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 chart illustrates the proportion of people are tend to ate fast food in arestaurants from 2003 to 2013 in the USA.

Overall, it is clear that Majority of people were keen to went to a restaurants once in a week. while minority of people prefered everyday eating in restaurants throughout the given period.

In 2003, the percentages of people who went to a restaurant Once a week was up to 30%. The figure increase slightly in 2006, before felling to about 27% by 2013.

approximately, 30% and 25% people went to ate fast food Once or twice a month in 2003 and 2006. After that the percentage grew geadually and reached a all time high of 33% roughly.

The percentage of people who went to restaurant several times a week was around 15% in 2003. Then the figure grew to 20% in 2006 before decreased to about 15% in 2013. Alomst less than 5% people went to a restarunt every day. Approximately, 15% people liked to went in a restarunt A few times in a year. Only 5% of individulas never been a restarunt. the percentages decreased over the year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main categories and make a useful attempt to summarise the overall pattern, noting that weekly visits were common and daily visits rare. Several figures and trends are broadly accurate: monthly visits rise to about 33% in 2013, and several-times-weekly visits peak at 20% in 2006. However, the overview is not fully reliable: once-a-week visits were not the highest category throughout, since monthly visits led in 2013. Some details are also inaccurate or unclear, including the 2003 weekly figure (about 31%, not 30%) and the claim that several-times-weekly visits were around 15% in 2003 (the chart shows about 17%). Include a clearer comparison of the leading categories and report the less frequent categories more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the figures. Grouping the main frequency categories gives the reader a basic route through the chart. However, progression is uneven, and the final paragraph combines several-times-weekly, daily, occasional, and never responses without a clear organising principle. Linking words such as “Then,” “before,” and “After that” help show change, but some transitions are awkward or incomplete, as in “before decreased,” and the sentence about people who never visited is followed by a vague reference to “the percentages.” Organise the details into clearer groups—for example, the two most common frequencies and then the less common ones—and use explicit references to make each comparison easy to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “percentages,” “figure,” “grew,” “decreased,” and “reached a…high,” so the reader can generally understand the comparisons you intend. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning difficult to interpret. Examples include “people are tend to ate,” “keen to went,” and repeated forms of “went to ate fast food.” Spelling errors such as “geadually,” “Alomst,” “restarunt,” and “individulas” also reduce clarity. Use neutral reporting language rather than describing people’s preferences, and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise phrases such as “the proportion who ate out” and “visited once or twice a month” would suit this chart.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of sentence forms, including comparisons over time and clauses with “before,” as in “The figure increase slightly in 2006, before felling to about 27% by 2013.” However, grammatical errors are frequent and sometimes make the intended meaning difficult to follow. Verb forms are often incorrect (“are tend to ate,” “prefered to went,” “before decreased”), and there are problems with agreement and articles, as in “the percentages … was” and “a all time high.” Sentence boundaries and capitalisation are also inconsistent, including the lowercase “while” after a full stop. Practise forming accurate past-tense sentences and checking subject–verb agreement, articles, and punctuation before adding more complex clauses.

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