Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The bar chart depicts the percentage of residents from five Australian cities categorised into three different segments of habits related to consumption and purchase of both tea and coffee, during the last 4 weeks.

Overall, the majority of residents of all the cities except Hobert have gone to a cafe for having a tea or a coffee. Purchasing instant coffee was the most popular habit in Hobart, and the second most in all the others. However, people were least likely to buy fresh coffee in every city.

To begin with, it can be observed that close to 65% citizens of Melbourne had gone to a cafe, the highest share compared to the remaining cities with Hobart finishing as a close second. In contrast, Hobart lead the chart with almost 55% of its people opting to buy instant coffee. Brisbane is also not far behind, with comfortably crossing the 50% mark for the same.

Along with that, the tendency of buying fresh coffee had been comparatively rare, going as low as below 35% in both Brisbane and Adelaide. Things do change for the metropolitans of Sydney and Melbourne where the percentage rose to around 45% and close 50%, respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of coffee and tea habits across the five Australian cities. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing general trends such as the popularity of café visits and the lower preference for fresh coffee. Key data points are selected and compared, such as Melbourne having the highest percentage of café-goers (around 63.5%) and Hobart leading in instant coffee purchases (54.5%). However, there is a minor factual inaccuracy in the overview: the student states that the majority of residents in all cities except Hobart went to a café, whereas Adelaide's percentage is actually 49.5%, which is just under the majority mark. Additionally, some data points are slightly generalised, but overall, the task is well-addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is logically organised with a clear progression of ideas. It starts with an introductory sentence, followed by an overall summary paragraph, and then breaks down the specific data into body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to group related information. Cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'To begin with', and 'Along with that' are employed to connect ideas, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive in structure. Referencing is generally clear, guiding the reader smoothly through the comparisons between cities, though a tighter integration of cohesive links would elevate the score further.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 response, incorporating terms like 'categorised', 'tendency', 'proportion', and 'metropolitans'. Less common lexical items are attempted, such as 'opting to buy' and 'comfortably crossing'. However, there are some minor lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors, such as 'Hobert' instead of 'Hobart' and 'citizens' when referring to city residents. Word choice is generally clear and communicates the intended meaning without impeding the reader's understanding, but occasional awkward phrasing prevents it from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and introductory participial phrases ('categorised into three different segments', 'going as low as below 35%'). There is good control over punctuation, and the majority of simple sentences are error-free. However, there are a few grammatical errors and awkward prepositions, such as 'for having a tea or a coffee' (instead of 'to have tea or coffee') and 'Hobart lead the chart' (tense inconsistency, should be 'led'). Complex structures occasionally contain minor errors, but these do not impede overall communication.

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

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