Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The pie charts illustrate the average percentages of three different types of unhealthy meals sodium, saturrated fat, and added sugar consumed in USA.

Overall, it ias evident that the percentages of sodium in dinner accounted the highest while, in snack and breakfast accounted the lowest. Addition to,the percentages saturated fat in breakfast accounted lowest meanwhile, in in dinner accounted the highest. Added sugar accounted in snack biggest and in breakfast accounted the smallest.

To begin with, the percentages of sodium in dinner accounted the biggest at 43% and in breakfast and snack accounted the same at 14%. Moreover, the percentages of saturated fat in dinner accounted the highest at 37% while in lunch accounted at 26%. In breakfast accounted at 16% and in snack accounted at 21%.

Moving to, the percentages of added sugar in snack accounted the highest at 42% while in breakfast accounted at 16%. Additionally, in lunch accounted at 19% and in dinner accounted at 23%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main patterns accurately: dinner has the highest shares of sodium and saturated fat, while snacks lead for added sugar; you also report the key figures correctly. The overview gives a useful summary, and the body covers all three nutrients. This meets the task well, with some features more fully reported than others: for example, the sodium comparison omits lunch at 29%, and the saturated-fat paragraph gives no comparison between breakfast and snacks beyond listing their figures. To make the report more complete and precise, compare the meal categories directly and explain the contrast between the dinner-heavy sodium and fat figures and the snack-heavy sugar figure. Avoid implying that the meals themselves are unhealthy; the chart concerns nutrient percentages in meals.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for sodium and saturated fat, then added sugar. This makes the information easy to locate. However, progression within sentences is often mechanical, especially through repeated patterns such as “accounted the highest” and “while in… accounted.” Some linking is also awkward: “Moving to” is incomplete as a transition, and “Addition to” does not connect the overview ideas clearly. Use simpler, accurate transitions and vary how comparisons are expressed. For instance, group the dinner figures for sodium and saturated fat, then contrast them with the snack figure for sugar. This would make the relationships between the data clearer and reduce repetition.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is sufficient to identify the chart categories and report figures, using terms such as “percentages,” “highest,” “lowest,” and “accounted.” However, the range is limited and several repeated or inaccurate expressions make the report sound unnatural. “Accounted the biggest” and “accounted at 26%” are not suitable collocations for describing chart proportions; use “made up,” “stood at,” or “was the largest share.” There are also spelling errors, including “saturrated” and “ias,” and the phrase “three different types of unhealthy meals” mislabels the nutrients rather than the meals. Aim for precise chart language and check spelling carefully. More varied terms such as “proportion,” “share,” and “constituted” would help, provided they are used accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You communicate the main figures, but sentence structures are mostly repetitive and several grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “the percentages of sodium in dinner accounted the biggest” lacks a grammatical construction for the comparison, while “in breakfast accounted at 16%” has no clear subject–verb relationship. The overview also contains a faulty structure in “in snack and breakfast accounted the lowest.” There are some attempts to form longer sentences with “while” and “moreover,” but these patterns are not consistently controlled. Practise complete clauses such as “Dinner accounted for 43% of sodium intake, compared with 14% at breakfast and during snacks.” Accurate articles, prepositions, and sentence boundaries would make your comparisons easier to follow.

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