Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-16

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 graph compares the proportions of tea and coffee drinking in Australia's five cities. Overall, people in most cities preferred coffee or tea. Meanwhile, buying coffee surged with a decline, and fresh coffee fluctuated.

To begin with, in Melbourne, Sydney, and Hobart, individuals went out to a cafe for coffee, with purchases above 60%, which was the highest in all the cities. Conversely, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart bought fresh coffee at less than 40%, which was the lowest.

Furthermore, in Brisbane and Hobart, more than half of the population bought instant coffee, while in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide about 45% or more bought instant coffee. S

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response identifies the chart’s general subject and includes some relevant comparisons, such as café attendance exceeding 60% in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart, and instant-coffee purchases exceeding 50% in Brisbane and Hobart. However, the overview is unclear and partly inaccurate: “people in most cities preferred coffee or tea” is not a meaningful comparison of the three measured behaviours, and “buying coffee surged with a decline” does not describe a clear chart trend. The fresh-coffee figures are also misreported: Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart are below 40%, but this is not the lowest category overall. The response omits key comparisons and is 43 words below the required minimum, leaving the task only minimally addressed. Include a precise overview and report the main highs, lows and contrasts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic structure: an opening statement and overview are followed by two paragraphs introduced with “To begin with” and “Furthermore.” These markers help the reader recognise that the response is moving between chart categories. However, the progression is limited, and the overview does not clearly prepare the reader for the comparisons that follow. Some statements combine cities or behaviours without explaining the comparison, as in “Conversely, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart bought fresh coffee at less than 40%, which was the lowest.” The final “S” is an unexplained fragment, and the response ends without a concluding comparison. Group the information more systematically—for example, café visits first, then fresh and instant coffee—and use linking phrases to show contrasts accurately.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses a reasonable range of chart-related vocabulary, including “proportions,” “preferred,” “fluctuated,” and “population,” and the main topic remains understandable. Some choices, however, are imprecise or unnatural for describing survey results. “People … preferred coffee or tea” suggests a preference that the chart does not measure, while “buying coffee surged with a decline” is unclear and does not convey a specific pattern. “Individuals went out to a cafe” is less precise than language describing the proportion who visited cafés. There is also repetition of “coffee” and “bought.” Use accurate reporting terms such as “the proportion who purchased” and “recorded the highest share,” and distinguish clearly between buying fresh coffee, buying instant coffee and visiting a café.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes both simple statements and some more developed structures, such as “Meanwhile, buying coffee surged with a decline” and the contrast introduced by “Conversely.” Most sentences are understandable, and basic tense and agreement are generally controlled. However, the range is limited, and some sentence constructions are awkward or incomplete. In “Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart bought fresh coffee at less than 40%,” the cities are made the grammatical buyers rather than the residents, which makes the meaning less precise. The final standalone “S” is also a punctuation and sentence-completion problem. Practise constructing comparisons with clear subjects—for example, “The proportion of residents buying fresh coffee was below 40% in…”—and check that every sentence is complete.

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

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