Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-12

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 given pie charts illustrates the different proportion of average percentages of three types of nutrients in typical meals and all of which may consider as unhealthy if eaten in large portion.

Overall,consumption of sodium, saturated fat and added sugar is highest in the USA. In contrast, during dinner all three types of nutrients consumption is higher. However, Added sugar highly consumed during snacks, while saturated fat increase during dinner time and also sodium consumption.

However, 43 percent of people consume sodium while having dinner, 29 percent during lunch and 14 percent during snack and breakfast. Furthermore, 37 percent in saturated fat also have during dinner and 26 percent in lunch, also least saturated fat utilised is during breakfast with only 16 percent, but in snack it was 21 percent.

Talking about added sugar, the highest consumption of sugar is during snack time with 42 percent total added sugar. While, least sugar used in breakfast by only 16 percent. In addition, 22 percent is during dinner and 19 percent used during lunch time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern that sodium and saturated fat peak at dinner, while added sugar is highest in snacks, and you report several relevant figures accurately, including sodium at 43% for dinner and added sugar at 42% for snacks. This gives the response a clear overview and covers the three nutrients. However, the overview says that consumption of all three nutrients is higher during dinner, which conflicts with the snack peak for added sugar. The final paragraph also gives dinner sugar as 22%, whereas the chart shows 23%. Some comparisons are less fully developed: for example, you could contrast the dinner-heavy pattern for sodium and saturated fat with the snack-heavy pattern for sugar more explicitly and consistently.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for sodium and saturated fat, then added sugar. This makes the information generally easy to follow. The main weakness is that progression and linking are sometimes mechanical or unclear. “However” begins both the overview and the detailed data paragraph, although neither use expresses a clear contrast with the preceding point. The overview also moves from a broad claim about dinner to the snack exception without a clear relationship between them. Grouping the two dinner-peaking nutrients together and then contrasting them with added sugar would create a more logical progression. Clearer links such as “By contrast” and “Similarly” would help show how the figures relate.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “proportion,” “consumption,” “nutrients,” and “highest,” so the reader can understand the subject and the main comparisons. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which limits precision. For example, “43 percent of people consume sodium” suggests a percentage of people rather than the share of sodium in meals, and “saturated fat utilised” is not a natural way to describe the chart data. “Added sugar highly consumed” is also awkward. Aim to describe the proportions directly, using phrases such as “accounted for” or “made up,” and vary “during” with natural meal-based expressions. This would make the report more precise and appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast introduced by “while” and a sentence beginning “Furthermore.” However, errors in sentence structure and agreement occur in several places. The opening, “The given pie charts illustrates,” has a plural subject with a singular verb, and “all of which may consider as unhealthy” is missing a necessary verb form. The overview sentence “during dinner all three types of nutrients consumption is higher” is also difficult to parse because of its word order and agreement. Punctuation and spacing need attention, as in “Overall,consumption.” Use shorter, complete sentences when reporting figures, and check subject–verb agreement and clause construction before adding more complex structures.

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