Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-03

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 results of a questionnaire about the purchasing and consuming habits of coffee and tea in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart.

As an overall trend, Melbourne and Hobart had a higher number of buying and drinking in tea and coffee. Whereas Brisbane and Adelaide ranked the lowest in this survey.

The people in Melbourne bought 43% coffee in the last 4 weeks which is less than from Sydney's people who bought 44%. Meanwhile, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart buy coffee 34% and 37% respectively. In addition, the highest number of people who bought instant coffee is in Hobart with an approximate rate of 54 percent, Brisbane is on number two with an average of 53%. The least buying country was Sydney with a figure of 45%.

Additionally, the citizens who went in cafe for coffee was in Melbourne with a number of 64 percent and Sydney follows it with an average of 61%. The three other countries had also experienced the upward trend in this method of coffee consumption.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the chart’s subject and report several relevant comparisons, including café visits being highest in Melbourne and Sydney and instant-coffee purchases peaking in Hobart. However, the overview is not sufficiently accurate or complete: saying Melbourne and Hobart had higher “buying and drinking” overlooks that café attendance is highest in Melbourne and Hobart, while fresh-coffee purchases are relatively low there. Some figures are also unclear or inaccurate: “Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart buy coffee 34% and 37% respectively” gives three cities only two values, and the chart shows Hobart at about 38.5%. The final claim that the other cities showed an “upward trend” is unsupported by a single comparison. Select the main highs and lows across all three categories and report them precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, an attempted overview, and details about fresh coffee, instant coffee and café visits. This gives the reader a general route through the information. However, progression is uneven because the overview is vague and the body moves between categories without consistently comparing all five cities. Linking expressions such as “Meanwhile” and “Additionally” help signal shifts, but “Whereas” begins a fragment, and “The three other countries” is an unclear reference to cities. Grouping the data into clearer comparisons—for example, café attendance first, then the two purchase types—would make the organisation more coherent and the comparisons easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “questionnaire,” “purchasing,” “approximate rate,” and “consumption,” and the reader can generally understand the intended comparisons. However, several word choices and collocations are unnatural or imprecise, such as “a higher number of buying and drinking in tea and coffee,” “bought 43% coffee,” and “went in cafe for coffee.” “Countries” is also inaccurate when referring to Australian cities, and “upward trend” does not describe the chart’s cross-city comparisons. Aim for standard chart-reporting phrases such as “a higher proportion of residents,” “purchased fresh coffee,” and “visited a café.” More precise vocabulary would reduce ambiguity and help you describe the categories consistently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including the comparison beginning “The people in Melbourne…” and the sentence introduced by “Whereas.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but control is inconsistent. “Whereas Brisbane and Adelaide ranked the lowest in this survey” is a sentence fragment, while “Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart buy coffee 34% and 37% respectively” has a mismatch between the number of cities and values. There are also problems with tense and sentence construction, as in “Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart buy,” alongside awkward structures such as “the citizens who went in cafe.” Use complete sentences, keep past-tense reporting consistent, and check that comparisons have parallel grammatical forms and clear subjects.

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