Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-30
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 bar chart illustrates the information about the results of a survey about how many people's coffee and tea buying and drinling habits in sydney, melbourne, brisbane, adelaide and hobart.
Overall, it can be clearly seen that, the largest proportion of individuals went to a cafe for coffee or tea in all five cities, while only few people bought fresh coffee. additionally, the most of people's went to a cafe for coffee or tea in melbourne, whereas the number of people bought fresh coffee in brisbane.
In melbourne, individuals went to a cafe for coffee or tea accounted for the highest proportion of 64%, compare to sydney (61%), brisbane (56%), adelaide (49%) and hobart (63%). that was almost similar to hobart proportion. poeple bought instant coffee recorded the largest proportion in hobart, at 54%, closely followed by brisbane at 53%, followed by adelaide at 50%, followed by melbourne at 47% and followed by sydney at 46%.
in sydney, fresh coffee buyer recorded the highest propotion at 44%, closely followed by 43% in melbourne, compared with just 34% in brisbane, similarly to brisbane approximately 34% in adelaide and 37% in hobart.
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 all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the chart across the five Australian cities. An overview is provided at the beginning, noting the general trends that visiting a café was the most popular activity overall, while buying fresh coffee was the least popular. Key comparisons are made between cities, such as noting that Melbourne recorded the highest percentage for visiting a café (around 64%) and Hobart recorded the highest proportion for buying instant coffee (54%). However, the second sentence of the overview contains a slight contradiction or awkward expression ("the most of people's went to a cafe... whereas the number of people bought fresh coffee in brisbane"). Despite minor phrasing issues, the key data points are appropriately selected and reported, meeting the expectations for a Band 6.5 to 7.0 range, solidifying a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is organised into clear paragraphs, starting with an introduction and overview, followed by body paragraphs detailing the categories. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'while', 'additionally', and 'whereas'. However, referencing and transitions are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as the repeated use of 'followed by' in the third paragraph ('followed by brisbane at 53%, followed by adelaide at 50%, followed by melbourne at 47% and followed by sydney at 46%'). Furthermore, the paragraphing and logical flow are occasionally disrupted by grammatical inaccuracies. Overall progression is visible, but the cohesion needs more flexibility and smoother linking to reach a higher band, placing this firmly at Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully using terms such as 'proportion', 'individuals', 'illustrates', and 'survey'. However, there are noticeable word-form and collocation errors, such as 'drinling' (driniking/drinking), 'people's coffee and tea buying and drinling habits', 'the most of people's went', and 'fresh coffee buyer recorded'. The spelling slip ('drinling') and repetitive phrasing limit the lexical score. While the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main data points, the frequent minor lexical inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a Band 7.0, making Band 6.0 appropriate.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and comparative structures (e.g., 'individuals went to a cafe for coffee or tea accounted for the highest proportion of 64%, compare to sydney...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including punctuation omissions (e.g., lowercase letters at the start of sentences like 'the bar chart...', 'in melbourne...', 'in sydney...'), missing prepositions, and tense/form errors ('number of people bought fresh coffee' instead of 'number of people who bought'). While these errors do not severely impede overall communication, their frequency means that error-free sentences are not in the majority, aligning with the Band 5.0 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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