Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-29

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 illustrates the coffee and tea buying and drinking habits of residents in five Australian cities : Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart. It is evident from the graph that majority of people in all five cities prefer visiting cafe's for their coffee or tea rather than preparing it at home. Instant coffee is more popular than fresh coffee in most cities, except for Sydney and Melbourne, where both types of coffee's are similarly preferred.

To begin with, in terms of visiting cafe's Melbourne and Hobart lead with approximately 64% and 63% of their residents visiting a cafe for tea or coffee over the past four weeks. Followed by Sydney with 61%, while fewer people visit cafe's in Brisbane and Adelaide with approximately 55% and 49% respectively. Furthermore, when it comes to buying fresh coffee, Sydney leads with 44% of it's residents consuming fresh coffee. Followed by Melbourne with 43% consumers. However, this figure significantly drops in Brisbane and Adelaide where only 34% of the residents purchased fresh coffee. Hobart falls in between with 38% of it's residents opting for fresh coffee.

Moving on, for instant coffee Hobart leads with the highest consumption rate at 54% Brisbane and Adelaide follow with 52 %and 50% of their residents purchasing instant coffee. However, fewer people in Sydney and Melbourne opt for instant coffee with approximately 46% and 48%respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response covers all parts of the task well, providing a clear overview and reporting the main features with accurate data points from the chart. For instance, the writer correctly notes that visiting cafes is the most popular activity overall, and accurately reports the figures for Melbourne and Hobart (approx. 64% and 63%). Key comparisons are made between fresh and instant coffee across the cities, such as highlighting Sydney and Melbourne's preference for fresh coffee compared to other cities. The information is well-selected, and the figures cited closely match the visual data provided. The overview effectively captures the primary trends without unnecessary listing of every single data point, fulfilling the requirements for a Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introduction and a broad overview, followed by well-defined body paragraphs dedicated to specific categories of data (cafes, fresh coffee, and instant coffee). Paragraphing is used appropriately and effectively separates the distinct trends. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'Moving on' are employed to guide the reader through the report. However, there are minor issues with referencing and punctuation, such as missing commas after transitional phrases and slight fragmentation in transitions, which prevents the cohesion from being entirely seamless, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate and generally appropriate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing terms such as 'illustrates', 'residents', 'consumption rate', and 'opt for'. Less common lexical items are attempted with some success, such as 'significantly drops' and 'highest consumption rate'. However, there are a few lexical and grammatical-morphological errors involving word form and apostrophe misuse, such as 'cafe's' (cafes) and 'coffee's' (coffees), as well as a spelling/agreement slip with 'it's residents' instead of 'its residents'. Despite these minor flaws, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning clearly, supporting a Band 6.5 or solid 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms. The writer attempts complex structures using relative clauses and participial phrases, such as 'while fewer people visit cafe's in Brisbane and Adelaide with approximately 55% and 49% respectively.' There are several minor grammatical errors, particularly with punctuation (missing commas in lists and before introductory phrases) and pronoun case/possessives ('it's' instead of 'its'). Additionally, some sentence structures are slightly fragmented, such as starting clauses with 'Followed by...'. Nevertheless, these errors do not impede communication, and the overall control of grammar is reasonably good, justifying a Band 6.5.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.