Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-04

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 on coffee and tea purchasing and drinking habits among people living in different Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart.

Overall, going to cafe for coffee or tea was the most popular activity in five different cities, while buying fresh coffee was generally the least choice. Hobart had the highest percentage of people buying instant coffee.

In Sydney, approximately 61% of residents went to coffee or tea, compared with about 46% who bought instant coffee and 44% who purchased fresh coffee. Melbourne showed a similar pattern, with around 64% visiting cafes. About bought instant coffee, while only 43% bought fresh coffee.

In Brisbane, approximately 56% people went a cafe, while 53% purchased instant coffee. Fresh coffee was considerably less popular, at around 34%. In Adelaide, cafe visits and instant coffee purchases were both about 50%, whereas fresh coffee accounted for approximately 35%.

Finally, Hobart recorded about 63% for cafe visits and 54% for instant purchases. The figure for fresh coffee was lower, at roughly 39%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers all parts of the task well. You have identified the main features and made relevant comparisons between the five cities. The overview is clear and highlights the most significant trends, such as the popularity of cafe visits across all locations. To reach a higher band, ensure that all data points are fully accurate; for instance, in the Melbourne paragraph, you mention 'About bought instant coffee' which is missing the numerical data, making the information incomplete. Overall, the report is well-structured and addresses the prompt effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs grouped by city. The progression of ideas is easy to follow. You use some cohesive devices like 'Overall', 'In Sydney', and 'Finally' to guide the reader. However, the cohesion is sometimes slightly mechanical. To improve, try to use a wider variety of linking words and ensure that referencing is always clear. For example, in the Melbourne paragraph, the sentence 'About bought instant coffee' lacks a subject or reference, which disrupts the flow of information.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe the data, using terms like 'purchasing and drinking habits', 'recorded', and 'accounted for'. There is an attempt to use varied language, though some phrasing is repetitive. The word choice is generally precise enough to convey the intended meaning. To achieve a higher score, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations or synonyms for 'popular' or 'buying' to show greater flexibility. The minor error in the Melbourne paragraph regarding the missing data point does not significantly impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. Most sentences are clear and easy to understand. However, there are some grammatical slips, such as 'going to cafe' (should be 'going to a cafe') and '56% people went a cafe' (missing 'to'). Additionally, the sentence 'About bought instant coffee' is grammatically incomplete. While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences would help improve this score.

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

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