Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-26
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 shows the result of a survey about coffee and rea buying and drinking habits. It compares five cities sydney, melbourne, brisbane, adelaide and hobart. Overall went to a cafe was more popular activities in four out of five cities. Buying instant coffee was more mopular than fresh coffee in all five cities and fresh coffee was least popular choise in most cities.
In sydney approx 44% of people bought fresh coffee while around 46% buying instant coffee. In melboume sloghtly lower for fesh coffee at about 43% and compared with appro 48% for instant coffee. In brisbane lowest of fresh coffee buyers at around 34% whereas about 53% bought instant coffee. In adelaide 35% purchased fresh coffee and 50% bought instan coffee. In hobart fresh coffee buyers at around 39% and instant coffee 54% puechased.
Went to a cafe was particularly popular in melbourne around 64% visited a cafe for coffee or tea. This was followed by hobart at about 63% and sydney at around 61%. In brisbane approx 56% of people visited a cafe and adelaide lowest figure 50% visited cafe.
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 all parts of the task by identifying the main features and making comparisons between the five cities. You successfully highlighted the trends for cafe visits and coffee purchasing habits. However, the overview is slightly simplistic. To reach a higher band, ensure that the overview synthesizes the data more effectively rather than just listing facts. For example, noting that cafe visits were consistently more popular than buying fresh coffee across all cities would provide a stronger summary. The data is generally accurate, but ensure all city names are capitalized (e.g., 'sydney' should be 'Sydney').
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into three logical paragraphs: an introduction/overview, a section on coffee purchasing, and a section on cafe visits. This structure is clear and easy to follow. You use some cohesive devices like 'whereas' and 'followed by', which help the flow of information. However, the transition between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the use of referencing could be more varied. To improve, try to use a wider range of linking words to connect your sentences more fluidly, rather than relying on simple sentence structures to present each data point.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You have an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'survey', 'habits', 'purchased', and 'visited'. However, there are several spelling errors, such as 'rea' instead of 'tea', 'mopular' instead of 'popular', 'choise' instead of 'choice', and 'puechased' instead of 'purchased'. These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding the message. To achieve a higher band, you should aim for more precise vocabulary and ensure careful proofreading to eliminate basic spelling mistakes, which currently limit your score in this criterion.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb forms and articles, such as 'Went to a cafe was...' instead of 'Going to a cafe was...' and 'in sydney approx 44% of people bought...' which lacks a proper subject-verb structure. Additionally, there are missing prepositions and inconsistent tense usage. While these errors rarely impede communication, they are frequent enough to keep the score in the mid-range. Focus on subject-verb agreement and ensuring every sentence has a clear, grammatically correct structure.
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.