Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-02
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 charts illustrate the avergae percentages in typical meals of tree types of nutrients, which all may be unhealthy if eaten too much.
Overall, In sodium the dinner is the largest proportion and the breakfast and snack are of equall proportion which are lesser Meanwhile in added sugar snack holds the biggest proportion and lunch is the smallest.
In the comsumption of sodium, dinner is 43% which covers almost half of the chart. Breakfast and snack comsumption is 14% and lunch consumed 29%.
In the consumtion of saturated fat, dinner holds 37% of the chart and snack covers 21%. Breakfast is the lowest consumtion and in lunch the consumtion of saturated fat is 26%.
In the consumption added sugars, the snack covers approximately halt of the chart which is 42%. dinner covers 23% and breakfast covers 16% of the consumtion. lunch is holds the proportion of 19% of the consumtion.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting data for all three nutrients across the four meal categories, thus providing an overview of the visual information. Key features are selected, such as noting that sodium peaks at dinner with 43% and that added sugar is highest during snacks at 42%. However, some parts are unevenly developed or contain slight inaccuracies in reporting, such as stating that the snack covers 'approximately halt of the chart' for added sugars when the figure is 42%, or misidentifying breakfast as the lowest consumption for saturated fat when it stands at 16%. The overview attempts to group general trends, but the lack of precise integration keeps the response at this level. To move further, the student should ensure all main trends are fully developed without minor reporting discrepancies.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The text presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the information by grouping paragraphs around individual nutrients. There is an introductory statement, an overall summary paragraph, and separate body paragraphs for each nutrient. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is occasionally faulty, such as the awkward transition 'Overall, In sodium the dinner is...' and repetitive sentence openings like 'In the consumption of...'. Paragraphing is present, but logical progression between ideas lacks smoothness. To improve cohesion, the student should use a wider variety of cohesive devices and transitional phrases more naturally to connect sentences and paragraphs without repetitive structures.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying basic numerical data and nutrient categories. However, there is a limited range with noticeable spelling errors and inappropriate word choices, such as 'avergae', 'tree' instead of 'three', 'equall', 'comsumption', and 'halt' instead of 'half'. The student attempts less common vocabulary, but these spelling and word-choice mistakes occasionally distract the reader, although they do not completely impede communication. To reach a higher band, the student must expand the lexical repertoire, improve spelling accuracy, and use more precise academic phrasing when describing statistical data.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses in 'nutrients, which all may be unhealthy if eaten too much.' There are several grammatical errors in article use, prepositions, and agreement, including 'In sodium the dinner is', 'Breakfast and snack comsumption is', and 'lunch is holds the proportion'. Punctuation is also erratic in places, such as missing capitalization at the beginning of sentences like 'Meanwhile in added sugar...'. These errors occur regularly but rarely impede overall communication. To achieve a higher score, the student needs to exercise greater control over sentence structures, subject-verb agreement, and articles.
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