Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-01

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 percentages of residents in five Australian cities who bought fresh coffee, purchased instant coffee, or visited a cafe for coffe or tea during the previous fout weeks.

Overall, visting cafe for coffee and tea is the highest in every Austraillian city, while buying fresh coffee is the least in most cities. In contrast buying instant coffee in Adelaide city is only higher than visiting to a cafe for coffee or tea in last 4 weeks.

Firstly, buying fresh coffe is the lowest trend with 44% in Sydney, 42% in Melbourne thirdly, 34% in Brisbane. After that lastly 34.5% and 37% in Adelaide and Hobart in last 4 weeks,

Secondly, buying instamt coffe is a mid trend at 45% in Sydney following to 47% in Melbourne, 53% in Brisbane, while 50% in Adelaide only higher city than visting to a cafe. Lastly 54% in Hobart in last 4 weeks.

Lastly, the most highest trend is visting to a cafe for coffee or tea at 62% in Sydney in addition, 63.5% in Melbourne moreover, 56% in Brisbane, while 49.5% in Adelaide. Lastly 62.5% in Hobart in last 4 weeks in Austrialian cities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover all three categories across the five cities and include a clear overview: café visits are generally the most popular, while fresh coffee purchases are usually lowest. Most figures are close to the chart, and you correctly identify Adelaide as the exception where instant coffee purchases slightly exceed café visits. However, the overview says café visits are highest in every city, which is not true for Adelaide, and the claim that fresh coffee is lowest in most cities needs qualification because it is not the lowest in Sydney or Melbourne. Some comparisons are also unclear, such as calling instant coffee a “mid trend.” For a stronger response, make the overview fully accurate and select the most meaningful contrasts, including the high café figures in Melbourne and Hobart and Adelaide’s distinct pattern.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and separate paragraphs for the three survey categories. This makes the information broadly easy to locate. However, progression within the paragraphs is often mechanical: “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and repeated uses of “Lastly” mainly list cities rather than show meaningful relationships between the data. Some linking phrases are awkward or unclear, including “following to 47%” and “in addition, 63.5% … moreover.” The fresh-coffee paragraph also ends as an incomplete, poorly connected list. Group cities by a relevant comparison—for example, the higher café attendance in Melbourne and Hobart—and use fewer, more precise transitions to make the comparisons flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant task vocabulary such as “percentages,” “residents,” “purchased,” and “visited a cafe,” so the reader can identify the three activities being compared. However, the range is limited and several phrases are inaccurate or unnatural, including “mid trend,” “the most highest trend,” and “visiting to a cafe.” Repetition of “trend” and “lastly” also reduces precision. Spelling errors such as “coffe,” “instamt,” “Austraillian,” and “Austrialian” are noticeable and can distract the reader. Aim for accurate, conventional chart language: describe figures as proportions or percentages, and use verbs such as “accounted for,” “stood at,” or “was higher than.” Check spelling carefully, especially for repeated key terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some longer sentences and use comparison clauses, as in “while 50% in Adelaide only higher city than visiting to a cafe.” However, this construction is incomplete and its meaning is difficult to follow. Other sentences have problems with articles, verb forms and sentence boundaries; for example, “Overall, visting cafe … is the highest” needs a more complete grammatical structure, while “Lastly 54% in Hobart in last 4 weeks” is a fragment. The response relies heavily on lists and simple patterns, so the range of controlled sentence forms is limited. Practise complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and use accurate comparative structures such as “In Adelaide, the proportion buying instant coffee was slightly higher than the proportion visiting cafés.”

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