Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-21

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 chart compares the proportion of Australian residents buying and drining coffee and tea in last four weeks in five different Australian cities.

Overall, it is evident that the highest proportion is recorded for the residents went to a cafe for coffee or tea in last four weeks. While the Brisbane accounts the lowest proportion of people who bought fresh coffee in last four weeks, whereas Hobart experienced highest sale for instant coffee.

The data reveals five different cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart. The percentage of city residents who bought fresh coffee in last four weeks stood highest in Sydney, at roughly 43%, followed by Melbourne and Hobart, at approximately 42% and 37% respectively.

Moving further, the average proportion of people who bought instant coffee is experienced by the city Hobart at nearly 54%, while sydney people were seen least popular, which stood at approximately 45%. In stark contrast, the highest proportion of people in all five cities is recorded for the people who went to a cafe for coffee or tea. Melbourne accounts for marginally 64%, which marked the highest figure. Therefore,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s subject and provide an overview that correctly notes café visits as the most popular activity overall, as well as Hobart’s high instant-coffee figure. You also make relevant comparisons for fresh coffee and instant coffee. However, the overview is not fully accurate: Brisbane and Adelaide share the lowest fresh-coffee proportion, rather than Brisbane alone, and café attendance is not highest in every city; Adelaide’s café figure is below its instant-coffee figure. The report also gives only Melbourne’s café result and omits useful comparisons for the other cities. Develop the overview around the main contrasts across all three activities, and report the key café figures more completely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and paragraphs presenting data, and the information generally follows a sensible order. Some linking phrases, such as “Overall” and “Moving further,” help signal progression. However, the final paragraph combines instant-coffee and café data in a way that makes the comparison difficult to follow, and “In stark contrast” does not clearly express the relationship between those figures. The sentence beginning “Therefore,” is unfinished, disrupting the ending. The overview also contains a confusing “While … whereas” construction. Grouping the three activities more consistently and using precise links between comparisons would make the progression clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “proportion,” “approximately,” “accounts for,” and “in stark contrast,” so the chart’s subject is generally clear. There are also attempts at more formal reporting language. Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural, however: “drining” is a spelling error, “highest sale” is unsuitable for a percentage of residents, and “average proportion … is experienced by the city” is an awkward collocation. “Least popular” also describes preference rather than the lowest measured proportion. Choose precise verbs such as “recorded,” “stood at,” or “was highest,” and use “percentage of residents” when describing the data. These refinements would make your vocabulary more accurate and natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast structure with “While” and a sentence beginning “Moving further.” The main meaning is usually understandable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “the residents went to a cafe” needs a relative clause or a noun phrase such as “residents who went,” while “in last four weeks” is missing an article. The overview’s “While … whereas” joins two contrasting clauses awkwardly, and “Melbourne accounts for marginally 64%” has an unclear sentence structure. The final “Therefore,” is also left without a completed clause. Practise complete, well-controlled comparison sentences and check articles, clause links, and sentence endings.

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