The chart below shows how frequently people in the USA ate at fast-food shops between 2003 and 2013.
Sample Response
The bar chartdiagram outlines the frequency with which Americans ate at fast-food restaurantsfrequency of having fast food meals by Americans at restaurants from 2003 to 2013. Generally speaking, about half of Americansalmost half of the Americans ate fast food at fast-food restaurantsin a bistro either once or several times a weekeither once or more than a few times a week between 2003 and 2013. Overall,It is worth noticing that more Americans chose not to eat junk food as frequently as they did previouslyused to do so in the past. As the diagram suggests, almost one inof twenty Americans ate at fast-food restaurants every dayjunk food daily at a restaurant in 2003 while this rate slightly decreased over the period. Interestingly, aroundInterestingly around the same percentage of US citizens never ate at such restaurants, Deleteas the data suggests. Again, around 17% of Americans ate at fast-food eateries several times a week and this proportionthe ratio of such people increased in 2006 before it dropped to just over 15% in 2013. Many Americans preferred eating fast food once a week and they constituted almost one third. Their ratio, however, fell by a few percentage pointsfell by few percentages over time. A similar percentage of Americans had fast food meals once or twice a monthonce in a month and their ratio went higher. People who rarely dined at a fast-food café accounted for around 15% of the total. The increase in the last two categories suggests that many Americans who more frequently ate at fast food shops had stopped doing so after a decade.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response covers every frequency category and generally tracks the principal movements across the three years, using a useful range of comparative language. Its main limitation is that the overview is vague and some trends are compressed inaccurately, especially the mid-period changes in the two largest categories. The priority is to group the data around the weekly-to-monthly shift and give precise figures for each peak and reversal.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All categories are addressed and a broad shift toward less frequent consumption is identified, but the overview and several trends lack precision.
Highlight that once a week peaked in 2006 while once or twice a month became the largest category in 2013, with accurate figures.
Coherence and Cohesion
The report follows the frequency categories in a discernible order, but the single paragraph and vague references weaken grouping and progression.
Separate the overview from two detail paragraphs and replace references such as the last two categories with explicit category names.
Lexical Resource
There is a useful range of frequency and comparison vocabulary, although bistro, junk food, a few percentages, and ratio went higher are awkward or imprecise.
Prefer neutral chart language such as fast-food outlets, percentage, rose by several percentage points, and increased.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex sentences are generally well controlled and meaning remains clear, with occasional errors in articles, quantifier forms, and time expressions.
Refine forms such as one in twenty, by a few percentage points, and once a month while keeping tense choices consistent.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows how frequently people in the USA ate at fast-food shops between 2003 and 2013.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.