Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-30

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 percentages of people eating junk food from restaurants from 2003 to 2013 in the USA.

Overall, it be seen that majority of the people ate outside once a week. The highest farction eating fast food once or twice a month was in 2013. In addition, a negligile percentage of citizens junk food every day.

To begin, the percentage of people comsuming fast food accounted for below 5% during each of the mentioned years. Subsequently, near 17% in 2003, 20% in 2006 and just over 15% of people ate in restaurants several times a week. In terms of once a week, the highest figure was in 2006, accounting about 33%. The figure was over 30% in 2003 and approximately 27% in 2013. Regarding with once or twice a month, 20% was in 2003, 25% in 2006 and about 33% in 2013, respectively. However, 4-5% of people never ate from out side. Meanwile, !5% of people in 2006 and 2012 ate

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important patterns, including the low proportion eating fast food every day and the peak for weekly visits in 2006. However, some figures are inaccurate: monthly visits were about 30% in 2003, not 20%, and the “never” group was around 3.5–4.5%, rather than consistently 4–5%. The overview also says most people ate out once a week, although the largest category changed from weekly visits in 2003 and 2006 to monthly visits in 2013. The final sentence is incomplete and refers to 2012, which is not shown. These omissions and misreadings leave the summary only partially accurate; prioritise a clear overview and check each comparison against the chart.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and a paragraph of details. It also groups information by frequency, and transitions such as “To begin” and “In terms of” help signal the sequence. However, the progression is weakened by unclear or inconsistent comparisons, including the monthly figures, and the final sentence stops before completing its point. Some linking words are used mechanically or awkwardly, such as “Subsequently” and “However,” where the relationship between ideas is not clear. Organise the details into clearer comparisons across years, and ensure each paragraph and sentence develops a complete point. This would make the overall arrangement easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of task-related vocabulary, including “percentage,” “accounted for,” “figure” and “approximately,” so the reader can generally understand the topic and comparisons. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable: “farction,” “negligile,” “comsuming” and “Meanwile” reduce accuracy, while “junk food from restaurants” is less precise than the chart’s focus on eating at fast-food restaurants. Some expressions are also unnatural, such as “ate from out side” and “Regarding with.” Aim for accurate spelling and use consistent, precise terms for the categories. A more controlled vocabulary would make the report clearer and more appropriate to an academic chart summary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, for example, “In terms of once a week, the highest figure was in 2006, accounting about 33%.” However, grammatical errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences awkward or unclear. The overview begins “it be seen,” which needs a correctly formed passive (“it can be seen”), and “majority of the people” is missing an article. In “accounting about 33%,” the verb pattern requires “accounting for about 33%.” The final sentence is incomplete, and punctuation around the figures and clauses needs more control. Practise accurate verb forms, articles and sentence completion before adding more complex structures.

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