Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-05

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 6.0)

This is a pictorial representation of Australian people's beverage preference. The graph is a histogram chart depicting buying and drinking habits of natives in five cities of Australia. The vertical axis shows city residents in percentages, whereas the horizontal axis signifies cities named as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart.

Each city reflects three categories of spending on drinks in the last 4 weeks. First, buying fresh coffee shows maximum in Sydney. The second, in Hobart, most people buy instant coffee. Last but not least, in Melbourne most people prefer having coffee or tea in a cafe.

In contrast, a significant difference can be viewed in each city, as citizens wish to allocate the cost of piping hot drinks in a cafe over the fresh drink. However, all generations of Sydney and Melbourne have roughly similar tastes. Only Adelaide's buying capacity is more for instant hot brew than the one in a cafe.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the chart, but it lacks sufficient detail and data precision. While you identify trends, you fail to provide specific percentages or comparative figures from the chart, which is essential for an Academic Task 1 response. The description of the data is somewhat vague, using phrases like 'maximum in Sydney' without specifying the category or the value. To achieve a higher band, you must integrate the actual data points provided in the graph to support your observations. The overview is present but could be more clearly defined to highlight the most significant trends across the five cities.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the progression of ideas is somewhat disjointed. While you use some cohesive devices like 'In contrast' and 'However', the transitions between sentences are occasionally mechanical. The referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly in the second paragraph where the categories are introduced abruptly. Improving the flow between sentences and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear, singular focus would enhance the overall coherence of the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'pictorial representation', 'histogram', and 'beverage preference'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'natives in five cities' (which sounds slightly unnatural in this context) and 'allocate the cost of piping hot drinks'. The vocabulary is generally functional but lacks the precision and sophistication required for higher bands. Expanding your repertoire of reporting verbs and comparative adjectives would help improve your score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'buying fresh coffee shows maximum in Sydney' (missing subject/article) and 'Only Adelaide's buying capacity is more for instant hot brew than the one in a cafe' (awkward phrasing). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to affect the clarity of your report. You should focus on subject-verb agreement and ensuring that your sentence structures are grammatically sound and accurately convey the intended meaning.

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

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