Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-12
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.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
This is the pie chart graph which is showing the average percentage of sodium, saturated fats and added sugar in typical meals consumed in the USA.
The percentage of sodium consumed in the breakfast is 14%. The saturated fat percentage consumed in the breakfast is 16%. While the percentage of added sugar consumed in the breakfast in the USA is 16%. The percentage of sodium consumed in the lunch is 29%. While saturated fat goes for 26%,and added sugar to be 19%. The amount of sodium consumed in the dinner is 43%, the saturated fat 37% and the added sugar to be consumed in the dinner is 23%. Lastly the amount of sodium consumed in the snacks is 14%, the saturated fat to be 21% and added sugar 42%.
The image is showing that the sodium,saturated fat and added sugar is much more consumed in the dinner in the USA then the breakfast and the lun ch.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
You report the figures for all three nutrients across breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, and these values match the chart. However, the response mainly lists data rather than selecting and highlighting the most important features. The final statement says all three nutrients are consumed most at dinner, but this is inaccurate: added sugar is highest in snacks at 42%, while dinner is highest for sodium and saturated fat. A clearer overview should identify this contrast and note that breakfast has the lowest or joint-lowest shares for most nutrients. The overview is therefore unclear and partly incorrect, and the comparisons are under-developed, which limits how fully the task is addressed.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has a basic structure: an introductory sentence, a paragraph reporting the figures, and a concluding overview. The sequence from breakfast through lunch and dinner to snacks is easy to follow, and words such as “While” and “Lastly” help signal movement between meals. However, the long middle paragraph reads mostly as a repeated list, with limited grouping or comparison between the data. “While” is also used to begin fragments rather than to connect complete ideas, and the final overview does not clearly follow from the figures because it overlooks the snack peak for added sugar. Grouping the two dinner highs together and contrasting them with added sugar in snacks would create clearer progression.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
Your vocabulary is sufficient to identify the chart’s categories and report its figures, using terms such as “sodium,” “saturated fat,” “added sugar,” and “percentage.” However, the wording is repetitive: “the percentage … consumed” and “the amount … consumed” recur throughout, so the description has limited flexibility. Some expressions are also imprecise or unnatural, including “the saturated fat percentage … goes for 26%” and “the image is showing.” Use concise chart language such as “accounted for,” “stood at,” or “the share of added sugar.” More precise comparative vocabulary would also help you distinguish the highest values from the lowest and make the overview more informative.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
Most of the figures can be understood, but the response relies heavily on short, repetitive sentence patterns and does not show a controlled range of structures. Several sentences are fragments, for example, “While the percentage of added sugar … is 16%” and “While saturated fat goes for 26%,” because “while” introduces a dependent clause without a complete main clause. There are also agreement and article problems in “the sodium, saturated fat and added sugar is much more consumed,” where a plural subject takes “is.” Punctuation and spacing are inconsistent, as in “26%,and.” Practise combining related figures into complete sentences and checking subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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