Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

The chart below shows the result of the survey of five countries Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart.

The chart shows the percentage of people who bought coffee instant coffee and people who went to a cafe for coffee or tea in last four weeks. The people who bought fresh coffee was shown by black line. The people who went to a cafe for coffee or tea was shown by grey colour. The people who bought instant coffee was shown by gridlines.

In Sydney above 40 percent people bought fresh coffeein last four weeks. More then 45 percent people bought instant coffee while the rest of the 62 percent people went to a caffee for tea or coffee.

In Melbourne less than 45 percent bought fresh coffee or tea while more than 50 percent people bought instant coffee. Approximately 63 percent people went to cafe for coffee or tea. In Brisbane less than 35 percent people bought fresh coffee while more less than 55 percent people bought instant coffee. About 63 percent people went to cafe for tea or coffee.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response identifies the chart’s general subject and reports some relevant figures for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, including café visits and coffee purchases. However, it covers only three of the five cities, omitting Adelaide and Hobart, and gives no clear overview of the main patterns. Some details are inaccurate: Melbourne’s café figure is about 63.5%, but Brisbane’s is about 55.5%, not approximately 63%; the Sydney figure is closer to 61% than 62%. The opening also mislabels the cities as “countries.” To improve, summarise the overall pattern—for example, café visits are highest in Melbourne and Hobart, while instant coffee purchases lead in most cities—and compare all five cities accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic sequence: it introduces the chart and then describes cities one by one. This gives the reader some sense of organisation, and repeated city names help identify the subject of each detail. However, there is no distinct overview, and the city-by-city account stops after Brisbane, so the progression feels incomplete. Connections between ideas are also limited; phrases such as “while” provide some contrast, but “the rest of the 62 percent” does not clearly show how the figures relate. Use a clear introduction, an overview paragraph, and grouped comparisons of the five cities, with accurate linking expressions to make the relationships easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary is sufficient to identify the main chart categories, using terms such as “fresh coffee,” “instant coffee,” “percentage,” and “bought.” However, the range is limited and some choices are inaccurate or repetitive. Calling the cities “countries” misrepresents the information, while “the rest of the 62 percent” is an unclear way to describe the café figure. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “caffee,” and the repeated phrase “went to cafe for tea or coffee” could be expressed more precisely. Aim for accurate chart language such as “proportion,” “visited a café,” and “accounted for,” while checking spelling and avoiding unnecessary repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response uses mostly simple sentence patterns, including “In Sydney above 40 percent people bought fresh coffee” and “Approximately 63 percent people went to cafe.” These are generally understandable, but recurring errors in articles and sentence construction make the writing less controlled. For example, use “over 40 percent of people” and “went to a café”; “The people who bought fresh coffee was shown” also has subject–verb agreement trouble and an awkward passive construction. The sentence beginning “In Melbourne less than 45 percent bought fresh coffee or tea” is structurally unclear because it combines the coffee-purchase category with “or tea.” Practise accurate comparative sentences and vary them with controlled complex structures.

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