Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The pie chart compares the average consumption percentage of three types of nutrients - sodium, saturated fats and added sugars in meals generally taken in the USA.

It is clearly visible that sodium and saturated fat are consumed the most during dinner among the four meal times. Whereas, added sugar, sodium and saturated fat are taken the least during breakfast.

Sodium is consumed at 43% and saturated fat is consumed at 37% during dinner which accounts for the largest portion of the pie chart. Snack and breakfast accounts for equal amount to 14% of the nutrient sodium. Lunch is taken moderately to 29% of sodium and 26% of saturated fat. Moreover, snack takes 21% and breakfast takes slightly lower at 16% of saturated fat.

Added sugar taking the largest portion at 42% during snacktime.Furthermore, dinner makes up at 23%. Although, lunch amounts to lesser portion at 19%. At last, breakfast takes up the minority portion of only 16%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all parts of the prompt by presenting an overview and reporting key data for all three nutrients across the four meal times. The opening overview correctly identifies broad patterns, such as the high consumption of sodium and saturated fat during dinner. However, some aspects of the task are handled more fully than others, leading to an uneven level of detail. While the figures for dinner and sodium are clearly highlighted, the body paragraphs tend to list individual data points mechanically rather than fully extending the comparisons. For instance, stating that "snack and breakfast accounts for equal amount to 14%" is relevant, but the overall relationship between the meal categories could have been synthesized more thoroughly. To reach a higher level, the response needs to integrate more fully developed comparisons that highlight the broader significance of the data rather than simply enumerating isolated percentages.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression of ideas from an introduction to an overview and subsequent body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different meal types and nutrients. However, cohesion at the sentence level is sometimes mechanical or faulty. Transitions such as "Whereas" and "Furthermore" are used, but their grammatical integration is awkward, as seen in "Whereas, added sugar, sodium and saturated fat are taken the least during breakfast," which functions as a sentence fragment rather than a contrasting clause. Additionally, referencing and linking between sentences can feel disjointed, particularly in the final paragraph where clauses like "Added sugar taking the largest portion" lack proper finite verb structures. Improving the fluidity of cohesive devices and ensuring clear logical links between sentences will elevate the organizational quality.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to data reporting such as "proportion," "consumption percentage," and specific nutrient names. There are clear attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are sometimes marred by word choice, word form, and collocation inaccuracies, such as "Added sugar taking the largest portion" instead of a properly framed clause, or "breakfast takes slightly lower" instead of a lower percentage. Spelling is generally accurate, but awkward phrasing like "Lunch is taken moderately to 29%" impedes natural expression. To achieve a higher band, the vocabulary must demonstrate greater precision, more natural phrasing, and fewer instances of awkward word forms when attempting complex descriptive structures.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like participial phrases and comparative clauses. However, there are notable grammatical errors, particularly concerning sentence boundaries, verb forms, and subject-verb agreement. For example, "Snack and breakfast accounts for" contains a plural subject paired with a singular verb form. In addition, sentence fragments such as "Added sugar taking the largest portion at 42% during snacktime. Furthermore, dinner makes up at 23%" show a lack of control over complex clause structures, with missing auxiliary verbs and incorrect prepositions. Punctuation errors also occur, such as misplaced commas separating dependent elements. While these errors rarely impede overall communication, their frequency prevents the writing from achieving a higher level of grammatical control.

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