Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-04

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 graph illustrates the outcome of a study about Australian citizen's coffee, tea and drinking habits in five cities for the past four weeks.

Overall, Australian individuals mostly preferred going to a cafe for their drinks. Instant coffee had been the second most popular choice for the people. The unpopular habit was buying fresh coffee in all the cities.

Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart have the highest percentage of residents going to cafe for their drinks ( 61%, 63%, 55%, 49%, 62% respectively). Which in case, for Adelaide are the instant coffee buyers at 50%, while they stand in the second place in the other states with 45% for Sydney, 44% for Melbourne, 53% for Brisbane and 54% for Hobart.

The least bought is the fresh coffee in all the states with Brisbane being at the bottom (34%) and Sydney at the top (44%).

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt only partially and fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 150 words, standing at 145 words. While an overview is attempted, it contains inaccuracies, such as stating that buying fresh coffee was the least popular habit in all cities when instant coffee actually had lower figures in Sydney and Melbourne. Data reporting is also flawed: the list of café percentages includes incorrect numbers and five figures for four cities (e.g., reporting 49% and 62% for Adelaide and Hobart rather than the actual 49.5% and 63%). To move to a higher band, you must ensure that all figures are accurately transcribed from the chart, avoid unsupported generalisations, and write at least the minimum required word count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is a basic logical structure with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs, but the overall progression lacks clarity. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or inaccurately, as seen in the fragmented transition "Which in case, for Adelaide are the instant coffee buyers...", which disrupts the flow of information. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of data is confusing and poorly linked. To improve, you should use clearer referencing words and ensure that each sentence logically follows the previous one without disjointed transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, but range is limited and imprecise. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as "Australian citizen's coffee, tea and drinking habits" and describing the least popular habit as "The unpopular habit". Repetition of basic terms like "cities", "states", and "coffee" restricts the score. To achieve a higher band, incorporate a wider variety of precise vocabulary and synonyms to discuss statistical data and trends naturally without awkward word choices.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writing demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures with frequent grammatical errors that can cause difficulty for the reader. There are issues with subject-verb agreement and prepositions, such as "going to cafe" (missing article) and "the least bought is the fresh coffee in all the states". Sentence boundaries and clause structures are occasionally mishandled, producing ungrammatical fragments like "Which in case, for Adelaide are the instant coffee buyers at 50%". To progress, focus on constructing accurate complex sentences and improving your control over articles, plurals, and verb forms.

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

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