Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-21

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 chart illustrate the proportion of sodium,saturated fat,and added sugar consumed across od daily meals in the USA.Overall,dinner is the primary source of sodium and saturated fat,whereass snacks contain the hightest percentage of added sugar.In contrast,breakfast consistenly account for the smallest amount of all three unhealthy nutrients

Dinner provides the largest share of sodium(43%)and saturated fat(37%),alongside23%of added sugar.Lunch also contributies significantly to nutrient intake acounting for 29%of sodium,26%of saturated fat,and 19%of added sugar.

Snaks represent the dominant source of added sugar at 42%while also contributing 21%of saturated fatand 14%of sodium.Finally,breakfast contributes the least overall containing16%of saturated fat and added sugar,and only 14%of sodiun.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main pattern accurately: dinner has the highest shares of sodium and saturated fat, while snacks lead for added sugar. The figures you report are also correct, including dinner’s 43% sodium and snacks’ 42% added sugar. However, the response addresses the task only partially because it is substantially below the required 150 words, leaving the comparisons and overview under-developed. The claim that breakfast accounts for the smallest amount of all three nutrients is not accurate: breakfast and snacks are tied at 14% for sodium. Develop the overview more fully and make this distinction clear; you could also compare how the meal with the highest share changes across the three nutrients.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an opening overview is followed by details about dinner and lunch, then snacks and breakfast. This makes the main comparisons reasonably easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “In contrast,” and “Finally” help signal relationships. The organisation is effective for a short response, but the progression is not fully developed because several meal comparisons are compressed into long, crowded sentences. For example, the dinner and lunch figures are grouped together without much explanation of how their patterns differ. Use clearer sentence boundaries and expand the comparison between meals; this would make the progression more flexible and less dependent on a small set of transition words.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some suitable task vocabulary, including “proportion,” “primary source,” “dominant source,” and “contributing,” which helps describe the chart. However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling or word-choice errors reduce precision, such as “hightest,” “Snaks,” “contributies,” and “acounting.” “Unhealthy nutrients” is also imprecise, since the chart refers to nutrients that may be unhealthy in excess. Improve accuracy by checking spelling and choosing more exact chart language. A wider set of terms such as “share,” “account for,” and “make up” would also help you describe the data without repeating “source” and “contributes.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple statements and more complex structures, including “while also contributing 21%...” and the contrast introduced by “In contrast.” The main relationships are generally understandable, but frequent grammatical and punctuation errors make the writing less controlled. For example, “The pie chart illustrate” has subject–verb disagreement, and “breakfast consistenly account” also needs a plural verb form. Several sentences run together because spaces after punctuation are missing, as in “USA.Overall” and “sodium(43%)and.” There are also incomplete or awkwardly attached phrases, such as “Finally, breakfast contributes the least overall containing...” Use complete sentences, check agreement, and punctuate figures and clauses consistently.

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