Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-04

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 three pie charts illustrate the average percentages of sodium, saturated fats and added sugars contained in typical meals consumed in the USA.

Overall, dinner accounted for the highest proportions of sodium and saturated fat, while snacks contained the largest proportion of added sugar. By contrast, breakfast had the lowest proportions of sodium, saturated fat and added sugar, while lunch generally accounted for moderate proportions of all three nutrients.

Regarding sodium and saturated fat, dinner accounted for the largest proportions, at 43% and 37%, respectively. Lunch followed, contributing 29% of sodium and 26% of saturated fat, Snacks also represented for 14% of sodium and 21% of saturated fat. By contrast, breakfast had the lowest proportions of sodium and saturated fat, at 14% and 16%, respectively.

Turning to added sugar, snack has the heighest

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response is penalized because the length requirement is not met; the student's text contains only 124 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum (with 9 words copied from the prompt left uncounted). Furthermore, the response is incomplete, abruptly cutting off at the end during the discussion of added sugar ("Turning to added sugar, snack has the heighest..."). While the introduction and overview are adequate, and the details for sodium and saturated fat are generally reported accurately, the incomplete nature of the response means the task is only partially addressed, which prevents a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text has a discernible overall structure with an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for the categories. However, because the response ends abruptly mid-sentence, there is no clear progression or conclusion for the final category. Cohesive devices are used attemptedly, such as "Regarding sodium and saturated fat", "Lunch followed", and "By contrast", but referencing and logical flow are interrupted by the sudden truncation. Paragraphing is initiated properly, but the lack of completion restricts the overall coherence and cohesion to a limited level.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses a minimally adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing statistical data, employing terms such as "proportions", "accounted for", "contributing", and "respectively". However, there is a noticeable spelling error ("heighest" instead of "highest") right before the text cuts off, and the range of vocabulary remains somewhat limited and repetitive. The choice of words is adequate to convey basic information about the charts, but the lack of flexibility and precision keeps the score at this band level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using introductory prepositional phrases and comparative clauses effectively (e.g., "dinner accounted for the highest proportions of sodium and saturated fat, while snacks contained..."). However, there is a collocation error in grammar usage within a fixed pattern ("Snacks also represented for 14%"), where "represented for" is incorrect. Due to the short and incomplete nature of the text, the range of structures remains limited, and frequent potential for errors exists in more complex formulations.

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.