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 three pie charts illustrate the proportions of sodium, saturated fat and added sugar contained in four types of meals typically consumed in the USA.

Overall, dinner accounted for the largest proportions of sodium and saturated fat, whereas snacks contributed the highest proportion of added sugar.

Looking first at the two nutrients, sodium and saturated fat, dinner hold the most percentage of this nutrients upto 42 percent. Whereas sodium is 29 percent and fat accounts for 26 percent during lunch. Breakfast and snack contained similar amount of sodium that is 14 percent, however in saturated fat, snack and breakfast had 21 and 16 percent respectively.

Added sugar had the highest proportion in snack accounting for 42 percent, while breakfast contained least amount resulting in just 16 percent. Moreover, lunch and dinner had 19 percent and 23 percent of added sugar respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the charts, identifying key trends such as dinner being the highest for sodium and saturated fat, and snacks for added sugar. However, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum requirement, which negatively impacts the score. While the overview is clear, the data reporting is slightly repetitive and lacks a more sophisticated synthesis of the information. To improve, ensure all data points are accurately described and the response meets the minimum length requirement to allow for a more comprehensive analysis of the provided data.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Looking first at', and 'Moreover' are used to guide the reader. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and the referencing is sometimes imprecise, such as in the phrase 'this nutrients'. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the transition between the discussion of sodium/fat and added sugar could be smoother to enhance the overall coherence of the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, using terms like 'proportions', 'contributed', and 'accounted for'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'dinner hold the most percentage' (should be 'holds the highest percentage') and 'contained least amount' (missing an article). The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive. To reach a higher band, you should aim for more varied and precise terminology to describe statistical trends and avoid basic grammatical errors in word usage.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('dinner hold', 'Breakfast and snack contained'), missing articles ('the least amount'), and pluralization errors ('this nutrients'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to affect the clarity of the report. Increasing the variety of complex structures while ensuring accuracy in basic grammar would significantly improve the score.

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

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