Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-20

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 5.0)

The pie charts delineates the mean proportion of sodium, saturated fat and added sugar in traditional foods and their access usage can be unhealthy.

Overall, the amount of sodium dominated in dinner as well as in lunch while the sugar surpassed other two nutrients in its amount taken in snacks. In breakfast the higest intake was of saturated fat and added sugar.

In breakfast the proportion of sodium is 14% that is lowest as compared to saturated fat and added sugar that hovered at 16%. In snacks added sugar's usage is highest at 42% in comparison with sodium and saturated fats.

On the other hand, the mean proportion of sodium is leading in dinner at 43% that is more hihest as compared to saturated fat and added sugar's quantity 37% and 23% respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to summarise the main features of the charts, identifying key data points for sodium, saturated fat, and added sugar across different meal times. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing the dominance of sodium at dinner and added sugar in snacks. However, the response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, stopping short at 133 words. Furthermore, some comparisons lack precision and the detail is slightly fragmented across short, repetitive paragraphs. While the main trends are highlighted, the under-length nature of the response restricts the level of development and completeness expected for a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organised into four brief paragraphs, starting with an introduction, followed by an overview, and then body paragraphs dealing with specific categories. There is a basic logical progression, and transitional phrases such as "Overall," and "On the other hand," are used to structure the text. However, referencing and paragraphing feel somewhat disjointed due to the brevity of the response, and cohesive devices are mechanically applied. There is no clear overall progression of ideas beyond listing individual data points, which limits the coherence of the essay.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like "mean proportion", "dominated", and "surpassed". However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as "access usage" instead of "excessive consumption", "higest" (spelling error), and "more hihest" (ungrammatical comparative form). These errors do not completely impede communication, but they cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a limited ability to handle precise academic vocabulary consistently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses ("that is lowest as compared to...") and comparative forms. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with multiple errors including subject-verb agreement issues ("the charts delineates"), incorrect comparative structures ("more hihest"), and missing prepositions or articles. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent grammatical slips mean that only a minority of sentences are error-free, pulling the score into the lower-middle range.

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

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