The charts below show the percentage of their food budget the average 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
Over the past 30 years, the average family has dramatically increased the number of meals that they eat at restaurants. The percentage of the family’s food budget spent on restaurant meals steadily climbed. Just 10 percent of the food budget was spent on restaurant meals in 1970, and 15 percent in 1980. That percentage more than doubled in 1990, to 35 percent, and rose again in 2000 to 50 percent. Where families eat their restaurant meals also changed during that 30-year period. In 1970, families ate the same number of meals at fast food and sit-down restaurants. In 1980, fam¬ilies ate slightly more frequently at sit-down restaurants. However, since 1990, fast food restaurants serve more meals to the families than do the sit-down restaurants. Most of the restaurant meals from 2000 were eaten at fast food restaurants. If this pattern continues, eventually the number of meals that families eat at fast food restaurants could double the number of meals they eat at sit-down restaurants.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use past tense Original: has dramatically increased Suggested revision: dramatically increased Why it matters: The chart describes a completed period from 1970 to 2000, so the simple past is appropriate.
- 2. Keep tense consistent Original: that they eat Suggested revision: they ate Why it matters: The relative clause should use the same past-time frame as the historical data.
- 3. Use past tense Original: eat Suggested revision: ate Why it matters: The sentence refers to changes during the completed 30-year period.
- 4. Remove the stray character Original: fam¬ilies Suggested revision: families Why it matters: The inserted symbol breaks the spelling of “families.”
- 5. Use the time preposition Original: from Suggested revision: in Why it matters: Use “in” with a specific year when describing when the meals were eaten.
- 6. State exact years Original: Over the past 30 years Suggested revision: Between 1970 and 2000 Why it matters: The visual provides exact start and end years, so the time span can be stated directly.
- 7. Include the frequency unit Original: at restaurants Suggested revision: at restaurants each year Why it matters: The line graph reports an annual number of meals rather than an undated total.
- 8. Use a precise subject Original: The percentage of the family’s food budget Suggested revision: The proportion of the average family’s food budget Why it matters: This wording identifies both the measured share and the population represented.
- 9. Quantify the overall rise Original: steadily climbed Suggested revision: rose from 10 percent to 50 percent Why it matters: The endpoints make the fourfold increase in restaurant spending immediately clear.
- 10. Use neutral reporting Original: Just 10 percent Suggested revision: Ten percent Why it matters: Removing the evaluative adverb keeps the data description objective.
- 11. Place the endpoint clearly Original: more than doubled in 1990, to 35 percent Suggested revision: more than doubled to 35 percent in 1990 Why it matters: Putting the new value directly after “doubled” makes the change easier to parse.
- 12. Clarify the sequence Original: rose again in 2000 to 50 percent Suggested revision: then rose to 50 percent in 2000 Why it matters: The revised order presents the final value and year in a smoother chronological sequence.
Suggested Rewrites
- has dramatically increased dramatically increased
- that they eat they ate
- eat ate
- fam¬ilies families
- from in
- Over the past 30 years Between 1970 and 2000
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response accurately reports every restaurant-budget percentage and clearly captures the broad shift towards eating out and fast food. However, the second chart is described mostly without numerical support, the final prediction goes beyond the data, and the single-block presentation weakens organisation. Separate the two visuals into logical paragraphs, add representative meal figures from each series, and finish with observed trends rather than speculation.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The main trends and all budget percentages are accurate, but the meal-frequency graph receives little numerical support and the closing forecast is unsupported.
Include representative figures such as the rise in fast-food meals from 20 to about 85 and omit speculation beyond 2000.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a clear chronological and chart-by-chart sequence, although the entire report is presented as one paragraph.
Use a brief overview followed by separate detail paragraphs for the budget charts and the meal-frequency graph.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a good range of trend and comparison vocabulary, though phrases such as serve more meals to the families are slightly awkward.
Choose more natural data-reporting collocations, for example families ate more fast-food meals than sit-down meals.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Most sentences are accurate and varied, with effective complex comparison structures despite a few tense and preposition slips.
Keep the historical tense consistent, replacing since 1990 restaurants serve with restaurants served, and use in 2000 rather than from 2000.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The charts below show the percentage of their food budget the average 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.