Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-26

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 6.0)

The bar chart illustrates the frequency of eating at fast food restaurants over a period of 10 year from 2003 to 2013 among people in the USA and the units are measured in percentage.

Overall, the figures for 3 mentioned year showed fluctuating trend while the highest percentage of people was observed in 2006 and 2013 who went once a week and once or twice a month respectively at restaurants.

In 2003, the percentage of people, who went everyday , was nearly 4% which peaked at almost 32% for people who went once a week before dropping to below 15%(a few times a year) further declining to 5% who never went to restaurants.

The frequency of going to restaurants was same in 2006 and 2013 for people who went every day and a few times a year but the frequency of once a week peaked at just below 35% in 2006 whereas same percentage of people went once or twice a month in 2013.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s subject and give an overview that correctly notes the peaks for weekly dining in 2006 and monthly dining in 2013. You also report several relevant figures, such as about 4% eating every day in 2003 and the weekly figure reaching roughly 32% that year. However, the account is only partial: it omits the 2003 figure for several times a week and gives little comparison of the main categories across all three years. The overview’s claim that the figures showed a “fluctuating trend” is broad and does not explain the key shift from weekly visits being most common in 2003 and 2006 to monthly visits in 2013. Select and compare the principal categories more fully to make the summary clearer and better supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs of details. This gives the reader a basic progression from the chart’s general pattern to specific years. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “In 2003,” and “whereas” help signal the relationships between points. However, the final paragraph combines several comparisons without a clear sequence, and “the frequency of going to restaurants was same in 2006 and 2013” is not sufficiently precise about which categories are being compared. The overview also refers generally to a fluctuating trend rather than setting out the main contrast. Organise the details by category or by year, and use clearer references to connect each comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “percentage,” “frequency,” “peaked,” and “declining,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There are also attempts to vary how the data is described, rather than relying only on “went.” Some choices are imprecise or unnatural, however: “3 mentioned year” and “the units are measured in percentage” do not express the information idiomatically, while “same percentage of people went” is unclear in context. “Everyday” is also used where the frequency label should be “every day.” Aim for accurate chart language such as “the three years shown,” “figures are given as percentages,” and “the proportion who ate out.” More precise collocations would make the comparisons easier to follow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a relative clause in “people, who went everyday” and a contrast with “whereas.” The main message is usually recoverable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “over a period of 10 year” has a number–noun agreement error, and “the figures for 3 mentioned year showed” has problems with number and sentence construction. In “the frequency … was same,” an article is missing, and the long sentence beginning “In 2003” has awkward clause structure and punctuation. The response also relies on a few similar sentence patterns. Check articles, plurals, and clause boundaries, and practise combining comparisons in controlled complex sentences.

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