Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-06

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 consumption and buying routines of people's in different cities of Australia.

Overall, it can be seen that the bars declined steadily for fresh coffee, while for instant coffee the graph increased slowly.However, more figures were recorded for people choosing to go to a cafe for coffee or tea than the buying, but this trend remained relatively stable, but dipping for two cities.

In Sydney consumption of fresh coffee dominated at approximately 45 percent and then steadily decling for other cities of Australia. Hobart experienced a slight increase in consumption of fresh coffee at around 40 percent compared to Adelaide which was around 35 percent. People chose instant coffee over fresh coffee in all of the 5 different cities. The highest figure recorded was in Hobart which was slightly over 50 percent, but Brisbane percentage was around it too.

The most dominated category was people going to cafe for tea or coffee. It started at around 60 percent for Sydney and then increased a little over it for Melbourne. Graph dipped for Brisbane and Adelaide and came around 50 percent for both and it was same as the graph for instant coffee.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task by summarising the main features of coffee and tea habits across the five Australian cities, providing an overview and making some comparisons. However, the report is uneven in its coverage and contains several inaccuracies in data reporting. For instance, the student states that Sydney fresh coffee consumption 'dominated at approximately 45 percent and then steadily decling for other cities', which misinterprets the data as a geographical sequence rather than discrete city figures. Furthermore, some data points lack precision or are inadequately supported, showing a tendency to present limited and under-developed ideas. To reach a higher level, the writer should ensure data is reported accurately as independent city values rather than a continuous trend across a map, and select key features more systematically.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a discernible overall arrangement and attempts to organise information into paragraphs, starting with an introduction and overview, followed by body paragraphs. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes hindered by mechanical and faulty cohesive devices, such as the abrupt transition 'However, more figures were recorded...' and repetitive phrasing. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like 'Brisbane percentage was around it too' which lacks a precise antecedent. Paragraphing structure is basic, and logical links between sentences need to be managed more smoothly. Achieving a higher band would require clearer referencing, a more logical progression of information, and more flexible, accurate use of cohesive devices to guide the reader effortlessly through the data.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic concepts related to percentages and consumption. However, the range of vocabulary is limited and repetitive, with frequent reliance on basic terms like 'figures', 'percentage', and 'consumption'. There are also noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'routines of people's' instead of 'habits of people', and spelling or word-form errors like 'decling' instead of 'declining'. Attempts to use less common vocabulary are sporadic and often inaccurate. To improve, the writer should incorporate a wider variety of precise reporting verbs and adjectives, and pay closer attention to word formation and collocation to ensure smoother expression.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures, relying primarily on simple sentences alongside some attempts at complex forms that are frequently faulty. There are noticeable grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, such as missing articles ('in Sydney consumption'), incorrect prepositions ('came around 50 percent'), and punctuation omissions (such as a missing space after a full stop in 'slowly.However'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to cause some difficulty for the reader. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to incorporate a wider variety of error-free complex sentence structures and exercise better control over grammatical boundaries, articles, and prepositions.

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

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