Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-05

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 graph represent the percentage of people in USA who mostly ate fast food from resturent between 2003 and 2013.

Overall, the bar graph represent the highest and lowest average of people who ate fast food from resturents. The highest percentage of people who ate fast food in year 2003 and 2006 is once a week and in year 2013 once or twice a month group is on highest point and in lowest point of these years is group one (every day).

In every day group is lowest than all groups his persentage is less then 5% in all years. Several times a week group is higher than 15% but it is less then 20%. Center of two groups is higher than all groups. The persentage of those group is higher than 25% and less then 35%.

Last two groups the percentage is fall down and in group "A few times a year " is less than 15% and the group (never) is less than 5% it is equal to the first group.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main pattern that weekly eating was most common in 2003 and 2006, while eating once or twice a month became the leading category in 2013. You also note that daily eating and never eating were both uncommon. However, the overview is partly unclear: calling the daily group the lowest in every year overlooks that “Never” is lower in 2006 and 2013. Several comparisons are vague, such as “Center of two groups,” and the response does not report key changes precisely—for example, the monthly category rose to 33% in 2013, while weekly eating fell to 28%. Select the main trends and support them with accurate figures to make the summary more complete and clear.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an opening, an overview, and further comments on the frequency groups, so there is some organisation. The reader can also follow the broad movement from frequent to less frequent eating. However, progression between ideas is limited: the final paragraph lists categories without clearly comparing their changes across the three years, and phrases such as “Center of two groups” make the relationship between categories difficult to follow. Linking expressions such as “By contrast” or “Meanwhile” could clarify comparisons, while grouping the data into meaningful patterns would improve flow. Use clear paragraph roles—introduction, overview, and two comparison paragraphs—and avoid repeating “group” when a category name or pronoun would be clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “percentage,” “highest,” “lowest,” and “less than,” and the category labels help identify the data being discussed. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the meaning unclear. For example, “mostly ate fast food” does not accurately describe frequency, and “the percentage is fall down” is not a natural way to report a decline. There are also repeated spelling errors in “resturent,” “persentage,” and “then” where “than” is intended. Build a more precise set of reporting verbs and comparison phrases, and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple statements and longer sentences, but grammatical control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to understand. For example, “The given bar graph represent” has subject–verb disagreement, while “In every day group is lowest” lacks a clear sentence structure. The sentence beginning “Last two groups the percentage is fall down” also has problems with word order and verb form. Articles and prepositions are often missing or awkward, as in “in year 2003” and “in lowest point.” Practise forming complete comparison sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement, tense, and sentence boundaries before submitting.

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