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 bar chart illustrates how frequently individual in the USA ate in fast food restaurants from 2003 to 2013.

Overall, the frequency of eating fast food has higher proportion of people in once a week and once or twice a month, while lower at every day and never.

The frequency of eating fast food restaurants amoung people in the USA are highest in 2006 in once a week at 33%, 2003 at 31% and 2013 at 23%, however in once or twice a month the higher proportion are in the 2013 at 33%,in 2006 25% and at 2003 shows 30%. In addition, in the several times a week 2006 are higher at 25%, 2003 at 17% and in 2013 at 15%.

In a few times a year 2006 and 2013 are the same at 15% and 2003 are at 13%, however in every day and never have accounted lowest percentage of people like in every day 2003 are at 4%, 2006 and 2013 are the same at 3%. In addtion, never 2003 are at 5% and 2006 and 2013 are the same at 4%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main categories and provide an overview that identifies weekly and monthly eating as the most common patterns, with daily eating and never eating among the least common. Several comparisons are relevant, including the monthly peak in 2013 and the weekly peak in 2006. However, one key figure is inaccurate: once a week in 2013 is about 28%, not 23%. The overview could also state the main change more clearly: weekly eating declined overall, while eating once or twice a month became the leading frequency by 2013. Some lower-frequency details are reported, but the response would be stronger with more precise, clearly selected comparisons across the years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs comparing the more and less frequent categories. This makes the information reasonably easy to follow. You also use linking expressions such as “Overall,” “In addition,” and “however” to connect points. At times, though, these links feel mechanical or do not clearly show the relationship between the figures. The long third paragraph combines several categories in one sentence, making comparisons harder to track; for example, the weekly and monthly figures are crowded together. Use shorter comparison-focused sentences and group each category consistently by year. Clearer references and less repeated phrasing would improve progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “proportion,” “percentage,” “frequency,” and “accounted,” and the reader can generally understand the comparisons you intend. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “frequency of eating fast food restaurants,” “higher proportion are,” and “in a few times a year.” There are also spelling errors, including “amoung” and “addtion.” These issues make the language less precise and natural, although they do not prevent the main message from being understood. Aim to use standard reporting phrases such as “the proportion of people who ate fast food” and “the figure for,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons joined with “while” and “however.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but some grammatical errors recur. Subject–verb agreement is a particular issue: “individual … ate” should be “individuals … ate,” and “the higher proportion are” should be “the higher proportion was.” There are also problems with articles and sentence construction, as in “the 2013 at 33%,” and punctuation is missing after “33%” in one comparison. Several sentences join many figures without clear grammatical structure. Build accuracy by using complete, parallel patterns such as “In 2003, the figure was …, compared with … in 2006.”

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