The table below shows sales made by a coffee shop in an office building on a typical weekday.
Sample Response
The table illustrates a typical weekday's salestypical weekdays’ sales of a coffee shop which is located in an office building. The sales of coffee, tea, pastries, and sandwichessandwich are reported for four time periodsshown in four times, 7.30-10.30, 10.30-2.30, 2.30-5.30, and 5.30-8.30.
It can be clearly seen that the highest total daily saleshighest sale in a day was recorded for coffee. The best-selling time periodbest selling time is from 7.30 am to 10.30 ambetween 7.30 am - 10.30 am, when the sales of each item are the highestbiggest, except for the sandwich. The number of sandwiches soldsale of sandwiches is just 50 at that time. Coffee isbecomes a favourite menu itemfavourite menu for customerscostumers in the morning and evening. The sales of coffeesale of this menu is the highest within 7.30-10.30 am and 5.30-8.30 pm, which are 265 and 200, respectivelywhich is 265 and 200 respectively. The sales of sandwiches aresales of sandwich become the highest during the 10.30 am-2.30 pm periodat 10.30 am -2.30 pm period while coffee ranks secondcoffee is in the second rank with 185 sales. At 2.30-5.30 pm, the sale of pastries is the highest among the menu itemshighest among the menu. However, this figure is lower thanthis number is under the morning sales of pastries which is 275.
To sum up, coffee has the highest sales in a day. On the contrary, the sale of tea is the lowest. Early morning (7.30 -10.30 am) is the time when the number of sales is the highest.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response gives a clear overview and accurately identifies the main sales patterns, with a sensible paragraph structure and mostly clear progression. Its main weakness is recurrent imprecision in word choice and grammar, while several useful comparisons—especially the full contrast across quieter afternoon and evening periods—are left undeveloped; prioritise more accurate noun phrases and a more systematic comparison of categories and time slots.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and several accurate figures identify the principal patterns, although coverage of the afternoon and evening data is selective.
Compare all four products across the quieter periods and include the most revealing omitted figures, such as evening sandwich sales and afternoon tea sales.
Coherence and Cohesion
The introduction, detail paragraph, and conclusion create a logical progression, though repetition and occasionally mechanical linking limit fluency.
Group related comparisons more deliberately and avoid repeating overview points in a separate concluding paragraph.
Lexical Resource
The response uses adequate reporting vocabulary, but recurrent collocational and word-form problems reduce precision.
Use accurate combinations such as sales period, most popular item, and customers, while checking singular and plural product nouns.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the data clearly, but article, agreement, possessive, and plural errors recur.
Proofread each sentence for noun-phrase accuracy and subject–verb agreement, especially around sales, items, and time periods.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The table below shows sales made by a coffee shop in an office building on a typical weekday.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.