Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-22

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 given pie charts compare the percentage of three distinct type of nutrients such as sodium, saturated fats and added sugars in typical meals like- breakfast, luch, dinner and snacks in the USA.

Overall, the maximum share of sodium and saturated fat was in dinner meal, while in breakfast meal there were slightly similar nurtrients found in snack meal. The majority of sugar was added in the snack meal as compared to other three meals.

In the USA, the proportion of saturated fat and added sugar in breakfast meals was same 16%, in contrast sodium found 2% less than both previous in breakfast. Sodium nutrient accounted for 43% in dinner, whereas in dinner meal saturated fat was about 37%, in the dinner meals sugar quantity was 23%.

Added sugar consuption in the lunch meal accounted for 19%, while around 29% sodium was and about 26% of saturated fat consumed in lunch meal in the USA.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the three nutrients across the four meal types in the USA. The student successfully identifies the highest and lowest points, such as dinner accounting for the maximum share of sodium (43%) and saturated fat (37%), and snacks containing the majority of added sugars (42%). Data comparisons are made between meals, fulfilling the requirements for an academic task 1 report. However, there are minor inaccuracies in reporting the breakfast data, where the student claims sodium was 2% less than saturated fat and added sugar (both 16%), whereas the actual figure for sodium in breakfast is 14%. Despite this slight miscalculation, the overall selection of information is adequate and forms a clear summary.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The report has a coherent overall arrangement with an introductory paragraph, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for detailed comparisons. Information is generally organized logically, starting with an overview of the key trends and moving into specific meal breakdowns. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or repetitive, particularly with transitions like 'in the USA', 'in dinner meal', and 'consumed in lunch meal'. Paragraphing is used, but the progression between sentences could be smoother. Referencing is mostly clear, though some phrasing feels disjointed, such as 'whereas in dinner meal saturated fat was about 37%'. Overall, it demonstrates an adequate control of cohesion despite some awkward formatting.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to data reporting such as 'proportion', 'share', 'accounted for', and 'consumption' (spelled 'consuption'). There are several lexical and spelling errors throughout the text, including 'distinct type of nutrients' instead of 'types', 'luch' instead of 'lunch', and 'nurtrients' instead of 'nutrients'. Attempts at less common vocabulary sometimes lead to awkward phrasing, such as 'slightly similar nurtrients found in snack meal'. While these errors do not impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to a solid Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and comparative structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward syntactical constructions, such as 'the maximum share of sodium and saturated fat was in dinner meal, while in breakfast meal there were slightly similar nurtrients found in snack meal', which lacks parallelism and precision. Other errors include missing articles ('in breakfast meal'), incorrect prepositions, and comparative phrasing like 'sodium found 2% less than both previous in breakfast'. Despite these frequent errors, the meaning remains mostly clear to the reader, aligning with the Band 5 descriptors for grammar.

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

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