Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-11

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 6.5)

The given data displays the mean percentage in typical meals eaten by US citizen of three types of nutrients: sodium, saturated fat and added sugar

Overall, aside added sugar, the rest nutrients are comparatively eaten mainly in dinner . For added sugar it is mostly consumed in snack. However, all the nutrients are eaten the least amount of in breakfast.

43% of sodium comes from dinner and more than a quarter is consumed during lunch. During both snack and breakfast, 14% of sodium is eaten each respectively

For saturated fat, 37% of it comes from dinner while lunch makes up 26% of the total. It is followed by snack(21%) and the least comes from breakfast which makes up 16%.

Added sugar mainly is taken during snack ; 42% of total. Dinner makes up 23% of the total consumed and 19% is eaten during lunch. Similar to saturated fat, 16% is consumed during breakfast

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

You identify the main pattern accurately: dinner accounts for the largest shares of sodium and saturated fat, while snacks contribute the most added sugar. The overview also notes that breakfast is the lowest or joint-lowest meal for each nutrient, which is supported by the figures. Your reported percentages are accurate, including the equal 14% shares for sodium at breakfast and snacks. This gives the response a clear, relevant summary with appropriate comparisons. To make the account more fully developed, state the contrasts across all three nutrients more explicitly—for example, added sugar’s snack share (42%) is much higher than its dinner share (23%), whereas sodium and saturated fat peak at dinner. This would sharpen the overview rather than mainly listing figures meal by meal.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall progression: an introduction, a broad overview, and then details for sodium, saturated fat and added sugar. This makes the information easy to follow, and phrases such as “For saturated fat” and “Added sugar” signal the shift between categories. Some linking and referencing are less smooth, however. “It is followed by snack” requires the reader to infer that “it” refers to lunch’s share, while the final sentence, “Similar to saturated fat,” repeats a comparison without adding much progression. Paragraphing is also limited, with the detailed figures presented as separate unstructured lines. Grouping the meal comparisons into coherent paragraphs and using clearer references would make cohesion more flexible and polished.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use enough topic vocabulary to describe the chart, including “percentage,” “consumed,” “makes up,” and “total,” and the meaning remains clear. There is some variation in how you report proportions, but several choices are awkward or imprecise: “eaten the least amount of in breakfast” and “comes from dinner” do not sound natural in this context. “US citizen” is also not the right expression for the population represented; “US residents” or “Americans” would be more suitable. Repeated use of “comes from,” “consumed,” and “makes up” limits flexibility. Aim for accurate collocations such as “accounted for,” “contributed,” and “the lowest proportion,” while keeping the wording concise and formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple statements and more complex comparisons, and most figures can be understood without difficulty. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with articles, agreement and sentence construction. For example, “by US citizen” needs a plural or article, and “the rest nutrients” is not a correctly formed noun phrase. In “For added sugar it is mostly consumed in snack,” the pronoun reference is unclear and the article is missing before “snack.” The sentence “During both snack and breakfast, 14% of sodium is eaten each respectively” also has an awkward structure and an unnecessary “respectively.” Improve accuracy by checking articles and plural forms, and by making each sentence’s subject explicit. More consistently controlled complex sentences would strengthen the range.

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