Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-19
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 bar chart delineates the proportion of people consume beverages and their drinking habits in five different cities in the Australia.
Overall, it can be seen that the proportion of people who went to a cafe for coffee and tea was noticeably higher, while the lowest figure recorded by fresh coffee.
To commence with, the purchase of fresh coffee was experienced lowest proportion, accounting for closely 47% in Sydney and similar figure for Melbourne at nearly 42%, while the least figure recorded in Brisbane and Adelaide at approximately 33% and 34% respectively, whereas, Hobart obtained nearly 43% in terms of purchase of fresh coffee.
According to the figure, sale of instant coffee was acquired 45% in Sydney compare to Melbourne and Adelaide at closely 47% and 50% respectively. In addition, this figure change in Brisbane at roughly 53% and approximately 54% in Hobart.
Furthermore, the proportion of people visiting cafe was higher than other categories, accounting for nearly 62% in Sydney and 64% in Melbourne and 63% in Hobart, while Brisbane and Adelaide recorded the lower percentage at closely 56% and 49% respectively.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the chart across the five cities. An overview is provided, noting that café visits were highest while fresh coffee recorded lower figures overall. However, there are several inaccurate data citations that prevent a higher band. For instance, the student states that the purchase of fresh coffee was 'closely 47% in Sydney', whereas the chart shows it at 44%. Similarly, the figure for instant coffee in Sydney is cited as 45% when it is actually 45.5%, and other values are misread or loosely estimated. Despite these data inaccuracies, key comparisons are attempted and the overall response addresses the prompt's requirements.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is structured into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overview, and subsequent body paragraphs detailing the categories. Cohesive devices and transition phrases such as 'To commence with', 'In addition', and 'Furthermore' are used to link ideas, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical. The logical progression is generally maintained, but referencing and linking within sentences occasionally become clumsy, such as 'while the lowest figure recorded by fresh coffee' in the overview, which lacks grammatical completeness and clarity.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The lexical range is adequate for the task, successfully using terms related to surveys and statistics such as 'proportion', 'category', 'purchase', and 'sale'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'people consume beverages' instead of 'people's consumption of beverages' and 'sale of instant coffee was acquired' instead of 'sales of instant coffee reached'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but vocabulary limitations and awkward phrasing prevent the response from achieving a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as missing articles and incorrect prepositions or verb forms (e.g., 'the Australia', 'people consume beverages', 'was experienced lowest proportion', 'this figure change in Brisbane'). Many complex structures contain errors that occasionally cause strain for the reader, keeping the grammar score at the band 5 level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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