Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-17

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 6.0)

The graph illustrates tea/coffee consumption habits in five different Australian cities. These cities include Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart. Melbourne has the highest percentage (nearly 65%) of people who drank coffee in the last 4 weeks, whereas Hobart has the highest percentage (nearly 55%) of people who drank instant coffee in the same time period. As for cafes, Sydney tops that list, where nearly 45% people went to a cafe in the last 4 weeks.

All the cities except Adelaide preferred going to a cafe in the last month, including over 60% of people from Hobart, nearly 60% from Sydney, and 55% from Brisbane, following people from Melbourne who are at the top in terms of going to a cafe.

50% of people from Adelaide drank instant coffee in the last 4 weeks, along with 55% from Brisbane, 55% from Hobart, nearly 50% from Melbourne, and a little short of 45% in Sydney. On the other hand, buying coffee was the least attractive option throughout all 5 cities in the past 4 weeks. With less than 35% of people drinking it in both Brisbane and Adelaide. While, more than 35% of Hobart drank it, along with more than 40% of both Melbourne and Sydney.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the cities and report several relevant comparisons, including the high café-going figures in Hobart and Melbourne and the relatively low fresh-coffee figures in Brisbane and Adelaide. However, the opening contains important misreadings: nearly 65% in Melbourne refers to café visits, not people who drank coffee, and Sydney—not Hobart—has the highest café figure, at about 61%. The statement that Sydney tops the café list at nearly 45% confuses its fresh-coffee figure with café visits. The overview is also unclear because “drank coffee” does not distinguish fresh from instant coffee, and the claim that buying coffee was least attractive overlooks that café visits are higher in every city. Select the three categories accurately and summarise their overall patterns before giving details.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable paragraph structure: an introduction, a paragraph about café visits, and a final paragraph comparing instant and fresh coffee. This gives the reader some organisation, and phrases such as “On the other hand” signal contrast. However, the progression is weakened by the inaccurate and confusing comparisons in the opening, which make it difficult to understand which category is being discussed. The second paragraph also repeats café information without clearly connecting it to the overview, while the final paragraph combines two categories in a way that obscures the comparison. Use one clear overview paragraph, then group the detailed comparisons by category or by meaningful similarities, with explicit references to each series.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “percentage,” “preferred,” “tops that list,” and “least attractive option,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There is some flexibility in describing quantities through “nearly,” “over,” and “a little short of.” However, several choices are imprecise for a chart report: “drank coffee” blurs the distinction between buying fresh coffee and buying instant coffee, while “preferred” and “least attractive” suggest preferences that the survey does not directly establish. “People from” is also repeated where “residents” would be more concise. To strengthen precision, use the chart’s category labels consistently and choose neutral reporting language such as “recorded,” “bought,” and “visited.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast clause with “whereas” and a sentence beginning “While.” Most of the message remains understandable, and the time references are generally controlled. Some grammatical errors and awkward constructions remain. For example, “nearly 45% people” needs “of” (“nearly 45% of people”), and “more than 35% of Hobart” should refer to residents (“more than 35% of residents in Hobart”). The final sentence beginning “While” is a fragment because it is not joined to a main clause. There is also an unclear construction in “following people from Melbourne who are at the top.” Check that each sentence has a complete main clause and that percentage phrases are formed accurately.

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