Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-08

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 percentage of five different city residents (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart) drinking habits such as coffee and tea and purchasing with different preferences (takeaway of fresh coffee, instant coffee, and coffee or tea or in place).

Overall, consumption of tea or coffee rate is high in all cities. Especially, in Melbourne and Hobart majority of people preferred to have coffee or tea in cafe compared to other cities. Meanwhile Hobart and Melbourne are also second leading in category of people buying instant coffee and fresh coffee respectively. Lastly, Adelaide being least in all three categories.

To begin with, Melbourne and Harbort accounted highest percentage approximately 64% and 63% in coffee or tea consumption within the cafe respectively, whereas Brisbane and Hobart residents accounted for highest percentage approximately 53 and 54 respectively. Additionally, Melbourne again with Sydney had approximately 43% and 44% respectively which was highest instant coffee purchases compared to other cities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the three measures and give an overview, noting that café visits are generally high and that Adelaide is low in some categories. However, the overview contains important inaccuracies: Adelaide is not the lowest for all three measures, since its fresh-coffee figure is level with Brisbane, and Hobart—not Melbourne—is among the highest for instant coffee. The body also confuses the series: the figures of about 53% and 54% refer to instant coffee in Brisbane and Hobart, not café visits, while 43% and 44% are fresh-coffee figures for Melbourne and Sydney, not instant coffee. As a result, the main comparisons are only partially reported and some data are misrepresented. Clearly identify each category before comparing its city figures, and include the café figures accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and a body paragraph, and signposts such as “Overall,” “To begin with” and “Additionally” help indicate movement between points. However, the progression is not consistently clear because the body shifts between categories without naming them accurately. For example, “53 and 54” follows a statement about café visits but actually describes instant-coffee purchases, and the next sentence labels fresh-coffee figures as instant coffee. This makes the comparisons difficult to follow. The overview also strings together several points with “Meanwhile” and “Lastly” rather than grouping the main patterns. Organise the body by measure, and use clear references such as “for instant coffee” before presenting each comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “percentage,” “accounted,” “category” and “purchasing,” so the reader can recognise the subject and intended comparisons. Some choices, however, are inaccurate or unnatural for describing this chart. “Drinking habits” does not precisely cover the survey’s buying and café-going measures, while “takeaway of fresh coffee” is not shown in the data. Phrases such as “second leading” and “consumption … rate” are also awkward, and “Harbort” is a spelling error for Hobart. These issues reduce precision, especially when combined with the category mix-ups. Prefer standard chart language such as “the proportion who bought” and “the highest share,” and check city names and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a contrast introduced by “whereas” and an overview beginning “Meanwhile.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in sentence construction and agreement occur often enough to make some statements awkward. For example, “the percentage of five different city residents … drinking habits” lacks a clear grammatical link between the percentage and the habits, and “Adelaide being least” is an incomplete construction. In “Melbourne and Harbort accounted highest percentage,” the article and preposition pattern are missing; “Melbourne again with Sydney had” is also difficult to parse. Practise complete comparison structures, for example, “The figures for Melbourne and Hobart were the highest, at …,” and check articles, plurals and subject–verb relationships.

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