Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-23
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 graph depicts the number of people buying or drinking coffee and tea. The figure is distributed across five different cities in Australia and people who buy or drink coffee and tea in the last 4 weeks.
Primarily, In Sydney most of the people prefer going to cafes which is 60% while 45% of citizens bought fresh coffee and around 43% bought instant coffee. The information about Brisbane is only around 35% of individuals prefer to buy fresh coffee, while others either went to a cafe or bought instant coffee which is 55% and 52% respectively. A similar number of citizens also bought fresh coffee in Adelaide and with the same number of people either buying instant or visiting cafes, around 50%.
Moreover, Melbourne records the highest number of people going to cafes, about 64% and with buyers of instant and fresh coffee at 52% and 43% respectively. In addition, Hobart was close to Melbourne with 62% of visitors to cafes and 55% of individuals buying instant coffee with 43% buying fresh coffee for themselves.
Overall, cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart shows that people more preferably went to cafes for coffee or tea, while, in Brisbane and Adelaide there was not much difference.
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 five cities and provides data for all three categories (fresh coffee, instant coffee, and café visits). However, there are several inaccuracies in the data reporting. For instance, the student states that in Sydney '60%' preferred going to cafes, whereas the chart shows approximately 61%, and instant coffee is reported as 'around 43%' instead of 45.5%. Similarly, Melbourne's instant coffee is stated as 52% (actual is ~48.5%). While an overview is included at the end, the task achievement is hindered by inaccuracies in figures and a lack of clear, direct comparisons between the categories across cities. This places the response firmly in Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is divided into logical paragraphs with an introduction, body paragraphs grouped by cities, and an overall summary. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'Primarily', 'Moreover', and 'In addition'. However, referencing and progression are sometimes awkward or mechanical, as seen in sentences like 'A similar number of citizens also bought fresh coffee in Adelaide and with the same number of people either buying instant or visiting cafes, around 50%.' Paragraphing is appropriate, and the overall progression is generally clear despite some clunky transitions.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, such as 'distributed', 'citizens', and 'visitors'. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice and repetition (e.g., repeating 'number of people' and 'buyers'). Less common lexical items are attempted ('preferably', 'respectively'), but word formation and collocation errors occur, such as 'people more preferably went to cafes'. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lexical range lacks the flexibility and precision required for higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response includes a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses and participial phrases ('while others either went to a cafe...'). However, grammatical errors are frequent and sometimes cause difficulty or awkwardness, for example: 'cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart shows that...' (subject-verb agreement error) and 'with buyers of instant and fresh coffee at 52% and 43% respectively.' Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent minor errors prevent the response from reaching a higher band.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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