Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-24

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)

In America people are likely eating fast-food once a week or once a month, being a common behavior among americans. This kind of lifestyle it's the consequence of the variety of food chains and their popularity. This graph shows that a lot of people are addicted to this kind of behavior because of the ultra marketing and advertisments that are spread all across the country. Americans tends to be more unhealty than healthy beacause they are more cozy and lazy for making a healthy lifestyle that includes exercises and healthy food that don't taste as good as fast-food. Despite of the tasty fast-food products, they contain a lot of bad ingredients that make you unhealty and crave more fast-food products. In my opinion the fast-food industry is evil because they want you to be addicted to their products by adding a lot of sugar that make you want more that type of product. In conclusion americans choose to eat fast-food frequently but they will suffer the consequences of this behavior.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response is largely off-topic for this chart task. It gives opinions about advertising, addiction, unhealthy lifestyles and the fast-food industry, but does not summarise the chart’s three years or compare the six eating frequencies. The opening mentions eating once a week or once a month, yet provides no figures and does not identify the main pattern: weekly eating was highest in 2003 and 2006, while monthly eating became the most common frequency in 2013. There is also no chart-based overview or accurate reporting of changes over time. To improve, describe the key trends objectively, support them with selected percentages, and avoid explanations or personal opinions that the chart does not provide.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic sequence, moving from a general statement to several explanations and then a concluding opinion. However, it does not organise information as a chart summary: there are no paragraphs separating an overview from supporting comparisons, and the ideas do not progress through the years or categories. Linking phrases such as “This graph shows,” “Despite,” and “In conclusion” provide some connections, but they introduce unsupported claims rather than guide the reader through data. Several sentences repeat the same point about unhealthy or addictive behaviour. A clearer structure would use an overview followed by two focused paragraphs comparing the main frequencies and their changes across 2003, 2006 and 2013.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses a range of everyday vocabulary, including “variety,” “popularity,” “consequence,” and “advertising,” and the general topic is understandable. However, much of this vocabulary is not suited to an objective chart report: “addicted,” “evil,” and “lazy” are emotive judgements unsupported by the visual. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “advertisments,” “unhealty,” and “beacause,” and some awkward expressions such as “cozy and lazy for making a healthy lifestyle.” For this task, prioritise precise terms for frequency and change, such as “proportion,” “declined,” and “accounted for,” and use neutral language to describe the data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and longer sentence forms, and most of its meaning can be followed. However, errors recur in agreement, verb forms and sentence construction. For example, “Americans tends” should use a plural verb, while “This kind of lifestyle it's the consequence” incorrectly combines a noun phrase with a contracted verb. The phrase “they want you to be addicted … by adding a lot of sugar that make you want more” also contains an unclear clause and subject–verb agreement error. “Despite of” is not a correct grammatical pattern; use “Despite” or “In spite of.” Build accurate, direct sentences around chart comparisons, checking agreement and clause structure before attempting longer constructions.

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