Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-03

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 charts below illustrates the average portions of 3 distinct nutrients in daily consumed meals in USA if taken in large amount can be very adverse to health.

Overall, the three nutrients sodium, saturated fats and added sugar are all presented in daily consumption in readily amount in all four major food times such as breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. Each nutrient having its dominance in a particular meal consumed in the USA.

Breakfast having almost the same amount of all three nutrients, sodium at 14%, saturated fats at 16% and added sugar at 16% making it least nutritious the meal of the day.Where as on the other hand dinner is reported as the time having all three nutrients present in the most amount, sodium at 43%, saturated fats at 37% and added sugar at 23% making it the most unhealthy meal presented.

Lunch to the most balanced meal of the day as it has almost equal proportions of all three elements, where sodium is at 29%, saturated fat is at 26% and added sugar at 19% almost identical to each other. However snacks has the most of amount of added sugar in them standing at 42%, while saturated fats and sodium percentages are 21% and 14% repectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting an overview of the data and reporting the main features of sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars across breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in the USA. Key data points are accurately highlighted, such as dinner having the highest levels of sodium at 43% and saturated fats at 37%, while snacks peak in added sugar at 42%. However, some parts of the task are developed more fully than others; for instance, the description of breakfast contains slight inaccuracies in interpretation, as calling it 'least nutritious' misreads the chart, which only measures unhealthy nutrient percentages. To reach a higher band, the student should ensure all selected data points are interpreted strictly in line with the prompt without introducing subjective or inaccurate conclusions about overall nutrition.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to group information logically by meals and nutrients, and it uses paragraphing appropriately to separate different parts of the analysis. However, cohesion is occasionally mechanical or faulty. For example, transitional phrases like 'Where as on the other hand' are clumsy, and referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the dangling clause 'Breakfast having almost the same amount' which lacks a proper finite verb structure. Additionally, the progression between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother. To achieve a higher level of cohesion, the writer should employ a wider and more natural variety of cohesive devices and ensure that each paragraph flows logically from a clear topic sentence to supporting data.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying basic comparisons and numerical data with words like 'proportions', 'dominance', and 'percentages'. The student attempts less common vocabulary, such as 'adverse', 'nutritious', and 'repectively', but these attempts are accompanied by inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and spelling (e.g., 'repectively' instead of 'respectively', 'readily amount' instead of 'ready amounts'). Furthermore, phrasing such as 'most of amount' demonstrates a limited control over lexical collocations. To improve, the writer needs to expand their range of precise academic vocabulary and pay closer attention to word forms and standard spellings to ensure communication is entirely smooth and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, attempting structures like relative clauses and contrastive connectors. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, containing several noticeable errors. There are issues with sentence fragments and missing main verbs, such as in 'Breakfast having almost the same amount...' and 'Lunch to the most balanced meal...', where copula verbs or proper clausal structures are omitted. Other errors include missing articles ('to the most balanced meal') and slight prepositional awkwardness. These errors do not seriously impede overall communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent the writing from achieving a higher band. To improve, the writer should focus on constructing complete sentences with accurate subject-verb agreement and proper tense or participle usage.

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

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