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 results of a survey on people's coffee and tea buying and drinking habits across five Australian cities, namely Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart.

Overall, it is evident that the figures varied considerably across the categories, with some recording substantially higher figures, while another registered the lowest proportion. Hobart recorded the greatest proportion of people who went to a cafe for coffee or tea, whereas Sydney accounted for the lowest proportion of people who bought instant coffee in the last four weeks. Meanwhile, Brisbane and Adelaide both remained relatively similar in the last four weeks.

Looking at the details, in the last four weeks, Sydney and Melbourne's proportion of people who bought fresh coffee were both reported at approximately 41%. Afterwards, Brisbane and Adelaide both remained relatively the same at roughly 35% in the last 4 weeks. However, Hobart's proportion of people who bought fresh coffee constituted the second-highest figure in the last four weeks. Furthermore, Hobart's proportion of people who bought instant coffee accounted for the highest figure at nearly 53% in the last 4 weeks, following which Sydney represented the lowest proportion at slightly below 41% in the last four weeks.

Looking most closely at the data, in the last 4 weeks, the proportion in Melbourne and Hobart of people who went to a cafe for coffee or tea both had the greatest proportions at just over 62%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student covers all parts of the task by addressing the three categories across the five cities. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing some main trends such as extremes (e.g., Hobart for cafe visits and Sydney for instant coffee). However, the selection of data points is somewhat confused and inaccurate in places. For instance, the student states that Sydney and Melbourne fresh coffee purchases were 'reported at approximately 41%' when they were 44% and 42.5%, and claims Hobart instant coffee was nearly 53% when it was actually 54.5%. Furthermore, the structure of the body paragraphs is repetitive, frequently repeating phrases like 'in the last four weeks', which detracts from the flow of information. While the main features are touched upon, the lack of precision in reporting data pulls the task achievement score down.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic overall structure with an introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. However, logical progression is hindered by repetitive phrasing and awkward transitions such as 'Afterwards' and 'following which'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the final sentence stands alone as a fragmented single-sentence paragraph ('Looking most closely at the data...'), showing poor control over paragraph structure. Cohesive devices are mechanically used and often repetitive, notably the phrase 'in the last four weeks' appearing excessively throughout the text. Reference pronouns and referencing are sometimes unclear, making it difficult to follow the relationships between data points smoothly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'proportion', 'constituted', and 'accounted for'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, and some claims are factually imprecise. Repetition of basic vocabulary items like 'proportion', 'people', and 'cities' is frequent. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lack of lexical flexibility and recurring reliance on the same sentence frames limit the vocabulary score to a solid Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Hobart recorded the greatest proportion of people who went to a cafe for coffee or tea, whereas Sydney accounted for the lowest proportion...' Grammatical control is generally fair, and the majority of simple sentences are accurate. However, there are occasional awkward structures and slight inaccuracies in subject-verb agreement or preposition use when handling complex data points. Punctuation is mostly functional, and errors do not seriously impede communication.

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.