Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
The following bar graph illustrates the results of a recent survey regarding individuals' drinking habits of tea and coffee in 5 different cities of Australia.
Overall, most of the people in these cities went to a cafe for coffee or tea in the last month except for Adelaide where most people bought instant coffee. Similarly, the number of people who bought fresh coffee in the last four weeks seems to be relatively low in all five cities.
Looking at the bar graph in more detail, residents of Melbourne seems to enjoy going to a cafe for a drink the most as roughly 63% of the city's population went there last month.Furthermore, individuals who like going to cafe in Hobart is approximately 62%, Sydney is about 61%, Brisbane is 55% and Aselaide is 49%. On the other hand, people of Hobart perfer instant coffee more as it is bought by 54% of the total city's population followed by Brisbane at roughly 52%, Adelaide at 50%, Melbourne at approximately 48% and finally Sydney at about 45%.
Subsequently, buying fresh coffee is most perfered by people of Sydney which is at approximately 39%. It is followed by Melbourne at about 42%, Hobart at roughly 38%, and finally Brisbane and Adelaide both at approximately 34%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the chart and making relevant comparisons across the five Australian cities. An overview is provided, highlighting the general dominance of café visits, though there are some slight data inaccuracies in the body paragraphs (for instance, stating that Sydney's fresh coffee buying is 39% when the chart shows 44%, and reversing the order of Melbourne and Sydney for fresh coffee). Despite these minor misreadings of the data, the key trends and comparisons are generally well-reported and fulfill the requirements of the task.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overview, and then detailed body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'Similarly', 'Looking at the bar graph in more detail', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical or repetitive ('It is followed by...'). Paragraphing is used appropriately, contributing to a clear overall progression of information throughout the text.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing terms related to surveys and statistics such as 'illustrates', 'proportion', 'population', and 'overview'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, though some awkward phrasing and word choices occur, such as 'individuals who like going to cafe in Hobart is' (subject-verb agreement/word choice) and 'perfer' (spelling error). Vocabulary errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the score to a Band 6.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and comparative forms. However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text, such as 'residents of Melbourne seems to enjoy' (agreement error), 'individuals who like going to cafe in Hobart is' (plural/singular mismatch), and spelling/form issues like 'perfer'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors are present, they rarely impede overall communication.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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