Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-21

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 4.5)

The bar char illustrates the number of people who ate in the fast food restaurants in the USA between the period 2003 and 2013. Overall, it can be clearly seen that the percentage of people rose from every day to once aor twice a month. Then it started to decreased to never.

In 2003, there were around 5% of people who eat in the fast food restaurant every day and 17% people who eat several times a week. The rate increased and more people started to eat once or twice a month. It dropped significantly from 33% to 15% but in a few times a year people ate in fat food restaurant. In 2006 and 2013, there was only 3% of peple who eat in fast food restaurant. In the following time period, there was 20% and 16% people whi ate in several times a week. the percentage started to inceased and less number of people ate in the fast food restaurant. There was 15% people who ate in restaurant of fast food. Later, there was only 4% people who never ate in fast food restaurant.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the chart’s subject and attempt to describe changes across the three years, including the low daily figures and the higher weekly/monthly categories. However, the main features are not reported accurately or clearly enough: the overview’s claim that the percentage “rose from every day to once or twice a month” treats different categories as a trend, and “Then it started to decreased to never” is not supported by the data. Several figures are confused or left without a clear category—for example, “dropped significantly from 33% to 15%” does not identify the relevant years and categories, while the 2013 monthly peak of 33% is missed. Select the key comparisons and report each figure with its category and year.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is an attempt to organise the response with an opening, an overview and time references such as “In 2003” and “In 2006 and 2013.” These give the reader some sense of the chart’s time frame. However, the ideas do not progress in a clear order: the response moves between categories and years, and several statements are difficult to connect, such as “It dropped significantly from 33% to 15% but in a few times a year.” The overview also does not provide a reliable organising summary. Use a clear paragraph for the main trends, then group comparisons by category or by year, and use linking words only where the relationship between figures is explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant chart vocabulary, including “percentage,” “rate,” “increased,” and “dropped significantly,” so the reader can recognise that you are describing numerical changes. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning unclear. Examples include “bar char,” “fat food restaurant,” and “less number of people”; “rose from every day to once aor twice a month” also uses category labels as if they were values on a scale. Check spelling carefully and use precise terms such as “proportion,” “frequency,” and “the share of people who ate…” Avoid repeating “people who eat in the fast food restaurant” when a shorter, accurate phrase will do.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response includes simple statements and attempts longer sentences, for example, “Overall, it can be clearly seen that…” and “The rate increased and more people started to eat…”. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently enough to make some relationships difficult to follow. Verb forms are often inconsistent: “people who eat” should be “people who ate,” and “it started to decreased” should be “it started to decrease.” There are also problems with sentence construction and agreement in “there was 20% and 16% people” and “There was 15% people.” Practise describing figures with accurate patterns such as “The proportion was…” or “X% of people ate…”, and check tense consistency and sentence boundaries.

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