Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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

IELTS Writing

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The presented charts explicates overall proportions of particular foods consisting of three certain types of nutrients, whose overeating may leads to health issues.

Overall it can be witnessed that all the meals suffered fluctuations however mostly dinner and snack held the upper spots while breakfast got least figure in all three catagories.

To commence with, sodium was the top priority in dinner foods by a percentage of 43%,however it contained 37% saturated fat and a bit small amount of added sugar read at 23%. Moreover, snack involved 14% of sodium which was least nutrient in this meal, that figure rose to 21% in saturated fat while this particular food used 42% added sugar.

Furthermore, lunch utilized 29% of sodium in it while 26% of saturated fat and added sugar was read at remarkably 42% . Breakfast used all three nutrients in very low amount with 14% of sodium ,16% of saturated fat and same as for added sugar.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the charts regarding sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars in typical US meals. An overview is present, noting that dinner and snacks generally held the highest proportions while breakfast recorded the lowest figures. However, some ideas are under-developed or inaccurately reported. For instance, the student incorrectly states that lunch utilized added sugar at 'remarkably 42%', whereas the data shows breakfast and lunch had lower percentages while snacks reached 42%. Similarly, breakfast sodium is cited as 14% while the text later repeats a conflicting detail or lacks precision for the breakfast added sugar value. Consequently, the task is addressed adequately for the given band, but key comparisons lack complete accuracy.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to group information by meals and nutrients. Paragraphing is utilised to separate the introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'Moreover', and 'Furthermore' are employed to sequence ideas, though referencing and transition management can feel somewhat mechanical or repetitive. While the logical progression allows the reader to follow the main points regarding the charts, clearer referencing between data points would improve the overall flow of the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, demonstrating an attempt to use less common items and synonyms such as 'explicates', 'proportions', and 'categories'. However, there are noticeable lexical and collocation errors, such as 'explicates overall proportions' instead of 'illustrates the overall proportions', and spelling or word-form slips like 'catagories'. Furthermore, data confusion leads to lexical inaccuracies, such as stating lunch had 'remarkably 42%' added sugar. These vocabulary choices and occasional inaccuracies indicate the level described for this band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses, such as 'particular foods consisting of three certain types of nutrients, whose overeating may leads to health issues.' There are, however, several grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('may leads', 'breakfast got least figure'), missing articles ('in dinner foods', 'at least nutrient'), and punctuation errors like missing spaces before commas. These errors persist but rarely impede overall communication, fitting the criteria for this grammar band.

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