Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-30

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 compare the average percentages in typical meals of three types of nutrients, all of which may be unhealthy if eaten too much.

Overall, according to the charts, it is evident that people eat the largest proportion of sodium and saturated fat in their dinner and added suger with snacks.

In dinner, people eat sodium 43 percent and saturated fat 37 percent which was the largest proportion. After that, they eat 29 percent sodium and 26 percent saturated fat in lunch. people consume 14 percent sodium and 16 percent saturated fat with breakfast, while 14 percent sodium and 21 percent saturated fat with snacks.

On the other hand, people consume 42 percent added suger with snacks, 23 percent in dinner, 19 percent with lunch; finally, 16 percent with breakfast.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main pattern accurately: dinner has the highest shares of sodium (43%) and saturated fat (37%), while snacks lead for added sugar (42%). You also report the remaining figures correctly, so the response is relevant and includes a basic overview. However, the overview is brief and the comparisons are mostly presented as a list; for example, the close breakfast and snack figures for sodium and the contrast between dinner’s high sodium and snacks’ high sugar are not interpreted. The response contains 110 words, below the required 150, and 21 words copied from the task prompt are excluded from that count. This limits how fully you can select and develop the key features. Add a fuller overview and explain the most notable contrasts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph on sodium and saturated fat, and a final paragraph on added sugar. This makes the information easy to follow. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “After that,” and “On the other hand” help signal the stages of the description, although some connections feel mechanical or do not express a strong contrast. The repeated pattern “people eat/consume” also makes the data paragraphs read like a list rather than a developed comparison. The lowercase “people” after a full stop interrupts the presentation. To improve progression, group related comparisons more deliberately and use concise references such as “these figures” or “the corresponding shares” where clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the chart’s subject and figures, using relevant terms such as “proportion,” “largest,” and “consume.” However, the range is limited, with “people eat” and “people consume” repeated, and the wording sometimes sounds imprecise for describing percentages. “Added suger” is misspelled twice, and “eat the largest proportion of sodium” is an awkward collocation; these errors reduce the accuracy and polish of the description, though the intended meaning remains understandable. Use a wider set of chart-reporting expressions, such as “accounted for,” “represented,” and “share,” while checking spelling. Avoid repeating the prompt’s wording and choose precise phrases for comparing the meal categories.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of sentence forms, including the overview clause “it is evident that…” and the contrast introduced by “while.” Most of the numerical information is expressed in understandable sentences, but the range remains narrow and some grammatical patterns are awkward. For example, “people eat sodium 43 percent” needs a structure such as “the sodium share is 43%,” while “with breakfast” is not consistently integrated into the sentence pattern. The sentence beginning “In dinner” also uses an unsuitable preposition in this construction. Capitalisation is inconsistent in “people consume” after a full stop. Aim to vary sentence structures while keeping the subject and comparison clear, and proofread prepositions and sentence beginnings.

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

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