Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-29

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 illustrates the survey results about the preferences between coffee and tea as well as their drinking habits from five of the major cities in Australian namely, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart. Overall, it shows that there is a cafe culture in all the cities topping the charts except for Adelaide where cafe' visits were slightly surpassed by buying instant coffee in the last month. Melbourne had the highest percentage of people who went to a cafe', and as for those that bought instant coffee Brisbane recorded the largest propotion and lastly Sydney recording the largest percentage of buying fresh coffee.

Melbourne recorded the largest proportion at about 63% of its residents visiting the cafe coffee or tea, Hobart is right behind with approximately 62%.In contrast Melbourne and Sydney have the same margin in difference of cafe' goers and buying instant coffee, although the percentage fof Sydney's cafe patrons is slightly lower.

Instant coffee shows that it is the least popular choice in all the cities with Adelaide and Brisbane recording just below 35% each. Although Adelaide had a higher record of residents who bought instant coffee compared to cafe' goers

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important patterns, including café visits leading in most cities and Adelaide being the exception, where instant coffee slightly exceeds café attendance. You also correctly note Melbourne’s high café figure and Sydney’s relatively high fresh-coffee figure. However, some comparisons are inaccurate or unclear: Brisbane, not Adelaide, has the lowest café-attendance figure, and instant coffee is not the least popular choice overall; fresh coffee is lower in four cities. The statement that Brisbane has the largest proportion buying instant coffee is also incorrect, as Hobart is highest. The response therefore reports relevant features but does not consistently select and describe them accurately, and some points—especially the comparison involving Melbourne and Sydney—are underdeveloped.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an identifiable opening, an overview, and further comparisons, and expressions such as “Overall” and “In contrast” show an attempt to guide the reader. However, progression is difficult to follow because the body paragraphs do not organise the three categories or city comparisons consistently. The final paragraph begins by saying instant coffee is least popular, then gives figures that actually refer to fresh coffee, and ends with an incomplete comparison about Adelaide. Some linking is also confusing: the sentence about Melbourne and Sydney having “the same margin in difference” does not make the relationship clear. Group the overview first, then compare café attendance, instant coffee and fresh coffee in a logical sequence, using links only where they clarify the comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonably varied range for describing survey data, including “proportion,” “recorded,” “surpassed,” and “café patrons.” These choices show an effort to use more precise reporting language than basic terms such as “more” or “less.” However, several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “preferences between coffee and tea,” “topping the charts,” and “largest propotion.” “Instant coffee shows that it is the least popular choice” also mislabels the comparison and weakens precision. Spelling slips such as “propotion” and “fof,” along with inconsistent forms of “café,” reduce control. Aim for standard chart language such as “the proportion who visited a café” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of sentence forms, including a complex overview with “except for Adelaide where…” and a contrast introduced by “Although.” Meaning is generally recoverable, but some sentence structures are incomplete or difficult to control. The final clause, “Although Adelaide had a higher record…,” is left unfinished, while “Melbourne recorded the largest proportion… Hobart is right behind” joins two ideas without a clear sentence boundary. There are also errors in articles and phrasing, for example “from five of the major cities in Australian,” and punctuation spacing is inconsistent, as in “62%.In contrast.” Use complete sentences, check that subordinate clauses have a main clause, and separate comparisons with clear punctuation.

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