Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-12

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The charts below show the average percentages in typical meals of three types of nutrients, all of which may be unhealthy if eaten too much.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Average percentages of sodium, saturated fats and added sugars in typical meals consumed in the USA

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The 3 pie charts represent the mean ratio of nutrients included sodium, saturated fat and added sugar during 4 times meals which are breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. These nutrients are harmful for our body if eaten too much.

Overall, in USA, most of the food contain salt, sugar and fat and people eat these from morning to night. It is obserevd from the data that salt and fat are used highly at dinner table whereas sugar is used for snaks preparation.

Sodium is mostly consumed for dinner which is 43% and 29% in lunch and 14% for snack and 14% for breakfast. Saturated fat is eaten mostly at dinner which is 37% whereas 26%, 21% and 16% are used for lunch, snack and breakfast respectively. Moreover, added sugar is utilized during cooking snack while 23%, 19% and 16% are used for dinner, lunch and breakfast correspondingly.

Salt and fat are used at lower amount for snack, breakfast and lunch preparations. On the contrary, added sugar is used mostly for snacks and a lower amount of it utilized for dinner, lunch and breakfast.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern accurately: sodium and saturated fat peak at dinner (43% and 37%), while added sugar is highest in snacks (42%). The response also reports the meal-by-meal figures correctly, giving the reader a useful account of the data. However, the overview is partly unclear: “most of the food contain salt, sugar and fat” is a broad statement that does not describe the chart’s key comparisons. The final paragraph repeats the same contrast rather than adding a distinct feature, and the claim that nutrients are “used” in meal preparation is not quite what the chart measures; it shows their average percentages in meals. A sharper overview comparing the dinner peaks with the snack sugar peak would make the main features more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details about each nutrient, and then a concluding comparison. This makes the information generally accessible. However, progression is weakened by repetition: the final paragraph restates that salt and fat are lower in snacks and that sugar is highest in snacks, points already covered in the overview and data paragraphs. Some linking is mechanical, particularly “Moreover” and “On the contrary,” where the relationship between ideas could be expressed more precisely. The sequence of figures is understandable, but the repeated lists make the report feel less organised than it could. Grouping the dinner figures together, then contrasting them with the snack figures, would create a clearer line of comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “mean ratio,” “Saturated fat,” “consumed,” and “utilized,” and the nutrient categories are clear. However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for describing a chart. “Nutrients included sodium” is awkward, while “used for snack preparation” and “utilized during cooking snack” suggest ingredients being used in cooking rather than percentages present in meals. “Salt” also replaces “sodium,” which is less precise, and “snaks” and “obserevd” are spelling errors. Repeated use of “used” and “mostly” limits variety. Prefer precise reporting verbs such as “accounted for” or “represented,” and use “snacks” consistently. These improvements would make the vocabulary more natural and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, and most of the numerical information remains understandable. Some grammatical errors are present, however. In the opening, “The 3 pie charts represent the mean ratio of nutrients included sodium” needs a clearer structure, such as “show the average proportions of three nutrients.” The phrase “during 4 times meals” is also incorrectly formed. In the overview, “most of the food contain” has a subject–verb agreement error, and “a lower amount of it utilized” is missing a verb. There are also awkward sentence patterns in the lists of percentages, which would be clearer with parallel phrasing. Check agreement, articles, and complete verb phrases, while retaining the range of sentence structures you are attempting.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.