Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-10

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 5.5)

The process diagram illustrates the production of sugar cubes from sugar cane.

Overall, there are seven steps require to produce sugar from raw materials such sugar cane.

To begin with, seeds are planted on the farm. It requires 12 to 18 months to grow. The next step is harvesting, which is done by two ways. On the one hand harvesting is done by mechanical. On the other hand men power requires for harvest sugar canes. After that, crushing of sugar canes is done by machine and sugar cane juice is extracted from it. In the fourth step, the purification is done by limestone filter.

Furthermore, this purifying juice goes to evaporation step. In that, purifying juice becomes syrup with help of evaporator. Then this syrup goes into centrifugation. Here, sugar crystals separates from syrup with help of centrifuge. In the last step, separated sugar crystals goes into drying and cooling and at the end dry sugar cube extracted from it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all stages of the sugar production process, from planting to the final product. The overview is clear, identifying the seven-step nature of the process. However, the description of the harvesting stage is slightly inaccurate, as the diagram shows two methods (mechanical and manual) rather than suggesting that both are required simultaneously. Additionally, the summary could be improved by highlighting the transformation of the raw material more explicitly. While all key features are mentioned, the response lacks a more sophisticated synthesis of the information, which is expected for a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized, with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs that follow the chronological order of the process. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'The next step', 'Furthermore', and 'In the last step' are used to guide the reader through the stages. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the paragraphing is somewhat basic. The referencing is generally clear, though the flow between sentences could be improved by using more varied linking structures to avoid a repetitive 'step-by-step' list format.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, with relevant technical terms such as 'purification', 'evaporation', 'centrifugation', and 'sugar crystals'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'men power requires for harvest' instead of 'manual labor is required for harvesting' and 'purifying juice' instead of 'purified juice'. These errors do not impede communication, but they limit the range and precision of the language. To reach a higher band, you should focus on using more natural collocations and avoiding repetitive sentence structures.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('there are seven steps require') and incorrect word forms ('done by mechanical'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are missing articles throughout the text (e.g., 'harvesting is done by mechanical'). While the meaning remains clear, the frequency of these minor errors prevents the response from reaching a higher band. Increasing the variety of complex sentence structures and ensuring consistent grammatical accuracy would significantly improve your score.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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