Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-24

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 6.0)

The given pie charts illustrate the ratio of presence of three particular nutrients in regular meals consumed in the United States of America.

All these pie charts represent 4 meals consumed typically, which are breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Three types of nutrients i.e. Sodium, Saturated fats, added sugars; are shown individually.

The break fast contains the least amount of all three substances; having 16% of both saturated fats and added sugars, while amount sodium is just 14%. The dinner has the largest presence of sodium and saturated fats at 43% and 37% simultaneously, keeping the added sugars at 23%.

The largest amount of sugar is present in snack which is 42%, while the sodium is 14% and fat is 21%. Lastly, the lunch contains most average numbers; sodium at 29%, fat at 26%and sugar at 19%. The breakfast and lunch both remained in average or lowest in all nutrient categories.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the four meal categories and report several key figures accurately, including dinner’s highest sodium and saturated-fat shares (43% and 37%) and snacks’ highest added-sugar share (42%). However, the overview is not clearly separated from the details, and the claim that breakfast has the least of all three nutrients is inaccurate: breakfast and snacks both have 14% sodium, while breakfast’s 16% added sugar is lower than the snack figure but not the lowest across every category. The final statement that breakfast and lunch are “average or lowest” is also vague and partly misleading. To strengthen the summary, state the main contrasts clearly and compare the leading and smallest meal shares for each nutrient without overgeneralising.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The information is arranged in a generally understandable order: you introduce the charts, describe breakfast and dinner, then cover snacks and lunch. This gives the response an overall progression, and terms such as “while” and “Lastly” help connect comparisons. However, the opening description and the next sentence repeat basic information, while the final sentence introduces a broad conclusion that does not follow clearly from the figures. The paragraphing also does not distinguish an overview from supporting details. A clearer structure would use a brief introduction, a concise overview of the main patterns, and then grouped comparisons—for example, dinner and snacks as the leading meals for different nutrients.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “illustrate,” “presence,” “largest amount,” and “nutrient categories,” so the data can generally be understood. Some choices are imprecise or unnatural, however: “ratio of presence” is not a natural way to describe percentages, and “most average numbers” does not communicate a clear comparison. “Keeping the added sugars at 23%” is also an awkward collocation in this context. There are minor spelling and form issues, such as “break fast” and “added sugars; are,” which affect presentation. Aim for precise chart language such as “proportion,” “accounted for,” and “highest share,” and use consistent labels for the nutrients.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, and most of the figures remain understandable despite some grammatical slips. For example, “The dinner has the largest presence … at 43% and 37% simultaneously” has an awkwardly constructed comparison, and “while amount sodium is just 14%” is missing a determiner and a grammatical link. The sentence beginning “The break fast contains…” also uses a semicolon in a way that disrupts the sentence structure. In “26%and,” spacing around punctuation is missing, and the final sentence’s “remained in average or lowest” is not grammatically well formed. Practise complete comparison structures, such as “Dinner accounts for 43% of sodium, compared with 37% of saturated fat.”

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