Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-21
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 compares the proportions of buying and drinking habit of coffee and tea in five different cities of Australia in last 4 weeks.
Overall, going to the cafe for cafe or tea is most common in all the cities. More than 60% of total population use to visit cafe for coffee and tea. However, Hobart and Melbourne are on top of the list. By contrast the proportion of other cities is considerably lower.
The Highest proportion of buying instant coffee is seen in Hobart and Brisbane. While the Proportion of Buying fresh coffee is considerably higher in Sydney and Melbourne as compared to other cities like Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart.
The trend of going to cafe for coffee and tea is much more than buying coffee. One more thing is being noticed that according to data more than 45% of residents prefer instant coffee over fresh coffee. Thus, visiting cafe became substantially more dominant.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student covers all the main parts of the task by reporting data for all five cities and distinguishing between the three categories (fresh coffee, instant coffee, and café visits). An overview is provided, noting that visiting cafes is the most common activity across all cities. However, the response lacks specific numerical data to support the claims, relying instead on vague generalisations like "more than 60%" or "considerably lower" without precise comparisons. Furthermore, the claim that Hobart and Melbourne are on top for cafe visits is inaccurate according to the chart, where Sydney actually has 61% and Hobart has 63%, while Melbourne is highest at 63.5%. Overall, the response addresses the prompt but lacks precision and accurate data selection, aligning with Band 5.5 to 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organised into four paragraphs, following a logical structure with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs focusing on different habits. Cohesive devices are used, such as "Overall", "However", and "By contrast", though some transitions are a bit mechanical or repetitive. Paragraphing is adequate, separating the introduction, overview, and specific details. However, referencing is sometimes unclear, such as "the proportion of other cities", which lacks precise antecedent clarity. Progression is visible overall, but the lack of specific data points makes the logical links between ideas feel somewhat thin. This performance reflects Band 6.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms related to the prompt such as "proportions", "buying and drinking habit", and "considerably higher". However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors, such as "habit of coffee and tea" instead of "habits regarding coffee and tea", and "use to visit" instead of "used to visit" or simply "visit". There is also repetition of basic structures and vocabulary (e.g., repeating "proportion" and "buying coffee"). Less common lexical items are attempted but lack precision. This matches the Band 6 descriptor.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing comparative structures like "as compared to other cities". However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text. For example, "proportions of buying and drinking habit" contains a plural/singular mismatch, "use to visit" is tense-inaccurate, and "One more thing is being noticed that according to data" is overly colloquial and awkward for an academic task. Punctuation is generally fine, but the grammatical errors occasionally cause minor friction. The majority of sentences are not error-free, placing this firmly at Band 5.5 to 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.