Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-27
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)
Those bar charts compares the percentage of three different type of nutrients, sodium, saturated fat and added sugar that we can used in meals in USA, which may be harmful for our health if eaten overdose.
Overall, all of three nutrients are used less in breakfast while dinner have largest potion of those nutrients except added sugar, Added sugar had big potion in snacks.
Sodium has used just 14% in breakfast and snacks while lunch contain 29% of whole sugar. The dinner has 43% sodium. Saturated fat use 16% and 21% in breakfast and snacks respectively, while luck contain almost one forth of saturated fat. dinner has largest quantity which is 37%.
Added sugar use in breakfast just 16% while in lunch it has 19% . in dinner it has 23 % used. the major quantity of added sugar is use for making snacks which is 42% .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response makes a clear attempt to summarise the data, correctly identifying the main features such as dinner having the highest percentages of sodium and saturated fats, and snacks leading in added sugars. However, there are some minor data inaccuracies; for instance, the student refers to 'whole sugar' when discussing lunch sodium, and makes minor slips regarding exact percentages. Crucially, the length requirement of 150 words is not met, as the response falls slightly short at 148 words. This minor penalty prevents the task achievement score from reaching a higher band. Nevertheless, the main trends are adequately covered.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The essay is organised into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs discussing specific nutrients. However, the logical progression is occasionally disrupted by poor transitions and repetitive sentence structures, such as starting multiple sentences in the same way. Paragraphing is attempted, but cohesion is sometimes mechanical and repetitive ('while', 'and'). Pronoun referencing is also occasionally confusing, such as mixing up references to nutrients and meals.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, with frequent word choice and collocation errors, such as 'eaten overdose' instead of 'consumed in excess', 'bar charts' instead of 'charts' or 'pie charts', and 'luck' instead of 'lunch'. Less common lexical items are attempted but used inaccurately. Spelling mistakes like 'potion' instead of 'portion' and grammatical word-form errors restrict the lexical score to a band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The text displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and awkward complex attempts. There are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('Those bar charts compares', 'Sodium has used', 'dinner have') and missing prepositions. These errors require some effort from the reader to decode, though communication is generally maintained.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.