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 table shows the outcomes of a survey related to people's coffee and tea purchasing and consuming habits in five australian cities

The survey was of about the last fore weeks and overall, visiting the cafe was the most popular choice in 4 of the cities, however in adelaide instant coffee purchases were almost equal to visting cafe.In all the cities fresh coffee the least favourite option.

About 63% of Melbourne residents went to a cafe for coffee or tea, which was almost same for Hobart, followed by Sydney. The lowest percentage was reported in adelaide at roughly 50%. Buying instant coffee was the second most popular option in almost all the cities, tge highest being recorded in Hobart at approximately 55% close to Brisbane. The lowest was recorded at Sydney at only 45%. A modest amount was sold at both Melbourne and Adelaide.

Fresh coffee was the leat brought item among all five cities. In sydney the highest sales of fresh coffee were noted around 44%. In other cities it was relatively low with being 34% at lowest in both Brisbane and Adelaide

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main pattern that café visits were generally the most popular activity and fresh coffee was the least popular, and you include relevant comparisons such as Melbourne and Hobart’s high café figures and Sydney’s relatively high fresh-coffee figure. However, the overview is not fully accurate: café visits were not the most popular in Adelaide, where instant coffee was slightly higher, and in Brisbane café visits also exceeded instant coffee. The claim that fresh coffee was the least favourite in every city is broadly supported, but the response gives limited coverage of the city-by-city contrasts. Develop the overview more precisely, then report the key highs and lows for all three categories without vague statements such as “a modest amount.”

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing café visits and coffee purchases. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression is uneven because the second paragraph combines café figures with instant-coffee comparisons, while the final paragraph returns to fresh coffee without a clear link to the preceding discussion. Some connections are also awkward or unclear, as in “followed by Sydney” and “close to Brisbane.” Organise the details consistently by category or by contrasting groups of cities, and use clearer linking phrases to show how each comparison relates to the previous one. This would make the overall arrangement more coherent and reduce the impression of a list.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “survey,” “percentage,” “residents,” “purchases,” and “most popular,” so the topic is generally clear. There is also some attempt to vary wording with phrases such as “the lowest percentage was reported” and “the highest sales … were noted.” However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, including “the table” for a bar chart, “consuming habits,” “a modest amount was sold,” and “the least brought item.” Spelling errors such as “fore,” “visting,” “tge,” “leat,” and “brought” also weaken control. Choose precise chart language and collocations: for example, say “proportion of residents who bought fresh coffee” rather than “sales … were noted.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including the contrast introduced by “however” and the relative clause in “the highest being recorded in Hobart.” Most of the intended comparisons remain understandable. However, errors in sentence boundaries, articles, and sentence construction occur often enough to make parts less smooth. For example, “in adelaide instant coffee purchases were almost equal to visting cafe.In all the cities…” needs punctuation and a clearer article structure; “which was almost same for Hobart” is missing “the”; and “In other cities it was relatively low with being 34% at lowest” is grammatically awkward. Practise complete, well-punctuated comparison sentences and check articles and prepositions before submitting.

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