Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-20
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 bar chart illustrates the result of a survey about people of five different cities and their coffee and tea buying and drinking habits.
The survey was held in 5 different cities of Australia, in which most of the residents of Melbourne bought fresh coffee in the last 4 weeks, more than any other city of Australia. In contrast, Hobart’s citizens bought instant coffee in the last 4 weeks more than any other of the 5 listed cities of Australia. Melbourne people preferred to go to a cafe for tea and coffee in comparison to the other 5 cities.
According to the percentage, most of the people preferred to buy fresh coffee instead of other options. However, only in Adelaide, instant coffee’s percentage of buying was slightly higher than fresh coffee.
Surprisingly, in every city of Australia, people were not preferring to buy fresh coffee. Brisbane had a low percentage of fresh coffee compared to other cities. Nearly 34% of people bought fresh coffee.
Consequently, most of the residents of the 5 different cities went to a cafe for coffee or tea, except Adelaide, and in every city fresh coffee had a lower percentage of buying. Moreover, instant coffee was the second-highest percentage overall in cities except in Adelaide. It performed slightly better than going to the cafe for coffee or tea.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the chart, such as the high preference for cafes in Melbourne and the specific trends in Hobart and Adelaide. However, the analysis is somewhat inconsistent. For instance, the statement 'in every city of Australia, people were not preferring to buy fresh coffee' is confusing and contradicts the data, which shows varying levels of preference. The report lacks a clear overview that synthesises the data effectively. While the main trends are identified, the lack of precision in describing the data points (e.g., 'most of the people preferred to buy fresh coffee' is a vague generalisation) limits the score. To improve, ensure that comparisons are accurate and that the overview highlights the most significant trends rather than listing individual city data.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes disjointed. The use of cohesive devices is present, such as 'In contrast', 'However', and 'Consequently', but these are sometimes used mechanically or inappropriately. For example, 'Consequently' is used to introduce a paragraph that does not logically follow from the previous one. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the phrase 'it performed slightly better', where the antecedent is ambiguous. Improving the logical flow between sentences and ensuring that cohesive devices are used to connect related ideas more naturally would enhance the coherence of the response.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for a higher band. There is a reliance on repetitive phrasing, such as 'percentage of buying' and 'people preferred to buy'. Some word choices are slightly unnatural, such as 'people were not preferring to buy'. While the meaning is clear, the lack of variety in reporting verbs and descriptive adjectives makes the writing feel somewhat basic. To reach a higher band, you should incorporate a wider range of vocabulary related to data description, such as 'proportion', 'consumption habits', 'predominant', or 'marginal difference', and avoid repeating the same sentence structures.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'the result of a survey about people of five different cities' (should be 'people in five different cities') and 'instant coffee’s percentage of buying was slightly higher' (awkward phrasing). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are instances where sentence construction is clunky, which occasionally hinders the flow. While the errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, they are frequent enough to impact the overall fluency. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and more natural phrasing would significantly improve the accuracy of the writing.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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