Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-13

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 provided data displays the final results of a survey about individuals' coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in five distinct Australian cities.

Overall, it is immediately apparent that over last 4 weeks, people who went to a cafe in almost all cities accounted for the largest share, except in Adelaide. And the smallest figure throughtout five cities was about people who bought fresh coffee.

In Sydney and Melbourne, the lowest percentage was over people who bought a fresh coffee at approximately 44%. People who bought instant coffee accounted for almost 45%. However, the largest figure in this city was for people who entered cafe and ordered a cafe to a tea and this share registered at around 62%.

People who bought fresh coffee remained the lowest proportion among the cities. In Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart recorded almost the same proportion in figure of buying fresh coffee. By contrast, Adelaide recorded a slight higher share in the part of buyimg instant coffee compared to other figures.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad pattern that café visits were generally the most popular activity and fresh coffee purchases were often the least popular. However, the overview is not fully accurate: Adelaide is not the exception to café visits being the largest category, since its café figure (about 50%) is also marginally above instant coffee (about 50%) and clearly above fresh coffee. The claim that fresh coffee was the smallest figure throughout is also too broad: in Sydney, fresh coffee (about 44%) is slightly below instant coffee (about 46%), but in other cities it is generally the lowest category. Several key comparisons are missing, especially Hobart and Melbourne’s high café figures and Brisbane’s relatively low one. Develop the overview around these contrasts and support it with accurate city-by-city data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an opening, an overview and detail paragraphs, so there is some organisation, and phrases such as “Overall” and “By contrast” signal relationships. However, the progression is difficult to follow because the details are incomplete and the final paragraph groups Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart without clearly comparing their figures. “In Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart recorded…” is also an unclear construction, making it hard to see which city is being described. The discussion of Sydney and Melbourne shifts between them without giving a clear comparison, and the response ends without a concluding synthesis. Organise the body by meaningful comparisons—for example, café attendance across cities, followed by fresh and instant coffee purchases—and use references that make each comparison explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “percentage,” “proportion,” “share” and “accounted for,” which helps communicate the chart’s subject. However, the range is limited by repeated references to “figure,” “people who bought” and “share,” and several expressions are unnatural or imprecise, such as “entered cafe and ordered a cafe to a tea” and “in the part of buyimg instant coffee.” There is also a spelling error in “throughtout” and “buyimg.” Use concise chart language and accurate collocations, such as “visited a café,” “the proportion purchasing instant coffee,” and “the highest/lowest percentage.” This would make the comparisons clearer and more natural while retaining the relevant vocabulary you already use.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

There are attempts at complex sentence forms, including “Overall, it is immediately apparent that…” and “By contrast…,” and the main message is generally understandable. However, sentence control is uneven, with errors in articles, agreement and clause construction. For example, “over last 4 weeks” needs an article, while “In Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart recorded…” does not form a complete, well-structured comparison. The sentence beginning “Overall” also joins ideas awkwardly, and “the lowest percentage was over people” uses an unclear grammatical pattern. Practise building direct comparison sentences with a clear subject and verb, such as “Fresh-coffee purchases were lowest in Brisbane and Adelaide.” Check articles and sentence boundaries, and vary structures without making them difficult to control.

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

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