Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-15

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 5.0)

The bar chart compares the percentage of city residents purchasing tea,coffee and drinking habits in five different Australian cities.

Overall, visiting the cafe is most populer in most cities, while buying fresh coffee was the least popular. Adelaide the only city where purchasing instant coffee and visiting a cafe had almost same proportion.

Looking at the fresh coffee highest proportion of buyers at approximately 44%, followed by Melborne at at 42%. The figure for Hobart, Brisbance and Adelaide were considerably lower at around, 37%, 34% and 34% respectivily. Regarding instant coffee, Hobart accounted for the highest percentage 54%, while the Brisbane reached at 53% slighlty differnce in both. Adelaide is approximately 50%, while Melbourne and Sydney have lowest ratio 48% and $

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify relevant categories and make a useful overall comparison: café visits are generally the most popular, while fresh coffee is often the least popular. You also report several figures for fresh and instant coffee. However, the response is incomplete: it stops mid-sentence at “Sydney have lowest ratio 48% and $” and gives no café figures beyond the overview, so an important data series is not properly summarised. Some details are inaccurate or unclear, including calling 48% the lowest instant-coffee figure when Sydney is about 45.5%, and saying fresh coffee was least popular without noting exceptions. The response is also 28 words below the required minimum. Develop the café comparisons and complete the final comparison to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs beginning with fresh and instant coffee. Linking phrases such as “Overall,” “Looking at,” and “Regarding” help signal the topic of each section. However, progression is limited because the response ends abruptly during the instant-coffee comparison, and the café data are not developed in a separate, complete section. Some sentences are difficult to follow, particularly “Looking at the fresh coffee highest proportion of buyers…” and “Adelaide is approximately 50%,” where the relationship between the figures and cities is not clearly expressed. Use complete topic sentences, group the three categories systematically, and finish with a clear comparison of café attendance.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “percentage,” “proportion,” “buyers,” and “accounted for,” and you attempt to vary how comparisons are expressed. However, several word choices and spelling errors reduce precision: “most populer,” “Melborne,” “Brisbance,” “respectivily,” and “slighlty differnce.” “Lowest ratio” is also less natural here than “lowest proportion” or “lowest percentage.” The opening phrase “purchasing tea, coffee and drinking habits” is awkward and does not accurately describe the chart, which reports buying fresh or instant coffee and visiting cafés. Aim for accurate collocations and check spelling carefully; precise labels such as “bought fresh coffee” and “went to a café” will make the data easier to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response includes some simple and comparative sentence forms, and the overview attempts a more complex contrast using “while.” However, grammatical control is inconsistent, and several sentences are incomplete or missing essential words. For example, “Adelaide the only city where…” needs a verb (“Adelaide was the only city…”), while “Looking at the fresh coffee highest proportion of buyers…” lacks a clear grammatical structure. In “the Brisbane reached at 53%,” the article and verb pattern are faulty; “Brisbane reached 53%” would be clearer. There are also punctuation and spacing problems, such as “tea,coffee,” and the final sentence is unfinished. Practise complete subject–verb sentences and check articles, verb patterns, and sentence endings.

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