Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-14

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 4.0)

The bar chart depists the information about the outcome of a study regarding the individuals' purchasing and drinking habit of beverages in Sydney, Melbourn, Brisbane, Adelaide and Horbort in last four weeks.

overall, the fresh coffee was mostly popular among people

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the chart’s general subject and names the five cities, but it does not adequately summarise the data. The overview claims that “fresh coffee was mostly popular,” which is not supported: café visits were the highest figure in four cities, while instant coffee was the most commonly bought type in Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart. No city-by-city comparisons or meaningful figures are reported. The response also falls well short of the required 150 words, leaving the main features and comparisons largely unaddressed. To improve, provide a clear overview of the dominant patterns, then select key figures to compare fresh coffee, instant coffee and café visits across the cities.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic sequence: an opening sentence introduces the chart, followed by an attempted overview beginning with “overall.” This gives the response a minimal sense of organisation. However, the answer ends before it develops into a summary, so there is no progression through the main categories or comparisons, and paragraphing is not used to organise details. The overview is also not clearly connected to the chart’s actual pattern. Build a short introduction, a separate overview, and one or two detail paragraphs grouped by meaningful comparisons. Use linking expressions such as “by contrast” or “whereas” to show how the figures relate.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some relevant task vocabulary, including “bar chart,” “study,” “purchasing,” and “beverages,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is very limited for describing survey results, and several spelling errors—“depists,” “Melbourn,” and “Horbort”—reduce accuracy. “Outcome of a study” is also less precise than “survey results,” while “drinking habit” does not accurately capture the chart’s three activities. Expand the vocabulary for reporting proportions and comparisons, such as “the proportion of residents,” “recorded the highest figure,” and “was more common than.” Check city names and use natural collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response contains a basic sentence structure that communicates the chart’s subject, and the attempted overview is also understandable. However, the grammatical range is very narrow: there are only two short statements and no developed comparisons or complex structures. In “the individuals' purchasing and drinking habit,” the singular noun does not agree with the plural possessive, and the phrase “in last four weeks” is missing the article needed in this time expression. Capitalisation is inconsistent in “overall,” and the opening sentence has awkward sentence construction. Practise accurate comparative forms and clauses, for example, “Café visits were higher in Sydney than in Adelaide,” alongside correctly formed introductory and overview sentences.

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