Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-25

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 6.0)

The provided bar chart illustrates the outcomes of a survey regarding people's coffee and tea purchasing and drinking habits in the five Australian cities over the past four weeks.

As an overall glance, visiting a cafe for coffee or tea was the most common habit in four out of five cities, while buying fresh coffee was the least common.

In Sydney and Melbourne, around 42% to 43% of people bought fresh coffee, while 44% to 49% bought instant coffee respectively. However, more than 60% of people in both cities went to a cafe.

In Brisban, Adelaide and Hobart, the percentage of buying fresh coffee was constant for Brisban and Adelaide, the ratio was 34% for both and 39% for Hobart. Buying instant coffee was more popular, the ratio was between 50% to 54%. However, visiting a cafe remained common, with 55% in Brisban, 39% in Adelaide and 62% in Hobart.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons across the five Australian cities. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, correctly identifying that visiting a café was the most common habit in four out of five cities, while buying fresh coffee was generally the least common. Data points are cited accurately overall, although there are minor inaccuracies in the figures for Adelaide's café visits, where the student reports 39% instead of the approximate 49.5%. Additionally, spelling errors for city names ('Brisban' instead of Brisbane) occur. Overall, the response meets the requirements for Band 6.5, leaning towards Band 7 for effective summarisation, but limited by occasional data misreadings.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is arranged coherently with a logical progression from an introduction to an overview, followed by grouped body paragraphs detailing the cities. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different categories of cities (Sydney and Melbourne versus Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart). Cohesive devices are used, such as 'As an overall glance', 'However', and 'while', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive ('the ratio was'). Referencing is mostly clear, ensuring the reader can follow the comparisons made between the different habits and locations. This fits the Band 6.5 descriptors well.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully employing terms like 'outcomes', 'purchasing', 'habit', 'constant', and 'popular'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with varying degrees of success, such as 'ratio' and 'percentage'. There are some minor lexical and spelling inaccuracies, notably the repeated misspelling of Brisbane as 'Brisban'. Word choice is generally appropriate for describing statistical data, but lacks the flexibility and precision required for higher band levels. Communication is never impeded by these limitations, placing the response solidly in the Band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating subordinate clauses effectively (e.g., 'while buying fresh coffee was the least common'). There are instances of good grammatical control, but also several noticeable errors. For example, 'in the five Australian cities' has an unnecessary article, and run-on structures or comma splices appear, such as 'Buying instant coffee was more popular, the ratio was between 50% to 54%'. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and does not impede the reader. This performance aligns with the Band 6 descriptors.

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

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