Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-19

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 ILLUSTRATES THE PROPORTION OF PEOPLE FROM FIVE DIFFERENT AUSTRALIAN CITIES SYDNEY,MELBOURNE,BRISBANE,ADELAIDE,HOBART WHO CHOOSE BUY FRESH COFFEE,PURCHAISE INSTANT COFFEE OR GO TO CAFE FOR TEA OR COFFEE IN LAST FOUR WEEKS.

OVERALL PEOPLE IN HOBART ,MELBOURNE,SYDNEY MOST PREFERED TO GO OUTSIDE FOR TEA OR COFFEE BUT LESS COMMON TO FRESH COFFEE.HOWEVER PEOPLE RESIDENT IN BRISBANE AND ADELAIDE MOST CHOOSE TO GO COFFE AND TEA BARS TO BOUGHT THEIR FAVOURITE HOT DRINKS AND LEAST CONTRIBUTED FOR FRESH COFFEE IN LAST FOUR WEEKS.MEANWHILE PERCENTAGES OF PERSONS FROM FIVE CITIES WHO BOUGHT INSTANT COFFEE REMAIN STABLE IN BETWEEN 45% TO 59% .

OVERALL HOBART 64% AND MELBOURNE 62 % STOOD AT TOP WHO WENT TO A CAFE IN CONTAST BRISBANE 33% AND ADELAIDE 34% FOR FRESH COFFEE IN LAST FOUR WEEKS.IN ADDITION PEOPLE LIVING IN ADELAIDE ALMOST EQUALLY CHOOSE TO WENT TO A CAFE 49% , FELL SLIGHTLY 48% TO BUY INSTANT COFFE OVER THE PERIOD OF TIME OR LAST FOUR WEEKS .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the three activities and give an overview, noting that café visits are generally popular and fresh coffee is comparatively less common. However, the overview is not consistently accurate: Brisbane and Adelaide do not have café-going as their most popular activity; in Adelaide, café visits are slightly below instant-coffee purchases, and in Brisbane instant coffee is highest. Several figures are also misreported: Hobart’s café figure is about 63%, not 64%, while Brisbane’s café figure is about 56%, not 33%; 33–35% refers to fresh coffee in Brisbane and Adelaide. The response therefore selects relevant features but reports some comparisons unclearly or inaccurately. A clearer overview and more reliable comparisons across all five cities would strengthen the report.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has some organisation: it begins with an introduction, follows with an overview, and then gives a further comparison focused on café visits and Adelaide. However, the progression is difficult to follow because the second paragraph repeats “OVERALL” and combines several unrelated comparisons in long sentences. For example, the sentence beginning “OVERALL HOBART 64%...” moves from café figures to fresh-coffee figures without clearly signalling the change. Linking phrases such as “in contrast” and “in addition” are attempted, but some do not accurately express the relationship between the data. Use a clear overview paragraph followed by two paragraphs grouped by activity or city, and make each comparison explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “proportion,” “instant coffee,” “percentages,” and “in contrast,” so the reader can recognise the subject and intended comparisons. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning difficult to interpret. Phrases such as “most prefered to go outside,” “least contributed for fresh coffee,” and “choose to went to a cafe” are not natural ways to describe survey results. Spelling errors, including “purchaise,” “contast,” and “coffe,” also reduce clarity. Prefer precise reporting language such as “the proportion who visited a café” and “the lowest figure was for fresh coffee,” and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, including a contrast introduced by “However” and a comparison beginning “In addition.” Nevertheless, sentence structures are often faulty, and errors can make relationships between figures unclear. For example, “who choose buy” lacks the required infinitive form, while “people resident in Brisbane and Adelaide most choose to go” has an unclear structure. The phrase “choose to went” also uses an incorrect verb form, and punctuation and spacing around commas and percentages are inconsistent. Build sentences around a clear subject and verb—for example, “The proportion of residents who visited a café was highest in Hobart”—then add comparisons in a separate clause. More accurate control of verb forms, articles, and sentence boundaries is needed.

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