Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
The given bar chart elucidates infromation about the outcome of a survey about citizens coffee and tea buying and drinking habits . In Addition , it can be noticed that the in five different australian cities : Sydney, Melbourne , Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart bought or went to a cafe in last month . The percentage of city residents is from 20 and 65.
Overall, it can be observered that the highest percentage of people opted to go to a cafe for a coffee or a tea in most of the cities . Whereas, the least amount of citizens bought fresh coffee in all five cities in last 4 weeks.
Initially, nearly 64 % people living in Melbourne went to a cafe and recorded the highest percentage and other than that between 45% to 50% citizens bought instant coffee . Whereas , in sydney approximately 61% went outside for a coffee or tea and 45% of people bought instand coffee and just 1% less people opted for fresh coffee.
Comparatively, Brisbane and Adelaide citizens showed less interest in buying fresh coffee at just below 35% and recorded the lowest percentages and Hobart recorded nearly 4% more .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student covers most parts of the task by identifying the main features and making comparisons across the five Australian cities. An overview is provided, noting the general trends that visiting a café was the most popular activity while buying fresh coffee was the least popular. However, there are some inaccuracies and vague statements in data reporting. For instance, the statement that 'nearly 64% people living in Melbourne went to a cafe' is reasonably accurate (63.5%), but other descriptions lack precision or misstate general ranges, such as 'The percentage of city residents is from 20 and 65.' The comparison between categories is generally clear, but some data points are omitted or described too broadly. Overall, the response addresses the prompt adequately, earning a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is arranged coherently with a logical overall progression, divided into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs detailing specific cities. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different parts of the visual data. However, cohesive devices are sometimes faulty, mechanical, or awkwardly punctuated, as seen with spaces before punctuation marks (e.g., 'In Addition ,', 'Whereas ,', 'sydney'). Referencing and transitions between sentences can feel abrupt, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Overall, the organizational structure is clear enough to secure a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common phrases like 'elucidates information', 'opted to go', and 'showed less interest'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'infromation' (information), 'observered' (observed), and 'instand' (instant). Additionally, repetition of basic phrasing ('percentage of people', 'bought fresh coffee') occurs throughout the text. While these lexical errors do not impede communication, they restrict the score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The given bar chart elucidates infromation about...' and 'Comparatively, Brisbane and Adelaide citizens showed less interest...'. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, including missing articles ('in sydney', 'in last 4 weeks'), incorrect prepositions ('in last month'), and persistent punctuation spacing errors (e.g., spaces before commas). While some complex structures are attempted, errors in basic grammar and punctuation are noticeable and sometimes cause strain for the reader, placing this performance at Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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