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 proportions, while another registered the lowest proportion. Hobart recorded the highest proportion of people who went to a cafe for coffee or tea, whereas Sydney had the noticeably lowest proportion of people who bought instant coffee in the last four weeks. Meanwhile, the proportions of people in Adelaide and Brisbane were identical in the last four weeks.

Looking at the details, in the last weeks, the proportions of people who went to a cafe for coffee or tea in Hobart and Melbourne were both the highest, at roughly 63%. Thereafter, Adelaide proportion was recorded the lowest, at slightly below 39%. Furthermore, the proportion of people who bought instant coffee in Brisbane and Adelaide were relatively similar, at roughly 52% and precisely 50% respectively in the last 4 weeks, after which Sydney had the considerably lower than others cities.

Looking most closely at the data, in the last four weeks, the proportion of people who bought fresh coffee in Brisbane and Adelaide were identical, at nearly 33%. Subsequently, Sydney and Melbourne were relatively similar proportion, at around 33% and 32% respectively in the last four weeks.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task partially and presents an overview, but it contains significant inaccuracies and misinterpretations of the visual data. For instance, the writer claims that Hobart and Melbourne recorded the highest proportions for café visits at roughly 63% (which is correct), but then incorrectly states that Adelaide was the lowest at 'slightly below 39%' when the actual figure is 49.5%, and Hobart is actually 63% while Sydney is 61%. Furthermore, the data reported for fresh coffee buying in the final paragraphs completely misreads the figures; the student claims Brisbane and Adelaide were identical at 'nearly 33%' when they are actually 34.5%, and misstates Sydney and Melbourne. These inaccurate details and under-developed comparisons restrict the response to a partial coverage of the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response maintains a coherent overall arrangement and attempts to organise information into logical paragraphs, starting with an introduction, moving to an overview, and then detailing specific data. However, progression is sometimes hindered by mechanical or inaccurate use of cohesive devices, such as the abrupt transitions 'Looking at the details,' and 'Looking most closely at the data,' which feel repetitive and formulaic. Referencing and referencing links within sentences are occasionally unclear, particularly when introducing data comparisons that do not seamlessly follow one another. Paragraphing is present, but the internal logical flow within paragraphs struggles due to the confusion in the underlying data being reported.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, demonstrating an attempt to use less common items and varied reporting verbs and adjectives such as 'illustrates,' 'proportions,' 'considerably,' and 'identical.' However, there are notable inaccuracies in word choice and data reporting language, alongside some awkward collocations (e.g., 'noticeably lowest proportion' or 'Adelaide proportion was recorded the lowest'). While these lexical slips and inaccuracies do not severely impede general communication, they reveal a lack of precise control over phrasing when describing statistical trends, placing the lexical performance solidly within the band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordinate clauses and comparative structures such as 'whereas Sydney had the noticeably lowest proportion' and 'the proportions of people who went to a café... were both the highest.' There are some errors in grammar, such as missing articles or awkward prepositional phrasing ('Adelaide proportion was recorded the lowest' instead of 'Adelaide's proportion' or 'the proportion for Adelaide') and issues with subject-verb agreement in complex noun phrases ('the proportion of people who bought instant coffee in Brisbane and Adelaide were'). Nevertheless, these grammatical errors are fairly typical of this level and rarely impede overall communication.

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