Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The given pie charts compare average percentages of consumption of sodium, saturated fats and added sugars in meals in USA.

Overall, Sodium and saturated fats are consumed the most in the dinner while added sugar contributes the most to the snacks.

To begin with, dinner contributes the most in Sodium intake with a fraction of 43% followed by lunch which comprises of 29%. Snack and breakfast includes 14% sodium.

As for saturated fats, it is consumed in the dinner with a proportion of 37% followed by lunch which contains 26% of it and snacks which contain 21% of it. The breakfast has fraction of 16% of it.

For added sugar, snacks contain 42%, making the most contribution. It is followed by dinner by 23% and lunch by 19% while for breakfast it has same fraction of 16% as the saturated fat.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main pattern accurately: dinner has the largest shares of sodium and saturated fat, while snacks lead for added sugar. The figures you report are consistent with the chart, including sodium at 43% for dinner and 29% for lunch, and added sugar at 42% for snacks. You also compare meal categories across nutrients, such as noting that breakfast has the same 16% share for saturated fat and added sugar. However, the response is 133 words, below the required 150; the eight words copied from the prompt are excluded from the count. The overview is relevant, but the report could develop comparisons more fully—for example, contrast the relatively even added-sugar distribution across meals with the stronger dinner concentration for sodium and fat.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a brief overview, and separate paragraphs for sodium, saturated fat and added sugar. This makes the information easy to locate, and linking phrases such as “Overall,” “To begin with” and “As for” help signal the progression. The organisation is coherent, though the sequence is somewhat mechanical because each nutrient is handled in turn without much synthesis across the charts. Some connections are also awkward, as in “It is followed by dinner by 23% and lunch by 19%,” where the relationship between the figures and the categories is not expressed smoothly. To strengthen progression, group related comparisons and use clearer references, while keeping the useful paragraph structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “intake,” “proportion,” “contributes” and “fraction,” and the meaning is generally clear. There is some attempt to vary how percentages are described, but several choices are imprecise or unnatural: “a fraction of 43%,” “dinner contributes the most in Sodium intake,” and “snacks contain 42%, making the most contribution.” Repeated use of “contains” and “followed by” also limits flexibility. Choose more natural collocations for chart reporting, such as “accounted for,” “represented” or “the highest share,” and use “share” or “proportion” consistently rather than “fraction” for these percentages. Capitalisation of “Sodium” mid-sentence should also be consistent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple sentences and some more developed structures, and the main comparisons remain understandable. There are, however, some grammatical errors and awkward constructions. For example, “the most in the dinner” uses an unnecessary article, while “Snack and breakfast includes 14% sodium” has a subject–verb agreement problem and an unclear plural subject. In “The breakfast has fraction of 16%,” an article is missing, and “it has same fraction” also needs an article. Punctuation is mostly controlled, although there is an extra space after “dinner” in the overview. Aim for accurate patterns such as “Dinner accounted for 43%” and “Breakfast and snacks each made up 14%”; these will improve control while preserving your clear meaning.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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