Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-12
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 indicates the outputs of a survey about people coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in five different cities of Australia.
Overall, it is clear from the figure that the percentage of went to a cafe for coffee or tea in last 4 weeks was considerable higher than the others, while the percentage of bought fresh coffee in last 4 weeks was lower than the others.
If we talk about Sydney the proportion for went to a cafe for coffee or tea in last 4 weeks was high which was approximately 60%, whereas for bought fresh coffee in last 4 weeks was low which was almost 43% and bought instant coffee in last 4 weeks was approximately 45%. For Melbourne all drinking measures increased this time bought fresh coffee in last 4 weeks, bought instant coffee in last 4 weeks and went to a cafe for coffee or tea in last 4 weeks was almost 42%, 47% and 64% respectively.
For Brisbane, all drinking products accounted by around 35%, 53% and 55% respectively. The percentage for city Adelaide dropped from previous city which saw 34%, 50% and 49% respectively . Australian city Hobart showed results as Melbourne showed for went to a cafe for coffee or tea in last 4 weeks which was approximately 64% just showed minor change for bought instant coffee in last 4 weeks was 55% and for bought fresh coffee in last 4 weeks was 37%
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the survey data across the five Australian cities. An overview is successfully attempted, noting general trends such as the high popularity of visiting a cafe compared to buying fresh coffee. Comparisons are made between the cities, such as noting that Hobart showed similar results to Melbourne for cafe visits. However, the data presentation is sometimes overly mechanical and repetitive, listing individual city statistics without fully synthesising the broader comparative picture. There is also a slight inaccuracy in the overview regarding the comparison between fresh coffee and instant coffee. Overall, the task is adequately addressed, aligning with the Band 6 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is arranged with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs dedicated to different cities, providing a clear overall structure. However, paragraphing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. The transitional phrases used to introduce cities, such as 'If we talk about Sydney' and 'For Brisbane', are overly conversational and simplistic. Furthermore, referencing and logical progression within the body paragraphs are strained by dense, run-on listings of percentages without adequate cohesive tying, such as 'For Melbourne all drinking measures increased this time bought fresh coffee in last 4 weeks... was almost 42%, 47% and 64% respectively'. These issues place the response firmly in the Band 5 to 6 range.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to the prompt such as 'percentage', 'proportion', 'survey', and 'coffee and tea buying and drinking habits'. However, there are noticeable lexical and collocational errors throughout the text. The writer frequently misuses grammatical forms in place of noun phrases, such as repeating 'went to a cafe for coffee or tea in last 4 weeks' and 'bought fresh coffee in last 4 weeks' as clunky nominal chunks. Additionally, 'considerable higher' is used instead of the adverb 'considerably higher'. These limitations and errors restrict the score to Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is weak. There are frequent errors in basic sentence structure, missing prepositions, and incorrect word forms. For example, the opening sentence 'people coffee and tea buying' lacks a possessive marker, and 'percentage of went to a cafe' incorrectly follows a preposition with a verb. Other structural errors include run-on sentences and punctuation omissions, such as missing commas or periods at the end of the final paragraph. While meaning is generally conveyed, the high frequency of grammatical inaccuracies prevents the response from achieving a Band 6.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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