The charts below show the percentage of 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
The graphs below show the relationship between the distribution of the average family’s budget for food and the number of dishes eaten in restaurants of various types during the period 1970-2000.
The pie charts show thatAs you can see from the pie chart, the proportion of a family’s food budget spent on restaurant mealsa family’s restaurant food budget was very small, only 10 per cent in 1970. But by 2000, this proportionrate had increased fivefoldincreased by five times and amounted to 50 per cent.
Thus, the family’s budget was split equally between restaurant meals and home cookingsplit equally between restaurant food and home-cooked food (in 2000). Across the three decadesOver various decades, increases in the restaurant-meal sharebudget growth has ranged from 5 per cent to 20 per cent.
The line graph showed that people preferred fast-food restaurants. Thus, from 1980 to 2000, the number of fast-food meals increased sharplythis indicator increased sharply from about 30 to about 85 meals per yearfrom 28 per cent to 90 per centDelete, which showed an increase in this indicator by almost three times. During the same period, the number of sit-down meals increased from about 35 to 50 per yearthis figure increased by only 18 per cent in sit-down restaurants.
Overall,Thus, it can be concluded that in 2000 the proportion of the family food budget spent on restaurant mealsthe family budget for restaurant food was 50 per cent and fast-food meals were more common than sit-down mealspeople preferred to dine in fast-food restaurants.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response is organised clearly and identifies the long-term rise in restaurant spending and the eventual dominance of fast food meals. However, it reports meal frequencies as percentages, gives inaccurate values, and omits important intermediate figures and the crossover between restaurant types. The highest priority is to distinguish each chart's units and support the overview with accurate comparisons across all four years.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The main long-term patterns are identified, but key data are omitted and the line graph's meal counts are repeatedly misreported as percentages.
Report meals per year accurately for both restaurant types at each key point, including the 1990 crossover and the different rates of increase.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response has a clear paragraph structure and generally logical progression, although repeated use of Thus makes the linking somewhat mechanical.
Use an explicit overview paragraph and organise the details by chart, with comparisons linked through varied and precise cohesive devices.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for the task, but words such as dishes, rate, and indicator are imprecise for the charted measures.
Use exact terms such as share of the food budget, meals per year, fast-food meals, and sit-down meals.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex sentences communicates meaning clearly, despite tense inconsistency and awkward comparative expressions.
Maintain consistent past tense and replace forms such as increased by five times with rose fivefold or increased to five times its original level.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The charts below show the percentage of 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.