Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-07

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 average proportion of three different types of nutrients in a specific meals, while it may be harmful by excessive consumption.

Overall, the maximum percentage of sodium and saturated fat were added in dinner, whereas the breakfast had the minimum percent of added sugar.

In detail, the during the breakfast time the typical meals contain 14 to 16 percent of sodium and saturated fat, respectively, while 16 percentage of added sugar was contain in breakfast meal. However, dinner was the dominat figure of containing sodium that was 43 percent. The saturated fat in dinner was accounted for 37 percent and 23 percent of added sugar.

In the terms of snacks, it contains 42 percent of added sugar which is very harmful, whereas sodium and saturated fat were added at less amount that was below 21 percent. With regards to lunch, it constitued more sodium and saturated fat than snacks, while added sugar in lunch made up 19 percent.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern that dinner accounts for the largest shares of sodium and saturated fat, and you report several relevant figures accurately, including dinner’s 43% sodium and 37% saturated fat. You also note the high proportion of added sugar in snacks. However, the overview is incomplete and partly inaccurate: breakfast is not the minimum for added sugar, since its 16% is lower than lunch’s 19% and dinner’s 23%, but the overview should also highlight that snacks have the highest added sugar share. Some comparisons are vague, such as saying lunch has more sodium and saturated fat than snacks without giving the figures. A clearer overview and more precise comparisons would make the key features more fully reported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and detail paragraphs that move through breakfast, dinner, snacks and lunch. This gives the information an overall arrangement that is easy to follow. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “However,” and “With regards to lunch” help signal shifts between points. At times, though, the progression feels mechanical, and the final paragraph returns to lunch after discussing snacks rather than grouping meal comparisons more systematically. Some references are also unclear, particularly “it contains” and “it constituted more,” where the reader must infer what “it” refers to. Organising the details by nutrient or by meal, and using clearer references, would strengthen the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “average proportion,” “percentage,” “accounted for,” and “made up,” so the topic is generally clear. There are also attempts at more formal wording, such as “dominant figure.” However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural and reduce precision: “a specific meals,” “were added in dinner,” and “the dominant figure of containing sodium” do not express the data naturally. “Very harmful” adds an unsupported judgement rather than describing the chart. Spelling errors such as “constitued” also affect accuracy. Aim for standard reporting collocations such as “accounted for,” “was highest in,” and “the proportion of,” and avoid evaluative language not shown by the data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast with “whereas” and a clause beginning “while,” but control is uneven. Errors in articles and agreement appear in “in a specific meals” and “the breakfast had,” while “16 percentage of added sugar was contain” has problems with number and verb form. The sentence “the during the breakfast time…” also has an unnecessary article and an awkward structure. Some sentences remain understandable, but these errors make several statements less fluent and occasionally obscure the intended comparison. Practise accurate passive forms such as “was contained” only where appropriate, or use the simpler “breakfast contained 16%,” and check articles, singular/plural forms and subject–verb agreement.

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