Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-22

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 graph illustrates the survey results that was held in five different cities across Australia about the habits of people who buying and drinking coffee and tea.

Overall, the percentage of cafe visitors who went to a cafe was highest in all the cities, while fresh coffee buyer's proportion was lowest in all cities in last four weeks. The shares of instant coffee buyers were in moderate levels according to cities.

In Sydney, the percentage of visitors were upto 60 percent, while in Melbourne, this proportion went on the peak at about 64 percent which was the highest share throughout the cities. In both cities, the shares of fresh coffee buyers were in between 40 to 45 percent which was the highest share of these buyers in sydney at about 44 percent. Instant coffee customer's percentage was lowest at 45 percent in sydney and 48 percent in melbourne.

In Brisbane and Hobart, the proportion of cafe visitors was 55 percent and 62 percent. In these two places, the proportion of customers of instant coffee was in between 50 to 55 percent, while approximately 50 percent in Adelaide. In Brisbane and Adelaide, the percentage of fresh coffee customers was lowest as compared to other cities at about 34 percent. while this was 38 percent in Hobart.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the chart across all five cities and making relevant comparisons. The overview captures the dominant trend (café visiting being the highest and fresh coffee the lowest overall). Data points are generally reported accurately, such as noting Melbourne's peak at around 64 percent and Brisbane and Adelaide's fresh coffee figures at about 34 percent. However, there are minor confusions in grouping details in the body paragraphs, and some exact figures are slightly imprecise or generalized. Overall, the response fulfills the requirements of Task Achievement well, earning a Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, moving to an overview, and then splitting the cities into descriptive groups. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'Overall', 'while', and 'In both cities'. However, progression is occasionally hampered by awkward sentence structures and referencing issues, such as 'this proportion went on the peak' and 'according to cities'. Paragraphing is present and helps structure the response, but transitions between ideas can feel slightly mechanical. This level of organization and cohesion corresponds to a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms like 'proportion', 'survey results', and 'customers'. However, there are frequent word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'people who buying and drinking', 'went on the peak' instead of 'reached a peak', and 'fresh coffee buyer's proportion'. Spelling and word formation are generally clear, but attempts at less common vocabulary lack precision. These lexical limitations place the response firmly in the Band 6.0 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses ('who went to a cafe') and subordinate clauses introduced by 'while'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, including tense and verb-form mistakes ('results that was held', 'people who buying'), missing articles ('in sydney', 'in melbourne'), and capitalization errors. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they persist throughout the text and prevent the grammar score from reaching a higher band. Control is consistent with a Band 6.0.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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