Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-09
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 provided bar charts demonstrate an average proportion of multiple types of nutrients meals such as Sodium, Saturated fat and Added sugar, amoung all the which may be not healthy if consume too much in the USA.
Overall, from the bar charts it can be observed that, dinner is a dominant meal of conatain Sodium and Saturated fat in the highest amount while, breakfast is a less contain of Sodium and Saturated fat.
To start with, snack and breakfast contain almost similar percentage of Sodium in meals around 14%, dinner contain a significant percentage of Sodium around 43%, following lunch contain 29% of Sodium in meals. In addition, dinner contain the highest proportion of Saturated fat, which is 37% and lunch contain 26% of Saturated fat. Additionally, snack and breakfast contain 21% and 16% of Saturated fat respectively.
Furthermore, in added sugar meal snack contain the highest portion of the pie chart and remain three meals contribute very less percentage 16% of breakfast, 19% of lunch and 23% of dinner.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
You identify the main pattern that dinner contributes the largest shares of sodium and saturated fat, and you report several accurate figures, including sodium at 43% for dinner and 29% for lunch. You also correctly note that snacks account for the greatest share of added sugar. This gives the response a relevant overview and covers all three nutrients. However, some comparisons are incomplete: the added-sugar figure for snacks (42%) is not stated, and the overview does not highlight that breakfast and lunch are the lowest contributors to added sugar. The phrase “remain three meals contribute very less percentage” also leaves the comparison unclear. Include the key figure and make the contrasts between meals more explicit to develop the summary more fully.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs reporting details. The progression from sodium and saturated fat to added sugar is easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “To start with” and “Furthermore” help signal the sequence. Some connections are less smooth, however. The overview focuses on two nutrients, while the final paragraph introduces the third without a clear transition in the comparison. Phrases such as “In addition” and “Additionally” are also used repeatedly to add similar points, making cohesion somewhat mechanical. Improve the flow by grouping related comparisons more deliberately and using clearer references, for example, “For added sugar, the pattern differs.”
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use relevant task vocabulary, including “proportion,” “percentage,” “highest,” and “dominant,” and the reader can generally understand which nutrient and meal you mean. However, several word-choice and collocation problems make the description awkward or unclear: “a less contain of Sodium,” “contain a significant percentage,” and “remain three meals contribute very less percentage.” There are also spelling errors such as “amoung” and “conatain.” These issues show that the vocabulary range is limited and not always controlled, even though the topic-specific terms are appropriate. Aim for natural reporting phrases such as “accounted for,” “contributed,” and “the remaining meals,” and check spelling and word forms carefully.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. Some grammatical errors nevertheless affect clarity. For example, “dinner is a dominant meal of conatain” has an incomplete and faulty structure, while “breakfast is a less contain” does not form a grammatical comparison. In “dinner contain” and “snack contain,” the subject and verb do not agree; “dinner contains” would be needed. Several clauses are joined with commas where a full stop or conjunction would make the sentence structure clearer, as in the overview sentence. Practise building accurate subject–verb–object sentences first, then combine them with controlled clauses such as “whereas” or “while.”
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