Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The bar chart illustrates the results of a survey about people's coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in five Australian cities.

Overall, people went to a cafe for coffee or tea in last 4 weeks accounted for the largest proportion in all four cities except Adelaide. However, people bought coffee in last 4 weeks were the least common among all five cities.

Regarding Sydney, almost 44% of the people bought fresh coffee in last 4 weeks, while around 45% of the people bought instant coffee. People preferring to go to a cafe for tea or coffee accounted for approximately 61%. Looking at the figures of Melbourne, around 43% of the people bought fresh coffee, while almost 47% of the people preferred instant coffee. People went to a cafe for tea or coffee accounted for approximately 64%.

Brisbane, on the other hand, around 34% of the people bought fresh coffee. At the same time, around 53% of the people bought instant coffee and approximately 56% of the people went to a cafe for tea or coffee. Similarly, Adelaide accounted for 35% of the people preferring fresh coffee, while around 50% of the people bought instant coffee. Approximately 49% of the people went to a cafe for tea or coffee. Nevertheless, Hobart resulted around 37% of the residents preferred fresh coffee, whereas almost 54% of the people bought instant coffee. The people went to a cafe for tea or coffee represented approximately 63%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response effectively summarizes the main features of the bar chart and provides comparisons among the five Australian cities’ coffee and tea buying habits. It successfully identifies the overall trends and specific data points. However, it lacks a clear mention that Adelaide is an outlier in café visits, which could enhance the overview. The examples used for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart are accurate and relevant, demonstrating a good grasp of the data presented in the chart. Overall, the task achievement is solid, but it could be improved by including more general observations about the data resulting in a score of 7.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The structure of the response is logically organized; it starts with an introduction, provides an overview, and presents detailed comparisons city by city. However, some sentences are a bit repetitive and could benefit from varied sentence structures for better flow. For instance, the phrase "people went to a cafe for tea or coffee accounted for" is awkwardly constructed and could be streamlined. Transitions among cities could be smoother to enhance coherence. This limits the clarity of some comparisons, bringing the coherence and cohesion score to 7.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The lexical resource in the response is adequate, with a range of vocabulary relevant to the task, such as "preferring", "proportion", and "illustrates." However, the use of phrases like "almost" and "accounted for" could be diversified to display a more sophisticated vocabulary. The writer repeats certain terms across the text which could be avoided to enhance lexical variety. The inclusion of more academic or descriptive vocabulary related to trends and data representation could elevate the score from 7 to 8.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The grammatical range and accuracy are mostly strong, with few noticeable errors. However, there are instances of awkward phrasing, such as in the sentence discussing cafe visits, where the structure could be improved for better clarity. Issues such as "in last 4 weeks" (which should be "in the last 4 weeks") reflect some areas needing attention in grammatical accuracy. Despite these setbacks, the overall control of grammar remains sound, meriting a score of 7.

Overall feedback

Your response demonstrates a clear understanding of the chart and provides relevant comparisons across the Australian cities. Strengths include the accurate reporting of figures and the logical structure of your writing, which helps in making the overall message clear. To improve, consider reducing repetition and enhancing your vocabulary size by using more varied and sophisticated terms. Additionally, aim to refine your sentence structure to boost coherence and cohesion within your writing. Paying attention to these areas will strengthen your overall performance in IELTS.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.