Key features to report

• The two most common habits in all three years were eating fast food once a week and once or twice a month, each accounting for roughly 25% to 33% of people.
• Once a week was the most popular frequency in 2003 (about 31%) and 2006 (about 33%), but it fell to around 28% in 2013, when once or twice a month became the most common answer at about 33%.
• Once or twice a month followed the opposite path: it fell from about 30% in 2003 to 25% in 2006 before rising sharply to about 33% in 2013.
• Several times a week rose from about 17% to 20% between 2003 and 2006, then dropped back to about 16% in 2013.
• The share eating fast food only a few times a year grew from just under 13% in 2003 to 15% in both 2006 and 2013.
• The extremes were small: eating fast food every day fell from about 4% to just under 3%, and the proportion who never ate it slipped from about 5% to 4%.

Model overview

Overall, most Americans ate at fast food restaurants either once a week or once or twice a month throughout the period, while very few ate there every day or never did so. By 2013 there was a slight shift towards less frequent visits, with once or twice a month overtaking once a week as the most common pattern.

Paragraph plan

1. 1

   Introduction

   Paraphrase the task in one sentence: the bar chart illustrates how often people in the USA ate at fast food outlets in 2003, 2006 and 2013.

2. 2

   Overview

   Give the main points without figures: the two middle categories, once a week and once or twice a month, were by far the most common; daily eating and never eating fast food were rare; by 2013 people were visiting slightly less often.

3. 3

   Body paragraph 1: the two main categories

   Compare once a week (about 31%, 33%, then 28%) with once or twice a month (about 30%, 25%, then 33%), pointing out that their positions were reversed by 2013.

4. 4

   Body paragraph 2: the remaining categories

   Describe several times a week (about 17%, 20%, 16%), a few times a year (just under 13% rising to 15%), and the small every day and never groups, which both fell slightly to around 3% and 4%.

Useful comparisons

• Group the two dominant categories, once a week and once or twice a month, and show how they swapped places in 2013.
• Group the less frequent categories, a few times a year and never, to show that infrequent eaters stayed a minority.
• Group the most frequent categories, every day and several times a week, which both peaked or stayed high early and were lower by 2013.
• Point out that 2006 was a high point for weekly and several-times-a-week eating, while 2013 shows a move towards monthly visits.
• Contrast the largest single figures (about 33% for once a week in 2006 and once or twice a month in 2013) with the smallest (just under 3% eating fast food daily).
• Note that the overall changes are modest, with no category moving by more than about eight percentage points.

Band 8+ model answer

208 words · An original model answer written for ieltswrites, not an official answer. It stays in English, as in the exam.

Why this answer scores highly

Task Achievement

The overview identifies the dominance of the two middle categories and the shift towards monthly visits, and each category is supported with accurate, appropriately approximate figures for the three years.

Coherence and Cohesion

The data are grouped by importance, with the two main categories compared first and the smaller ones together, and linking phrases such as by contrast, meanwhile and at the extremes guide the reader.

Lexical Resource

The answer paraphrases the categories (on a weekly basis, a small minority) and uses accurate trend vocabulary such as rebounded, overtook, dipped and edged down.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

A mix of complex sentences, relative clauses and comparative structures is used without error, with consistent past tenses for the three years.

Useful vocabulary

fast food outlets

restaurants that serve quick, cheap food; a synonym for fast food restaurants

frequency

how often something happens

on a weekly basis

once every week

respondents

the people who answered a survey

the most common pattern

the habit followed by the largest share of people

overtake

become higher than another figure

swap places

exchange positions in a ranking

a small minority

a very small part of the whole group

fluctuate

rise and fall irregularly

dip

fall slightly for a short time

rebound

rise again after a fall

marginal decline

a very small fall

just under

slightly below a figure, used for values between gridlines

Common mistakes

• Describing each year separately, which hides the key point that once a week and once or twice a month swapped places.
• Claiming a dramatic change in eating habits, when most categories moved by only a few percentage points.
• Giving overly precise figures such as 32.8% that cannot be read from the gridlines, instead of approximate language like about 33%.
• Confusing the categories, for example treating several times a week and once a week as the same group.
• Leaving out the small every day and never categories entirely, so the answer does not show the full range of the data.
• Drawing conclusions about health or why people changed their habits, which is personal interpretation not shown on the chart.

Frequently asked questions

Which Cambridge book is this question from?

This bar chart about how often people in the USA ate at fast food restaurants between 2003 and 2013 is Writing Task 1 of Test 3 in Cambridge IELTS 12 Academic, published in 2017.

Should I describe the chart by year or by category?

By category works better, because it lets you show how each eating habit changed across the three years and how the two main categories swapped places.

How do I report values that fall between gridlines?

Use approximate language such as about 33%, just under 13% or roughly 4%. The examiner rewards accurate approximation, not invented decimals.

How many words should I write?

Write at least 150 words; about 170 to 200 words is enough to cover the overview and the key comparisons.