Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-18

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 4.5)

The presented pie charts outline how much the harmful of the overconsumption of different types of nutrients in breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner.

Overall, sodium and saturated fats are more unhealthy to consume in dinner, but the sugar left more dangerous issue if it used in snacks. Breakfast have less issue with given three nutrients and similarly the lunch also have moderate issue.

Firstly, the utilization of saturated fats and sugar in breakfast is exactly the same unhealthy, and

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response identifies the broad contrast that sodium and saturated fat are highest at dinner, while added sugar is highest in snacks. However, it reports almost none of the chart’s figures or comparisons, and the claim that breakfast has the least impact across all three nutrients is not fully accurate: breakfast and snacks are tied for sodium, while breakfast is lowest for saturated fat and added sugar. The sentence about breakfast stops unfinished, so the main features are not adequately summarised or supported. The response is also substantially below the required 150 words, leaving the task only minimally addressed. To improve, complete the summary and compare the key percentages across meals, including the notably high 42% for added sugar in snacks.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: an opening statement is followed by an overview and then a detail paragraph beginning with “Firstly.” This gives the reader some sense of the intended structure. However, the progression is not sustained because the final paragraph ends mid-sentence (“and”), and no further comparisons or details follow. The overview also groups ideas broadly without clearly guiding the reader through the three nutrients or meal categories. Cohesive links such as “whereas” or “by comparison” could help make contrasts explicit, while separate, complete paragraphs for the overview and key data would create a clearer progression. As written, organisation is present but limited and incomplete.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant topic vocabulary, including “sodium,” “saturated fats,” “sugar,” and “nutrients,” and attempts to describe comparisons with “Overall” and “exactly the same.” However, the range is limited, and several word choices or collocations make the meaning difficult to follow. For example, “how much the harmful of the overconsumption” is not a natural way to describe the chart, and “the sugar left more dangerous issue” is unclear. “Utilization” is also an awkward choice for percentages in meals. Use precise chart language such as “accounted for,” “proportion,” “highest,” and “lowest,” and ensure that phrases describe the data rather than the health effects of consuming nutrients.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts a few sentence forms, including an overview with “but” and a comparison using “exactly the same,” but the range remains limited and errors are frequent enough to affect clarity. Examples include “Breakfast have less issue,” where the subject and verb do not agree, and “if it used in snacks,” which is missing an auxiliary verb. The opening sentence also has an incomplete grammatical construction, while the final sentence ends with “and,” leaving it unfinished. Articles and sentence structure are also problematic in phrases such as “the sugar left more dangerous issue.” Practise building complete sentences with accurate subject–verb agreement and verb forms, then check each sentence for a clear subject and finished main clause.

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