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 chart illustrates the information about the outcomes of the survey about people's coffee and tea purchasing and drinking habbits in five Australian towns, which are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and hobart.

Overall, it can be seen that percentage of city residents who went to cafe for coffee and tea in last 4 weeks was highest, except in Adelaide. While, percentage of individuals who bought fresh coffee was lowest in all cities.

To commence with, proportion of people who visit cafe for fresh coffee was highest in Sydney around 44%. which was dropped slightly in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide with percentage of 43%, 34%, and close to 35% respectively. In Hobart, this percentage rose marginally to above than 35% .

Turning to remaing details, people who bought instant coffee was rising continuously in all cities, which was 45%, 48%, and above than 50% in Brisbane and Hobart, except in Adelaide, which was 50%. Moreover, figure of people who went to cafe to drink coffee or tea was fluctuated.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the five cities and include an overview, noting that café visits were generally the most popular activity and fresh coffee purchases were usually the least popular. However, the overview needs greater precision: in Adelaide, café visits were not the highest, but fresh coffee was still the lowest, while instant coffee slightly exceeded café visits. Some details are also inaccurate or unclear. For example, fresh coffee in Sydney was about 44%, but the description that it “dropped” through Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide overlooks the rise to about 39% in Hobart. The claim that instant coffee was “rising continuously” is incorrect because the figures fluctuate across cities. Report the main comparisons accurately and describe the café figures rather than merely saying they “fluctuated.”

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs. Phrases such as “Overall,” “To commence with” and “Turning to” help signal the stages of the report. However, progression within the detail paragraphs is not always clear. The fresh-coffee paragraph moves through four cities and then Hobart, but the comparisons are not consistently framed, and the final paragraph combines instant-coffee figures with a vague statement about café visits. Some linking is also mechanical, particularly “Moreover,” before a point that is not developed. Group the data by activity and use clear comparisons between cities so readers can follow the trends without having to infer the relationships.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “proportion,” “percentage,” “purchasing” and “marginally,” and the main meaning is generally understandable. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, which limits precision. “People who visit cafe for fresh coffee” misrepresents the chart category, which is buying fresh coffee, while “figure … was fluctuated” is not a natural way to describe changing data. There are also spelling and form errors, including “habbits,” “hobart” and “remaing.” Aim for accurate chart language such as “the proportion who bought fresh coffee” and “the café-going figure varied,” and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some complex sentence forms, including the overview’s contrast beginning “While” and the sentence comparing fresh-coffee figures across cities. However, control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make relationships difficult to follow. For example, “which was dropped slightly” uses an incorrect passive construction for a changing figure, and “which was 45%, 48%, and above than 50%” does not form a clear grammatical comparison. The sentence fragment “which was dropped slightly…” begins after a full stop, and punctuation around “44%. which” is faulty. Articles and prepositions are also often missing, as in “went to cafe” and “in last 4 weeks.” Use complete sentences, check verb forms, and build comparisons with consistent grammatical patterns.

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

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