Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-01

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 6.0)

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 5.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting on the three categories across the five cities, satisfying the lower band requirements while displaying characteristics of partial task coverage. The overview attempts to highlight general trends, such as Hobart recording the greatest proportion for cafe visits and Sydney accounting for the lowest proportion for instant coffee, but some of the chosen details are inaccurate when compared to the visual data. For instance, the student states that Sydney and Melbourne's fresh coffee figures were 'approximately 41%' and that Sydney's instant coffee was 'slightly below 41%', which misreads the actual chart values of 44%, 42.5%, and 45.5% respectively. Furthermore, some ideas are under-developed or repetitive, such as the vague mention that Brisbane and Adelaide 'both remained relatively similar', and the conclusion that Melbourne and Hobart both had the greatest proportions at 'just over 62%' when Melbourne is actually 63.5% and Hobart is 63%. To reach a higher level, the response needs to select and report accurate data without misrepresenting key figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the response into an introduction, an overview, body details, and a final concluding sentence, meeting the baseline for this criterion while showing some limitations in progression. Paragraphing is used, though the final body point is isolated into a very brief single-sentence paragraph that disrupts the natural flow of ideas. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Overall', 'Meanwhile', and 'Looking at the details', but referencing is sometimes mechanical or repetitive, notably the overuse of phrases like 'in the last four weeks' throughout the text. Progression is occasionally hindered because information is introduced in a fragmented manner rather than logically grouped by category or city. To move further up, the response requires smoother transitions between sentences and a more cohesive integration of data points into unified paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using functional reporting terms such as 'proportion', 'illustrates', 'constituted', and 'accounted for'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'considerably', 'substantially', and 'greatest proportion', which reflect a solid attempt at variety. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and imprecisions, such as describing cities as having 'proportions' of people rather than referring to the percentage of residents within those cities. Spelling is generally accurate, and minor lexical errors do not impede communication, allowing the response to fully secure a solid middle band. To achieve a higher level, the vocabulary needs to display greater precision, flexibility, and natural collocation when describing statistical trends.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writing exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating a reasonable control over basic structures. The student successfully constructs complex sentences containing relative clauses and participial phrases, such as 'people who went to a cafe for coffee or tea' and 'while another registered the lowest proportion'. There are some grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues like 'Sydney and Melbourne's proportion... were' instead of 'was', but these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication, meeting the criteria for this level and showing partial control of complex structures. Punctuation is generally handled well. To reach a higher tier, the writer must increase the frequency of error-free complex sentences and maintain strict grammatical agreement throughout more intricate syntactic patterns.

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