Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-12

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows the results of a survey about people’s coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in five Australian cities.

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The chart illustrates the results of a survey about peoples coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in five Australian cities.In these five cities percentage of went to cafe for coffee or tea in last 4 weeks had the highest.

Overall,in these cities bought fresh coffee were the lowest percentage with less than 45% in Sydney, more than 40% in Melbourne,about 34%in Brisbane,35% in Adelaide, and 38% in Hobart.On the other hand buying instant coffee were at the second position with 45% in Sydney,around 48% in Melborane,Brisbane with 52%,in Adelaide it had 50% and in Hobart 54%,However percentage of individual who went to cafe for coffee or tea had the higher trend with around 60% in Sydney, in Melbourne it had about 64 % which had the highest percentage in the chart,55% in Brisbane, less than 55% in Adelaide,but in Hobart the percentage of people who went to cafe for coffee or tea is equal to Melbourne at 64% in the last 4 weeks

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s main pattern: café visits are generally the most popular activity, while fresh coffee purchases are usually the least popular. You also include figures for all five cities, and most are close to the chart. However, the overview is not fully accurate: fresh coffee is not the lowest category in every city, since in Sydney its figure is slightly below instant coffee but in Melbourne it is also below, while the café figure is highest in all five cities. More importantly, the claim that Hobart and Melbourne are equal at 64% is inaccurate; Hobart is about 63% and Melbourne about 63.5%. The response reports data but offers limited clear comparisons, and the overview is embedded in a long, unclear sentence. A more precise overview and a few direct comparisons would develop the summary further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic overall sequence: an introduction is followed by a summary of the three activities, and expressions such as “Overall” and “On the other hand” show an attempt to connect ideas. However, the response has no clear paragraph breaks, and nearly all the detailed information is packed into one long sentence. This makes the progression difficult to follow, especially where the café figures are listed after the instant-coffee figures. Some linking words are also used awkwardly: “However” does not clearly introduce a contrast in the final clause. Organise the response into a short introduction, a distinct overview, and one or two detail paragraphs. Group cities or categories logically, and use linking phrases only when they express a genuine relationship.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses relevant chart vocabulary, including “percentage,” “highest,” “lowest,” and “around,” so the reader can understand the general comparisons. However, the range is limited and several phrases are unnatural or imprecise, such as “had the highest,” “at the second position,” and “higher trend.” “Peoples” also needs an apostrophe in this context, and “Melborane” is misspelled. Repeating “percentage” and “in the last 4 weeks” contributes to a mechanical style. Use more precise reporting language, for example, “accounted for,” “was the most common activity,” or “stood at.” Check city names and choose natural collocations when describing proportions and rankings.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to combine several comparisons in longer sentences, but these structures are often difficult to control. For example, “In these five cities percentage of went to cafe…” is missing grammatical elements, while “bought fresh coffee were the lowest percentage” has problems with agreement and sentence structure. The long sentence beginning “On the other hand buying instant coffee…” contains several clauses joined mainly by commas, making relationships between ideas unclear. Articles and punctuation are also inconsistent, as in “went to cafe” and the missing spaces after full stops. Use shorter, complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, such as “Café visits were the most popular activity in every city.” Then check articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries before adding more complex comparisons.

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