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 chart illustrates the fesults of a survey about people's coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in tive Australian cities namely, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart.

Overall, it can clearly be seen that going to cafe for tea or coffee was the highest while buying fresh coffee was the least common.

Visiting cafe for coffee was the highest in Melbourne and Hobart at roughly 65%, followed by Sydney at above 60%. Meanwhile, in Brisbane and Adelaide were the least at 55% and 45%.

Following that, buying instant coffee was the highest in Hobart and Brisbane at almost 55% and above 50% However, Adelaide and Melbourne were the consistent at 50%. Sydney was the lowest at 45% in buying instant coffee.

In contrast, fresh coffee was the least and same in Brisbane and Adelaide roughly at 35% and Hobart was at almost 40%. After that Sydney and Melbourne were he highest at 45%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s subject and give an overview, correctly noting that café visits are generally the most popular activity and fresh-coffee purchases the least common. You also compare several cities and categories. However, some details are inaccurate: café visits peak in Melbourne at about 63.5%, not roughly 65% jointly with Hobart, and Adelaide is about 49.5%, not 45%. For instant coffee, Melbourne is about 48.5%, rather than 50%, and Sydney is about 45.5%. The response is also three words below the 150-word minimum; the eight words copied from the task prompt are excluded. More precise reporting and a fuller overview would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs comparing café visits, instant coffee, and fresh coffee. This helps the reader follow the main categories. However, progression within the comparisons is sometimes unclear. For example, “Following that” does not clearly show how the instant-coffee figures relate to the previous paragraph, and “In contrast” introduces fresh coffee without explaining the basis of the contrast. Some links are also awkward or incomplete, as in “Meanwhile, in Brisbane and Adelaide were the least.” Grouping the figures more consistently and using clear comparison links would improve the flow and make relationships between cities easier to understand.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “survey,” “buying instant coffee,” “fresh coffee,” and “roughly,” so the topic is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several expressions are imprecise or repetitive. “Going to cafe” and “Visiting cafe” could be expressed more naturally as “visiting a café” or “going to cafés,” while “were the consistent at 50%” does not clearly convey the intended comparison. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “fesults,” “tive,” and “he.” Aim for accurate spelling and more precise language for describing proportions and rankings; this will make the comparisons clearer without requiring unnecessarily complex vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and the overall meaning is usually understandable. However, errors recur in sentence construction, articles, and punctuation. For example, “Meanwhile, in Brisbane and Adelaide were the least” has an incomplete structure, while “going to cafe” is missing an article. The sentence beginning “Following that” runs into the next sentence without clear punctuation after “above 50%,” and “Adelaide and Melbourne were the consistent” has an incorrect grammatical construction. These issues sometimes make comparisons harder to follow. Practise complete subject–verb structures, article use, and sentence boundaries, while retaining the clear basic organisation you already show.

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

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