Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-14

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 describes the coffee and tea drinking habits of people in the last four weeks in urban areas of specific region, Australia.

Overall, majority of the society going to enjoy beverages in cafes. Most of the people bought fresh and minority of them purchased instant coffee to drink at home.

In Melbourne, Sydney, and Hobart, more than 60% people enjoy beverages at cafes, 55% residents in Brisbane and almost 50% citizens enjoy it in Adelaide. In Brisbane and Hobartmore than 50% people bought instant coffee, 50% in Adelaide, Higher than 45% in Melbourne and almost 45% in Sydney, in the previous four weeks. Fresh coffee bought by roughly 45% in Sydney and Melbourne. In Hobart, more than 35% are those who bought fresh coffee to take at home, while in Brisbane and Adelaide, fresh coffe sold at lower rate approximately 35% which is same in both cities of the Australia.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main categories and make relevant comparisons across the five cities, including the high café figures in Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart and the lower fresh-coffee figures in Brisbane and Adelaide. Most reported values are broadly consistent with the chart. However, the overview is inaccurate: “Most of the people bought fresh and minority of them purchased instant coffee” reverses the overall pattern, since instant coffee purchases are higher than fresh coffee purchases in every city. The response also gives limited detail about the café series and does not clearly compare the three activities overall. A more accurate overview, followed by a few carefully selected comparisons, would make the summary more complete and precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, an overview and a paragraph of city comparisons. This helps the reader identify the topic and follow the broad categories. However, progression within the final paragraph is difficult to track because the discussion moves from café visits to instant coffee and then fresh coffee in long, loosely connected sentences. The sequence “In Brisbane and Hobart… 50% in Adelaide, Higher than 45%…” also lacks clear linking and punctuation. Grouping the information by activity, and using clear comparison signals such as “by contrast” or “whereas,” would make the relationships easier to follow. Clearer sentence boundaries and paragraph development would strengthen the organisation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “bar graph,” “residents,” “purchased,” and “approximately,” and the reader can generally understand which behaviours are being compared. However, several choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing survey data. “Majority of the society” is not an appropriate way to refer to city residents, while “enjoy beverages” does not accurately describe the chart’s measure of visiting a café. “Fresh coffee sold at lower rate” suggests sales data rather than the percentage of residents who bought it. There is also a spelling error in “coffe.” Use precise terms such as “proportion of residents,” “visited a café,” and “bought fresh coffee” consistently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer comparative sentences, and the main message is usually recoverable. However, some errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles and punctuation reduce accuracy. For example, “Overall, majority of the society going” is missing an article and a finite verb; “more than 60% people” needs “of”; and “Hobartmore” needs a space. The sentence beginning “In Brisbane and Hobart…” becomes a fragment-like list, with “Higher” incorrectly capitalised after a comma. There is also inconsistent use of complete clauses, as in “Fresh coffee bought by roughly 45%.” Practise forming complete subject–verb sentences and checking articles, agreement and punctuation in comparisons.

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