Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-01

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 6.0)

The provided circular representations demonstrates the sodium, saturated fat and sugar intake of Americans through their typicals meals of a day.

To begin with. Sodium was the major component of their dinner with 43%, followed by saturated fat at 37%. However, Americans intake 23% of added sugar from this meal. Furthermore, while their breakfast consists of 16% of saturated fat as well as sugar, the amount of sodium is only 14%.

Moving ahead, the consumption of sodium, sugar and saturated fat is 29%, 19% and 26% through their lunch, respectively. At last, snacks contain the highest proportion of added sugar, accounting for 42%. One-fifth of their snacks had saturated fat meanwhile, the sodium intake is noted to be 14% only.

In general, Americans' dinner highly consists of sodium and saturated fat having lower amounts of other nutrients. Interestingly, sugar which is mainly contained by their snacks, had relatively lower proportions in other meals.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all parts of the task by identifying the main features of the three nutrients across four meal types. You have successfully selected key data points, such as the high sodium content in dinner and the sugar content in snacks. However, the report could be improved by providing a more analytical overview. While you mention the percentages, the comparison between the nutrients is sometimes mechanical. To reach a higher band, ensure that the 'main features' are clearly highlighted in the overview, rather than just listing data. The summary is accurate, but it lacks a cohesive synthesis of the trends across the different meals.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized into paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding overview. You use some cohesive devices like 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'Moving ahead' to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly forced or mechanical. For instance, 'At last' is not the most natural way to introduce the final category in a report. Additionally, the referencing could be smoother; ensure that pronouns or linking phrases clearly connect back to the specific nutrients or meals mentioned previously to improve the flow between sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'circular representations', 'proportion', and 'accounting for'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, 'typical meals of a day' should be 'typical daily meals', and 'dinner highly consists of' is not standard usage; 'dinner is primarily composed of' would be more precise. There is also a minor error in 'Americans intake', where 'intake' is used as a verb instead of the noun form or the verb 'consume'. Expanding your range of reporting verbs would enhance the quality of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors. For example, 'The provided circular representations demonstrates' has a subject-verb agreement error (representations/demonstrates). Additionally, 'sugar which is mainly contained by their snacks, had relatively lower proportions' contains a tense inconsistency and awkward passive construction. Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some issues with sentence fragments, such as 'To begin with.' which should be followed by a comma rather than a period. Increasing the variety of error-free complex sentences will help improve this score.

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

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