Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

The provided bar graph illustrates the results of a survey about people's coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in five Australian cities: Sydney,Melbourne,Brisbane,Adelaide and Hobart over a period of 4 weeks. Overall, a high proportion of Australian citizens visited a cafe for tea or coffee in all five cities.Moreover, instant coffee is more preferred

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The opening identifies the chart’s subject and names all five cities, and the overview begins to note that café visits were common. However, the response stops mid-sentence at “instant coffee is more preferred,” so it does not complete the overview or report the main comparisons and figures. It also gives no city-by-city details, such as café attendance being highest in Melbourne and Hobart, or instant coffee purchases exceeding fresh coffee purchases in every city. The response is only 44 words, well below the required 150; 11 words copied from the task prompt were excluded from that count. To address the task, complete the overview and select several accurate comparisons supported by approximate figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a recognisable opening: it introduces the bar chart and lists the cities, then attempts to move to an overall observation with “Overall.” This provides a basic starting point for organising a Task 1 report. However, the text ends abruptly after “Moreover, instant coffee is more preferred,” leaving the second point incomplete and preventing any progression from overview to supporting details. There are no paragraphs or comparisons to connect, and the comma spacing in “Sydney,Melbourne” also makes the presentation less polished. Develop a clear sequence—introduction, overview, then grouped comparisons—and use linking expressions only where they clarify the relationship between complete ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses relevant topic vocabulary, including “bar graph,” “survey,” “proportion,” and “visited a cafe,” so the subject is generally clear. It also attempts to describe a preference with “instant coffee is more preferred.” However, the vocabulary range is very limited because the response is so short, and that final phrase is incomplete and not a natural way to report the chart’s data. The wording “Australian citizens” is also less precise than “residents,” which matches the chart’s population. Build a wider set of accurate reporting phrases, such as “the proportion who bought,” “recorded the highest figure,” and “was more popular than,” and use them to describe specific comparisons.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The first sentence is a complete, understandable sentence, using a present-tense reporting verb (“illustrates”) and a subordinate phrase describing the survey. The next sentence also begins with a clear overview marker, “Overall.” However, the response offers too little evidence of grammatical range, and it ends with the incomplete construction “Moreover, instant coffee is more preferred,” which has no completed comparison or supporting clause. There is also a missing space after the comma in the city list. Aim to write complete sentences that compare the categories and cities, varying simple statements with accurate comparative structures—for example, “Café visits were more common than fresh-coffee purchases in each city.”

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.