Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 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.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The pie charts illustrates the average percentages in typical meals of three types of nutrients, sodium, saturated fat and added sugar.

Overall, in dinner most sodium and saturated fat nutrients are used, while sugar quantity is higher in snacks.

In breakfast, 14% of sodium is used which is the least quantity, but the quantity of fat and sugar nutrients both consumed equally are 16%. In dinner, the highest quantity of sodium nutrients 43% has consumed. In contrat, the nutrients such as saturated fat and added sugar are 37% and 23% respectively.

In lunch, the 29% of sodium quantity are utilize which is higher than others nutrients. The quantity of saturated fat and added sugar are just 26% and 19% respectively. In snacks, the least amount of sodium 14% are used, followed by saturated fat which are 21%. The highest amount of nutrients present in snacks are added sugar which is 42%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern accurately: dinner has the highest shares of sodium and saturated fat, while snacks have the highest added sugar. The response also reports relevant figures across all four meals, including the 43% sodium figure for dinner and 42% added sugar in snacks. However, some comparisons are less fully developed; for example, you could explicitly compare dinner’s 37% saturated fat with lunch’s 26% and breakfast’s 16%. The response is 140 words, below the required 150 words; the 11 words copied from the task prompt are not counted. Add a little more relevant comparison and detail to meet the minimum and develop the overview more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing breakfast and dinner, then lunch and snacks. This makes the main information reasonably easy to follow. However, the progression within the detail paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, with repeated openings such as “In breakfast,” “In dinner,” and “In lunch.” Some links between comparisons are also unclear: “which is higher than others nutrients” does not clearly identify what is being compared. Use more varied transitions and organise the details around meal patterns or nutrient rankings, while making each comparison explicit. This would strengthen the flow beyond the current straightforward, somewhat repetitive organisation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “sodium,” “saturated fat,” “added sugar,” and “quantity,” so the subject remains clear. There is also some attempt to vary wording with “highest,” “least,” and “followed by.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, such as “nutrients are used,” “quantity of fat and sugar nutrients,” and “nutrients present in snacks.” These make the description less natural and precise. Prefer terms such as “accounted for,” “proportion,” and “share,” and refer to the percentages as the proportion of each nutrient in a meal. Correct spelling in “contrat” and avoid repeating “quantity” where a more precise term is available.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, errors in agreement, articles, and verb forms occur in several sentences. For example, “The pie charts illustrates” should use a plural verb, while “43% of sodium nutrients 43% has consumed” needs a clearer subject and passive construction. In “the 29% of sodium quantity are utilize,” the verb form and agreement are also incorrect. Some sentences combine several ideas without a reliable grammatical structure, which reduces accuracy. Practise forming comparisons with a clear subject and verb, such as “Dinner accounts for 43% of sodium,” and check singular/plural agreement and verb forms.

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

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