Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-24

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 illustrates the proportion of sodium, saturated fat, and sugars in daily meals of people lived in the USA.

Overall, in dinner and lunch meals immersively huge amount of sodium, saturated fat, and sugars is used by the residents of the USA, while in morning meals, the amount of sugar and saturated fat is same, and consumption of sodium is lit bit low as compare to other nutrients, however the snacks eaten in the USA have large proportion of sugar, while the amount of sodium was very minimal.

Moreover, the highest amount of sodium, saturated fat, and sugar is used in late night meals.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to summarise the main features of the charts, identifying key components such as dinner having the highest sodium and saturated fat, and snacks containing the most added sugar. However, the response fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 150 words, containing only 106 words. This severely limits the extent to which the visual data can be fully reported and compared. While an overview is attempted, it is underdeveloped and contains inaccuracies, such as stating that 'late night meals' have the highest amount, whereas the charts refer to 'dinner'. Due to the severe under-length issue and limited development of data points, it falls into Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response shows some basic structural organisation, beginning with an introductory sentence and attempting an overview and body details. However, progression is hindered by the lack of proper paragraphing and excessively long, convoluted sentences that try to cram too many contrasting ideas together, such as the second paragraph starting with 'Overall, in dinner and lunch meals...'. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or repetitively ('while', 'moreover', 'however'). Overall, the arrangement is somewhat coherent, but mechanical cohesion and poor paragraph structuring limit the score to Band 5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, with appropriate topic-specific terms such as 'proportion', 'sodium', 'saturated fat', and 'nutrients'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'meals immersively huge amount' and 'lit bit low as compare to other nutrients'. The student attempts some less common phrasing like 'consumption of sodium' and 'large proportion', but inaccuracies in form and collocation prevent it from reaching a higher band. Spelling is generally accurate, but vocabulary range is restricted, placing it firmly at Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text displays a limited range of grammatical structures. The student attempts complex sentences, but they are often grammatically faulty, overly long, and poorly punctuated. Examples of errors include 'people lived in the USA' (reduced relative clause error), 'amount of sugar and saturated fat is same' (missing article), and run-on sentences lacking appropriate clausal division. While simple structures are sometimes accurate, frequent errors in agreement, articles, and prepositions cause occasional difficulty for the reader, matching the Band 5 descriptors.

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

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