Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Here we have a diagram which shows the results of a survey about people’s coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in five Australian cities.

Comparing the results we can see that the figure for the survey option "bought fresh coffee in last 4 weeks" is the least popular amoung the responders, it's not higher than 45% approximately and almost equal in Brisbane and Adelaide (33-34%).

The habit of going to a cafe for coffee or tea is the most popular respond in all Australian cities in this option, excluding Adelaide. In this city the differance between "instant coffee" and "cafe" almost invisible, it's about one or two percents more for the first one.

Looking closely at the data, we can notice that the gap between the "cafe" option and two other options is about 15% in Sydney and Melbourne. At the same time in these cities the percentage of respondents for "instant" and "fresh" coffee almost equal.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify relevant comparisons, including fresh coffee being the least popular option overall and café visits leading in most cities, with Adelaide as the exception. However, the overview is incomplete: café attendance is also the highest in Hobart, and the response gives few comparisons across all five cities or a clear summary of the main highs and lows. Some figures are inaccurate: fresh coffee in Brisbane and Adelaide is about 34.5%, not 33–34%, and the café–instant gap in Adelaide is closer to 0.5 percentage points than one or two. The response is 139 words, below the 150-word minimum. Add a fuller overview and accurate key figures to develop the task more completely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic, understandable progression: it introduces the chart, discusses fresh coffee, then café visits and selected comparisons. Paragraph breaks help separate these points, and phrases such as “At the same time” signal a relationship between ideas. However, the organisation does not yet provide a clear overview followed by systematically grouped details. The final paragraph returns to Sydney and Melbourne without covering the remaining cities, so the progression feels incomplete. Some linking is also awkward, particularly “The habit of going to a cafe… is the most popular respond… excluding Adelaide,” where the exception could be stated more directly. Organise the report around an overview and then compare the cities or categories consistently.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “figure,” “percentage,” “gap,” and “respondents,” and the repeated category labels make the comparisons understandable. There is some attempt to vary expression through phrases such as “Looking closely at the data.” However, several word-choice and spelling problems reduce precision: “respond” is not the right noun in “most popular respond,” “amoung” and “differance” are misspelled, and “cafe option” is less precise than “café visits.” “Almost invisible” is also an informal, imprecise way to describe a small difference. Use accurate collocations and proofread spelling so the vocabulary is more controlled and suitable for an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mixture of simple statements and more complex structures, including “Comparing the results we can see that…” and “At the same time…,” and the main meaning is generally clear. Some grammatical errors remain. For example, “the figure … is the least popular” mismatches a figure with a habit, while “The habit … is the most popular respond” has an unclear grammatical construction. The sentence beginning “In this city the differance…” also uses a comma to join two independent clauses, and “one or two percents” has an incorrect plural form. These issues rarely prevent understanding, but they limit accuracy. Build comparisons with clear subjects and check sentence boundaries, agreement, and singular/plural forms.

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

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