Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-18
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 pie chart bellow illustrates the average percentage in typical meals of three different type of nuturients and all these nutrients may be unhealthy if eated to much.
Overall, the lowest consumption of sodium, saturated fat and added sugar is in breakfast. While the highest consumption of sodium and saturated fat is in dinner and added sugar is in snack.
To start with sodium, 14% of sodium areadded in snack and around 14% are in breakfast. In lunch there are almost 29% sodium and the last one is dinner which used the highest ratio of dinner around 43%. The next one is saturated fat, There are around 21% saturated fat added in snack, 16% in breakfast and 26% in lunch and again the highest are in dinner which is 37%. The last one is Added sugar, the highest ration of Added sugar are in snack and around 16% are in breakfast which is very low. In lunch there are around 19% Added sugar and in the last 23% are added in dinner.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons across the three nutrients. The student provides a clear overview noting the lowest and highest consumption points, and accurately incorporates the key data points from the visual reference, such as dinner being the highest for sodium (43%) and saturated fat (37%), while snacks peak for added sugar (42%). While the organisation of body paragraphs is somewhat formulaic, the content fully satisfies the requirements of an Academic Task 1 response, supporting all claims with accurate figures from the chart.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall progression. An introductory paragraph is followed by an overview statement and detailed body sentences. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped, as the entire body of data is crammed into a single block of text rather than being neatly separated into logical paragraphs (such as one for sodium and saturated fat, and another for added sugar). Cohesive devices are used, but transitions like 'To start with', 'The next one', and 'The last one' feel repetitive and mechanical, lowering the overall fluency of the text.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing terms such as 'consumption', 'percentage', 'ratio', and 'average'. However, there are notable spelling and word-choice errors, including 'bellow' instead of 'below', 'nuturients' instead of 'nutrients', 'eated' instead of 'eaten', and 'to much' instead of 'too much'. These lexical errors do not severely impede communication because the context remains clear, but they prevent the score from reaching a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as concessive clauses using 'While'. However, control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as '14% of sodium are added' (subject-verb agreement error and spacing error in 'areadded'), 'which used the highest ratio of dinner around 43%' (awkward phrasing and misused prepositional structure), and missing commas in compound statements. Despite these frequent errors, the meaning remains comprehensible throughout the response.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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