Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-03

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 given bar chart illustrates the frequency by which people in the USA ate food in fast food restaurants between 2003 and 2013.

Overall, it clearly seen that people frequently went to restaurants to ate food once a week or few times a month. Although there was many preferences these two prevailed over others during the time period.

In categories such as every day and never highest frequency was at 4% and 5% respectively both in 2003 whereas in several times a week people peaked at 20% in 2006 followed by 17% in 2003 and 16% in 2013. These three represents the less selected categories of the chart.

In contrast several times a week, once a week, once or twice a month were more preferable categories among people which peaked at 20%, 33% and 33% in 2006, 2005 and 2013 respectively. In 2003 and 2006 eating once a week was more popular, in comparison eating once or twice a month was more preferable.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main pattern that weekly and monthly visits were more common than daily visits or never eating fast food, and you include several relevant figures. However, the overview is unclear and does not accurately summarise the key changes: weekly visits were highest in 2006, while monthly visits became the most common category in 2013. Some details are also misreported. For example, the chart gives 4% for eating every day and 4.5% for never in 2003, not 5% for never; and the peak for once a week was 33% in 2006, not 2005. The final comparison is difficult to interpret. A clearer overview and more accurate selection of comparisons would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details, and phrases such as “In contrast” signal an intended comparison. However, the progression between ideas is not consistently clear. The third paragraph groups daily and never eating with several-times-a-week visits as the “less selected categories,” even though the latter reached 20% in 2006. The next paragraph repeats several categories and figures without clearly explaining how they compare. The final sentence is also hard to follow because “In 2003 and 2006” is followed by a comparison that does not specify the relevant figures. Organise the body around clear trends, and use comparisons that explicitly identify the years and categories.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “frequency,” “categories,” “peaked,” and “prevailed,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There are, however, several inaccurate or unnatural choices that reduce precision. “Frequency by which” is not the natural expression here; “frequency with which” would be better. “Went to restaurants to ate food” is awkward, while “more preferable” is redundant and “less selected” is not idiomatic for chart data. Some repetition of “categories” and “people” also limits flexibility. Aim for precise reporting language such as “the proportion,” “was most common,” and “accounted for,” while checking that collocations fit the meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast clause beginning “Although” and a comparison introduced by “In contrast.” However, some errors in sentence structure and agreement make parts of the response difficult to read. For example, “it clearly seen” needs a verb (“it is clearly seen” or, more naturally, “it is clear”), and “people … to ate” uses an incorrect verb form. In “there was many preferences,” the verb does not agree with the plural noun, while “These three represents” also has a subject–verb agreement error. The final sentence contains an unclear comparison and awkward punctuation. Review verb forms, agreement, and sentence boundaries, then proofread complex sentences for clarity.

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