The charts below show the percentage of food budget the average Australian family spent on restaurant meals in different years. The graph shows the number of meals eaten in fast food restaurants and sit-down restaurants.
Sample Response
The pie chart and line graphs reveal that average Australian families during 1980 to 2010 took more interests in restaurant meals and fast food meals became quite popular among them. Analysing the data presented in the pie charts reveals that an average Australian family spent only 15% of their food budget on outside food while the remaining 85% was spent on preparing food at home. Over the period, Australians started spending more on restaurant meals and started spending half of their budget on outside food just in 20 years. In 2010, they spend 60% of their food budget on bistro foods and that was a quadruple increase just in 30 years. Based on the line graph, Australians ate 20 meals both in a fast food shop and in a sit-down restaurant in 1970 and this number gradually increased in the next 20 years when the fast food became more popular in terms of the number of meals eaten by an average Australian in a year. The gap between the fast food and restaurant meal eating increased dramatically and in 2010 more than 110 meals were eaten in a fast food shop while this number was just above 60 in the case of sit-down restaurants.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Match chart types Original: pie chart and line graphs Suggested revision: pie charts and line graph Why it matters: The visual contains four pie charts and one line graph.
- 2. Use singular subject Original: average Australian families Suggested revision: the average Australian family Why it matters: The task describes a representative average family, so the singular form is appropriate.
- 3. Correct time phrase Original: during Suggested revision: from Why it matters: Use “from ... to ...” to express this time range.
- 4. Use natural collocation Original: took more interests in Suggested revision: showed increasing interest in Why it matters: “Take more interests in” is not a natural collocation in this context.
- 5. Use task terminology Original: on outside food while Suggested revision: on restaurant meals while Why it matters: “Restaurant meals” is the precise category shown in the pie charts.
- 6. Use past tense Original: spend Suggested revision: spent Why it matters: A past-tense verb is required for the completed 2010 figure.
- 7. Name category accurately Original: bistro foods Suggested revision: restaurant meals Why it matters: The chart reports all restaurant meals rather than a narrower bistro category.
- 8. State change precisely Original: that was a quadruple increase Suggested revision: that was four times the 1980 share Why it matters: Sixty percent is four times 15%, while the increase itself is three times the starting value.
- 9. Use neutral reporting Original: reveal Suggested revision: show Why it matters: “Show” is the more neutral verb for describing chart data.
- 10. Use measurable wording Original: fast food meals became quite popular among them Suggested revision: fast-food meals became increasingly common Why it matters: This wording describes the rising frequency without making a vague claim about popularity.
- 11. Use direct reporting Original: Analysing the data presented in the pie charts reveals that Suggested revision: The pie charts show that Why it matters: A direct reporting clause is clearer and avoids an unnecessarily heavy opening.
- 12. Use definite reference Original: an Suggested revision: the Why it matters: Use the definite article because this is the representative family defined by the task.
Suggested Rewrites
- pie chart and line graphs pie charts and line graph
- average Australian families the average Australian family
- during from
- took more interests in showed increasing interest in
- on outside food while on restaurant meals while
- spend spent
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response clearly identifies the shift toward restaurant meals and the faster growth of fast-food dining, and it supports these trends with accurate endpoint figures. Its main limitation is selective and sometimes imprecise coverage, including “bistro foods” and little attention to the intermediate crossover; prioritize comparing the 1980–2000 values and naming the categories exactly as shown.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The main trends and several key values are accurately selected, but intermediate comparisons and the crossover between restaurant types receive limited attention.
Compare the 1980, 1990, and 2000 figures to show when fast-food meals overtook sit-down meals.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas follow a clear chart-by-chart sequence with effective linking, but the single-paragraph presentation limits structural clarity.
Separate the overview, food-budget data, and meal-frequency data into distinct paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
There is a sufficient range of reporting vocabulary, though several phrases such as “took more interests” and “bistro foods” are unnatural or inaccurate.
Use exact category labels and natural collocations such as “showed greater interest” and “restaurant meals.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are used with generally clear meaning, but tense, article, and agreement errors appear in several places.
Maintain past tense throughout and check articles in phrases such as “fast food became more popular.”
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The charts below show the percentage of food budget the average Australian family spent on restaurant meals in different years. The graph shows the number of meals eaten in fast food restaurants and sit-down restaurants.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.