Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 chart illustrates the information about the average percentages of three types of harmful nutrients in particular foods, and all of which cause health problems if consumed too much.

According to pie chart, all nutrients average eaten proportions are very low in breakfast as compare to all other eaten time.

The pie chart shows the consumption of sodium at dinner time is much higher stands at 43% while saturated fat eaten rate is 37% and added sugar consumption at dinner is very low about 23%. Similarly, sodium is also consumed with very high ratio in lunch about 29% consumed at lunch and saturated fat eaten rate slightly lower than sodium at lunch about 26% but added sugar consumption rate is too low about 19% at lunch time. Added sugar use in snacks are very high about 42% while saturated fat and sodium rate are 21% and 14% respectively. Consumption proportions of all three nutrients are too low in breakfast comparatively other eating time standing at 14% sodium consumed in breakfast and 16% other nutrients ate in breakfast.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You report the main meal-by-meal figures accurately, including the highest sodium and saturated-fat shares at dinner (43% and 37%) and the highest added-sugar share in snacks (42%). This gives the reader relevant coverage of all three nutrients. However, the overview is not fully accurate: breakfast is not the lowest meal for every nutrient, since sodium is equally low in snacks at 14%, and added sugar is much lower at breakfast (16%) than in snacks. The claim that all nutrients are “very low” at breakfast also needs qualification. A clearer overview should identify the contrasting peaks—dinner for sodium and saturated fat, snacks for added sugar—and note that breakfast is generally the lowest or joint-lowest. Some comparisons, especially the overall pattern across meals, remain underdeveloped.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response follows a broadly sensible order, moving from an introduction to breakfast and then through dinner, lunch, snacks, and breakfast again. Linking expressions such as “Similarly” and “while” help connect comparisons within sentences. However, the repeated return to breakfast makes the progression less clear, and the response has no distinct concluding overview to bring the main patterns together. Several sentences also pack multiple figures and comparisons into one long sequence, making relationships harder to follow. Organise the body by the most important patterns—for example, dinner and lunch first, then the contrasting snack figures—and use a separate overview paragraph. This would reduce repetition and make the comparisons easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “sodium,” “saturated fat,” “added sugar,” “consumption,” and “proportions,” so the subject is generally clear. There is also some attempt to vary phrasing, such as “eaten rate” and “consumption rate.” However, several expressions are unnatural or imprecise for describing chart data: “average eaten proportions,” “eaten time,” “use in snacks,” and “stands at 43%” in the construction used here. Repeated use of “very high,” “very low,” and “rate” also limits precision. Choose standard collocations such as “the proportion of sodium consumed at dinner” and “accounted for 43%,” and use “share” or “figure” where appropriate. This would make the vocabulary more accurate and natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons joined with “while” and “as,” and the intended meaning is usually recoverable. However, some sentence structures are faulty. For example, “According to pie chart” is missing an article, while “all nutrients average eaten proportions are” has an unclear grammatical structure. In “sodium at dinner time is much higher stands at 43%,” the verbs are incorrectly combined, and “16% other nutrients ate in breakfast” has an incorrect subject–verb construction. These errors sometimes make the comparisons difficult to process. Practise building a clear subject–verb pattern for each figure, and check articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries. More accurate control of these structures would improve clarity.

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