Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-25

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 bar chart illustrates the people in the USA ate in fast food restaurant between the time period of 2003 to 2013.

overall, the people eat fast food once a week is counted as higher from other whereas once or twice a month has slightly lower than that, several times a week and a few times a year has a small difference where as everyday and the people who never eat has almost a similar figure.

people eat food once a week are on 31% on in 2003 and than goes up to 33% in 2006 and than becom down to 28% in 2013,once or twice a week are 30% in 2003 and than took a dump to 25% till 2006 and than increases to 33% till 2013 whereas several times a week are around 17% in 2003 and than increases to 20% in 2006 and than took a decrease to 16% till 2013.

A few times a year people who eat fast food are around 13% in 2003 and than stand 15% from 2006 to 2013, everyday and never frequency are almost same which is less than 5% from the time period of 2003 to 2013.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main pattern that weekly dining was common and that daily eating and never eating were the least common, and you report several key figures accurately, including the weekly peak of 33% in 2006 and the monthly rise to 33% in 2013. However, the overview is not fully accurate: once or twice a month was not consistently lower than once a week, since it became the highest category in 2013. The description also calls this category “once or twice a week,” mislabelling the chart. Some important comparisons are only briefly covered, and the final statement that daily and never figures were “almost same” overlooks their small differences. A clearer overview and more precise category comparisons would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the figures. The information is generally grouped by frequency, and linking words such as “whereas” help signal comparisons. However, progression within the main paragraph is difficult to follow because several categories and years are packed into one long sentence. Repeated use of “and than” makes the connections mechanical, while punctuation and spacing issues further blur the sequence. For example, the sentence beginning “people eat food once a week” moves through three categories without clear breaks. Use separate sentences or a more deliberate grouping of categories, and vary linking expressions to make comparisons easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough chart-related vocabulary to communicate the broad trends, including “increases,” “decrease,” “frequency,” and “figure.” However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or informal for an academic report. “Took a dump” is inappropriate and unclear in this context; “fell” or “declined” would be suitable. “Once or twice a week” also changes the chart’s category, which affects precision. Phrases such as “stand 15%” and “is counted as higher” are not natural collocations, and “everyday” should be expressed as “every day” when referring to frequency. Aim for precise category labels and standard reporting verbs.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts to connect several comparisons in longer sentences, but these structures are often faulty, and errors occur throughout. Examples include “The bar chart illustrates the people … ate,” which needs a clearer grammatical construction, and “people eat fast food once a week is counted as higher,” where the subject and verb pattern are not controlled. Tense and verb-form problems also appear in “than becom down” and “than stand 15%.” Sentence boundaries are weak, with long comma-linked sequences and missing spaces after commas. These issues sometimes make relationships between figures difficult to understand. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and build shorter, complete sentences before extending them with clauses.

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