Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-03

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 illustrate the average proportion of sodium, saturated fats, and added sugar in three typical meals; breakfast, dinner, Lunch and snacks consumed in the USA.

Overall, in dinner USA citizens consumed highest amount of nutrients, while the breakfast had the lowest proportion of nutrients. In addition, added sugar consumed by the USA was accounted for the highest figure in snacks, whereas snacks and dinner had the lowest sodium proportion.

In dinner, the highest proportion of sodium used by the USA, which was 43%, similarly, saturated fats consumed 37% in dinner which was the highest for this category. However, added sugar was 23% the second largest of this category. meanwhile, 29% sodium accounted for lunch, whereas 26% figure of saturated fats and 19% added sugar showed in lunch consumption.

By contrast, Breakfast had similar figure showed in all nutients at about 14% sodium, 16% saturated fat and added sugar. similarly, snacks had highest figure added sugar, at about 42%, saturated fat 21% and

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern that dinner has the highest sodium and saturated-fat shares, and that snacks have the highest added-sugar share. Several figures are also reported accurately, including dinner’s 43% sodium and 37% saturated fat, and lunch’s 29%, 26% and 19%. However, the overview is not fully precise: breakfast is not the lowest for every nutrient, since snacks have the same sodium share (14%), and snacks are not among the lowest for sodium alone in a way that distinguishes them from breakfast. The final comparison is incomplete, omitting the snacks sodium figure, while the breakfast figures are described as “about” despite being exact. Covering all four meal categories more consistently and making the overview comparisons exact would develop the response further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs comparing dinner and lunch with breakfast and snacks. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression is weakened by unclear or awkward links, such as “However” before the added-sugar figure, which does not express a clear contrast, and the repeated “similarly” at the start of sentences. The final sentence stops after “and,” leaving the snacks comparison unfinished and disrupting the paragraph’s flow. Grouping the figures more systematically—for example, comparing the highest meal for each nutrient with the lowest—would make the organisation clearer. Use linking words only where the relationship between the data genuinely calls for them.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “proportion,” “consumed,” “highest,” and “accounted for,” so the chart’s subject is generally clear. There are also some imprecise or unnatural choices: “nutrients” is used broadly where “shares” or “percentages” would be more exact, and “the highest amount of nutrients” does not clearly describe the chart’s percentages. “Used by the USA” is also an awkward way to describe consumption. Capitalisation is inconsistent in “Lunch” and “Breakfast,” and “nutients” is misspelled. These issues do not prevent understanding, but more precise collocations and careful spelling would make the report sound more natural and accurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the overview clause beginning “while” and the comparison introduced by “whereas.” However, some sentence structures are incomplete or incorrectly formed. For example, “In dinner, the highest proportion of sodium used by the USA” lacks a main verb, and “26% figure of saturated fats and 19% added sugar showed in lunch consumption” has an unclear subject and verb pattern. The opening sentence also has an awkward list construction after “meals.” Punctuation and sentence boundaries need attention, particularly where “meanwhile” and “similarly” begin new sentences. Aim to make each comparison a complete sentence with a clear subject and verb, while retaining the range of structures you are attempting.

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

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