Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-09

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 depicts the buying and drinking habit of coffee or tea in five different cities of Australia. Last month, people from all over the city seemed more interested in going to cafe. On the contrary, very less people are buying fresh coffee.

The graph suggests that just below 45% of residents from Sydney bought fresh coffee which is lowest in sydney but higher than any other city. Peoples buying instant coffee is slightly above 45% whereas almost 61% of the people from Sydney preferred to visit cafe for tea or a coffee in last 4 weeks.

Slightly below 65% of locale from Melbourne went to cafe last month which is the highest among the other city. Consumers buying instant coffee is less than 50% and just above 40% has bought fresh coffee.

50% to 56% of residents from Brisbane either bought instant coffee or they went to cafe to drink hot beverage last month. Only around 35% bought fresh coffee.

People from Adelaide seems almost equally interested in visiting cafe or buying instant coffee. However, less than 35% of consumers bought fresh coffee previous month. Majority of people from Hobart visit cafe which is between 60% to 65% of residents. Below 55% Bought instant coffee and above 35% bought fresh coffee.

To conclude, Melbourne has the highest percentage of people visiting cafe. Similarly, instant coffee was preferred more in Hobart and fresh coffee was sold most in Sydney.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover all three measures across the five cities and identify several important patterns, including café visits being highest in Melbourne and fresh coffee purchases being strongest in Sydney. Most figures are broadly consistent with the chart. However, the overview is not fully accurate: “very less people are buying fresh coffee” overgeneralises, since fresh coffee is not the lowest category in every city, and café visits are not the leading activity in Adelaide. The final claim that instant coffee was preferred most in Hobart is supported, but the comparison would be clearer if you noted that instant coffee exceeds fresh coffee in every city. Some city details are less fully developed, so prioritise the overall contrasts and report comparisons precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an opening summary, city-by-city details, and a concluding statement. This makes the information generally easy to follow. However, the progression is somewhat mechanical because most body paragraphs simply move from one city to the next, without grouping related comparisons across cities. Linking phrases such as “On the contrary,” “Similarly,” and “However” are used, but some do not express the relationship accurately; for example, “On the contrary” does not clearly connect the two opening observations. The conclusion also repeats points already made rather than synthesising the main trends. Grouping the data by category or highlighting the highest and lowest figures would create a clearer overall progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “residents,” “consumers,” “preferred,” and “percentage,” and the meaning is usually clear. There are, however, noticeable word-choice and collocation problems that make some descriptions less natural, such as “buying and drinking habit,” “locale from Melbourne,” and “hot beverage.” “People from all over the city” is also vague when describing survey results. Repetition of “bought” and “people” limits flexibility, while inconsistent capitalisation in “Bought instant coffee” affects presentation. Aim for precise chart language and natural collocations, such as “the proportion of residents who visited cafés” and “fresh coffee purchases.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and the main comparisons can generally be understood. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with agreement, articles, and verb forms. For example, “People from Adelaide seems” should be “People from Adelaide seem,” while “Slightly below 65% of locale” needs a grammatical noun phrase such as “Just under 65% of Melbourne residents.” Tense is also inconsistent: the chart reports activity “in the last four weeks,” but the response shifts between “bought,” “are buying,” and “visit.” Use past simple consistently for the survey period. These errors do not usually prevent understanding, but more reliable control of sentence patterns and punctuation would improve clarity.

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