, including the weekly peak in 2006 and the monthly peak in 2013. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the period is 2003–2013, not 2002–2013; the weekly figure in 2013 is about 28%, rather than 27%; and the monthly category is described inconsistently as “once a month” rather than “once or twice a month.” The overview also says the leading categories “remained highest,” although their relative ranking changes. Covering the main features is effective, but more precise reporting and a clearer overview would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction and overview are followed by comparisons of the main categories and then the less frequent ones. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through the chart. Linking expressions such as “However” and “Furthermore” help signal shifts, but some connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “while in between was 200 around 16%” is difficult to interpret, and “These both categories” does not clearly refer back to the two groups. The long second paragraph also combines several trends, making comparisons harder to follow. Use separate, focused paragraphs and make each comparison explicit—for example, contrast the weekly and monthly figures across all three years before discussing the smaller categories.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use a range of vocabulary related to trends, including “peaked,” “droped down,” “escalated,” and “remained below,” so the response can describe changes rather than merely list figures. However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for chart reporting: “population who contributed in once a week ration,” “dinning out for junk food,” and “surged” do not express the intended data clearly. There are also noticeable spelling errors, such as “indiviuals,” “restraunts,” and “whilw.” These issues sometimes make the reader work to understand your meaning. Prefer precise, conventional terms such as “the proportion who ate fast food weekly,” “rose,” “fell,” and “accounted for,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons joined with “while” and “however.” The meaning is usually recoverable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “The charts illustrates” has subject–verb disagreement, while “The most noticeable features … is” also mismatches the plural subject and verb. In “people remained highest who was dinning out,” the clause structure and agreement are faulty; “people who ate …” would be clearer. Tense and sentence construction are also uneven in “which was only 25% in 2006 and 30% back then in 2003.” Aim for a clear subject and verb in each sentence, maintain consistent past-tense reporting, and use punctuation to separate comparisons.

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