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
Between 1970 and 2000Over the past 30 years, the average family dramatically increasedhas dramatically increased the number of meals they atethat they eat at restaurants each yearat restaurants. The proportion of the average family’s food budgetThe percentage of the family’s food budget spent on restaurant meals rose from 10 percent to 50 percentsteadily climbed. Ten percentJust 10 percent of the food budget was spent on restaurant meals in 1970, and 15 percent in 1980. That percentage more than doubled to 35 percent in 1990more than doubled in 1990, to 35 percent, and then rose to 50 percent in 2000rose again in 2000 to 50 percent. Where families ateeat their restaurant meals also changed between 1970 and 2000also changed during that 30-year period. In 1970, families ate 20 meals per year at both fast-food and sit-down restaurantsthe same number of meals at fast food and sit-down restaurants. In 1980, familiesfam¬ilies ate about five more meals per yearslightly 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 infrom 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.
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.
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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.