Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows the manufacturing process for making sugar from sugar cane.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

How sugar is produced from sugar cane

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The process chart illustrates how sugar is produced from sugar cane.

Overall, there are multiple steps of manufacturing sugar including growing, harvesting, crushing, purifying, evaporation, centrifugation, drying and cooling.

To commence with, sugar cane crops are cultivated and matured in 12-18 months. In the next stage, the sugar can plants are harvested mechanically using combine harvesters and manually by farmers. Then, the harvested agricultural produce is crushed with the help of crushing machine to extract sugar cane juice. Thereafter, the crushed juice is fed into a funnel shaped purifier device in which it has limestone filter that purifies the juice.

Turning to the next step of evaporation, the juice is heated into an evaporator which becomes sugar cane syrup. Afterward, centrifugation machine is used that spins very fast to separate sugar crystals from the mixture of syrup. In the final stage, these sugar crystals are stored in a container and left for drying and cooling for sometime and hence sugar is manufactured.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all stages of the sugar manufacturing process, from cultivation to the final product. You have identified the main features and provided a logical summary. To reach a higher band, ensure that you highlight the key comparisons or transitions more explicitly. For example, you could note that the process is both mechanical and manual at the harvesting stage, or emphasize the transformation from raw juice to refined crystals. The overview is clear, but adding a slightly more analytical tone regarding the transition between the physical and chemical stages would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The report is logically organized, following the chronological order of the process. You have used a variety of cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'In the next stage', 'Thereafter', and 'Afterward' to guide the reader. However, the paragraphing is somewhat limited; the entire body of the process is contained within one long paragraph. Splitting the description into two distinct stages—for instance, the preparation/extraction phase and the purification/refining phase—would improve the overall structure and flow of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have used a range of vocabulary appropriate for a process description, such as 'cultivated', 'mechanically', 'extract', and 'centrifugation'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'funnel shaped purifier device' (which is slightly clunky) and 'mixture of syrup' (which could be more precise). The use of 'sometime' as one word is a common error; it should be 'some time'. Overall, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the process clearly, but more precise technical collocations would elevate the response to a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the grammar is generally accurate and communication is never impeded, there are some minor errors. For instance, 'the sugar can plants' should be 'sugar cane plants', and 'crushing machine' requires an article ('a crushing machine'). Additionally, 'is heated into an evaporator' is slightly unnatural; 'is heated in an evaporator' would be better. You have good control over basic structures, but incorporating more varied complex sentence patterns would demonstrate a wider grammatical range.

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