Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-18
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 5.0)
The bar chart illustrates the result of a survey of a coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in five Australian cities during the previous four weeks.
Overall, visiting a café for coffee or tea are the most popular four cities out of five, while fresh coffee is considered the least common. Melbourne recorded the largest visitors among five cities, however, Brisbane is the lowest fresh coffee buyers.
It is common that Australian citizens go to a café to buy just coffee or tea. Melbourne is the highest which recorded more than 62% of city residents, followed by Hobart with just at 62% and at 61% for Sydney, whereas, Brisbane and Adelaide experienced lower proportion with around 55% and 50%, respectively.
Instant coffee is considered popular as well. Hobart and Brisbane were the largest with roughly 55% and 52%, respectively, while Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney were the least by around 50%, 47% and 45%, respectively. In contrast, fresh coffee was the least common drink for Australian where just around 43% of residents in Sydney are buying fresh coffee, although is largest proportion among others cities, it is still less than instant coffee. Melbourne randed the second with 42%, nevertheless, Hobart, Adelaide and Brisbane were the lowest by 38%, 35% and
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student covers all parts of the task by reporting data from the five cities across the three categories (fresh coffee, instant coffee, and café visits). An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, noting general trends such as café visits being the most popular overall and fresh coffee being the least common. However, there are some inaccuracies and vague statements in data reporting; for example, stating that Melbourne recorded the largest visitors, whereas Hobart actually tied or exceeded certain metrics in other areas, and confusing the highest fresh coffee buyers with Sydney (44%). Furthermore, the response trails off abruptly at the end ('Hobart, Adelaide and Brisbane were the lowest by 38%, 35% and'), leaving data incomplete. This places the performance firmly at Band 5.5 due to under-developed details and incomplete delivery.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is organised into multiple paragraphs, attempting an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs separated by category. However, the logical progression is hindered by confusing sentence structures and repetitive transitional phrases. Cohesive devices are sometimes inaccurate or awkward, such as 'whereas, Brisbane and Adelaide experienced lower proportion' and 'In contrast, fresh coffee was the least common drink for Australian where just around 43%'. Paragraphing is present, but the abrupt ending disrupts the overall flow and coherence of the text. Referencing is occasionally unclear, making it sometimes difficult to follow which city or category is being contrasted. These limitations reflect a Band 5.5 level for Coherence and Cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, incorporating terms related to the prompt such as 'residents', 'proportion', 'category', and 'survey'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'recorded the largest visitors' instead of 'recorded the highest number of visitors', 'randed' instead of 'ranked', and referring to cities as buyers ('Brisbane is the lowest fresh coffee buyers'). The range is somewhat limited and repetitive, with frequent reliance on basic phrasing to describe percentages and comparisons. While the meaning is generally communicated despite these flaws, the frequency of word-choice errors prevents the response from reaching Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and comparative structures (e.g., 'while fresh coffee is considered the least common', 'where just around 43% of residents in Sydney are buying fresh coffee'). However, grammatical control is weak, with frequent errors including subject-verb agreement issues ('visiting a café for coffee or tea are the most popular'), missing prepositions, and incorrect verb tense/form usage ('Melbourne randed the second'). Punctuation is also problematic, particularly run-on sentences joined incorrectly with commas. Because these errors occur frequently and occasionally impede smooth reading, a Band 5.0 is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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