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 consumption and buying behaviour of people towards coffee,tea and drinks across five different cities of Austrailia.Overall,what stands out of the graph is that people cafes remained among the highest sale of coffee followed by instant coffee sales.While fresh coffee sales were the least over the given period.

Looking at the details, indviduals in Sydney consumed coffee in cafes nearly 60% while this figure for instant and fresh coffee remained nearly equal to 44-45% approximately.The similar trend is evident in the Melborune city just with a slight change of 1 % in overall consumption of coffee.By contrast, the other two cities of austrailia showed a similar following a slight decrease in figure roughly 1% of the instant coffee sales in Brisbane.Lastly, Hobart recorded 65% cafe sales, with 55% of instant coffee along with an exception of fresh coffee sales at 33% approximately.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You provide an overview that identifies café visits as the most popular activity overall and fresh coffee purchases as generally lower, which captures an important broad pattern. However, the report is incomplete and several comparisons are unclear or inaccurate. For example, fresh coffee in Hobart was about 38.5%, not 33%, and café figures were highest in Melbourne and Hobart at roughly 63%, rather than Hobart alone at 65%. The statement about Brisbane and Adelaide does not explain their results clearly, and the response gives little account of Adelaide. The required minimum of 150 words is also not met. To strengthen the report, include a precise overview and compare the main highs, lows, and city differences using accurate figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an opening overview is followed by a paragraph of city-specific details, and phrases such as “Overall,” “Looking at the details,” and “By contrast” help signal movement between ideas. This gives the reader some organisation. However, progression becomes difficult to follow in sentences such as “the other two cities … showed a similar following a slight decrease,” where the comparison is not completed or clearly linked to the data. The final sentence also combines several figures without explaining how they compare. Use one clear comparison at a time, group cities with similar results, and make references such as “this figure” explicit. More logical sequencing would make the report easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of task-related vocabulary, including “consumption,” “recorded,” “figure,” and “approximately,” and the reader can generally identify that the response concerns coffee purchases and café visits. However, several choices are inaccurate or awkward for describing this chart. “People cafes” and “highest sale” do not express café attendance clearly, while “consumed coffee in cafes” changes the chart’s measure of having visited a café for coffee or tea. There are also spelling errors, including “Austrailia,” “indviduals,” and “Melborune.” Aim for precise, natural phrases such as “the proportion who visited a café” and “bought instant coffee.” Check spelling and avoid using sales or consumption when the chart reports survey responses.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast introduced by “While” and a comparison beginning “By contrast.” The main message is usually understandable, but errors in sentence construction and punctuation recur. For example, “Overall,what stands out of the graph is that people cafes remained…” lacks clear grammatical structure, and “the other two cities … showed a similar following” is incomplete. Several sentences also run together because spaces are missing after punctuation, as in “Austrailia.Overall” and “coffee,tea.” Work on complete clauses, articles and prepositions, and use commas and full stops to separate ideas. More accurate sentence patterns would make your comparisons clearer.

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