Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-22

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 outcome of survey about people who buy and drink tea and coffee in five different cities of Australia. Overall , the prominent features of chart is highest cafe's coffee rate in last weeks .

Now turning to details, the significant figure is highest cafe's coffee which is approximately 65 percent and it is Melbourne . Secondly , the city Hobart has highest ratio . The average value is of instant coffee in last four weeks. Which is highest in Sydney. The second highest is city Melbourne . The third type is fresh coffee which have highesr percentage in Hobart and it have minor difference with Brisbane. Adelaide has about 50 percent instant coffee and almost 35 percent fresh coffee.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the task achievement score. While the student attempts to identify some main features, the summary is incomplete and lacks a comprehensive overview of the data. The description of the trends is fragmented, and the comparisons between cities are underdeveloped. Key data points are mentioned, but the lack of sufficient detail and the failure to reach the required length mean that the task is only partially addressed. To improve, the student should ensure all parts of the prompt are covered and provide a more thorough analysis of the data presented in the chart.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response lacks a clear logical progression. While there is an attempt at paragraphing, the transition between the overview and the body details is abrupt. The use of cohesive devices is limited and sometimes mechanical, such as 'Now turning to details' and 'The third type is'. The referencing is occasionally unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow the comparison between the five cities. To improve, the student should use a wider range of linking words and ensure that each paragraph has a clear focus, with ideas flowing logically from one sentence to the next.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive. The student relies on basic terms like 'highest', 'rate', and 'percentage' throughout the text. There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'outcome of survey' instead of 'results of a survey' and 'cafe's coffee rate' which is imprecise. The range of vocabulary is not sufficient to demonstrate flexibility or precision. To improve, the student should aim to use more varied synonyms and academic collocations appropriate for describing statistical data, such as 'proportion', 'majority', or 'significant trend'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'the prominent features of chart is' (missing articles and subject-verb agreement), 'which have highesr percentage' (spelling and verb agreement), and 'it have minor difference' (subject-verb agreement). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of commas and periods. To improve, the student needs to focus on basic grammatical accuracy, specifically subject-verb agreement, the correct use of articles, and sentence construction.

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

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