Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-25

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)

Diagram illustrates the process of Extracting sugar from the sugar canes in various stages.

Overall, there are upto seven stages to prepare sugar. starting with the growing the plants to harvesting,cutting and remaing stages to prepare sugar.

Firstly, the plants will take 12-18 months to grow well. Thereafter the harvesting process begans with cutting of trees manually or withy large machines. From there it will be sent to juice pressing machine which trhe pulp will be seperated and the required juice will get into the countainer.

Subsequently, the juice will be transfered to the purifying machine where the limestone filters will clear the excess dust particles. After that the juice will become evapourate and get a syrup substance. The following substance will be prepared as tiny crystals in large quantity. tiny crystals are transfered into large countainers for both drying and cooling process. After completion of all the above stages the requried sugar is formed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main stages of the sugar production process, from growing to the final product. However, the overview is somewhat weak; it simply states there are seven stages without highlighting the key transformation points or the cyclical nature of the process. While the main features are identified, the description of the 'purifying' and 'evaporation' stages is a bit simplistic. To reach a higher band, you should aim to synthesize the information more effectively by grouping related stages and providing a clearer, more analytical overview of the entire process rather than just listing the steps sequentially.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized logically, following the chronological order of the process. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Thereafter', 'Subsequently', and 'After that' to guide the reader. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the entire body of the process is contained within one long paragraph, which makes it harder to follow. Additionally, some transitions feel a bit mechanical. To improve, ensure you use paragraph breaks to separate distinct phases of the process (e.g., preparation, extraction, and refinement) and vary your linking phrases to improve the flow between sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe the process, such as 'harvesting', 'purifying', 'evaporate', and 'crystals'. However, there are several spelling errors ('remaing', 'begans', 'withy', 'countainer', 'transfered', 'evapourate', 'requried') and some awkward word choices, such as 'growing the plants' instead of 'cultivation'. These errors occasionally distract the reader. To improve, focus on mastering the spelling of technical terms related to processes and try to use more precise collocations, such as 'crushed' instead of 'sent to juice pressing machine'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the juice will become evapourate'), verb forms ('the juice will get into the countainer'), and sentence construction ('starting with the growing the plants to harvesting'). Some sentences are fragmented or lack necessary prepositions. While the meaning is generally clear, these errors are frequent enough to impact the overall fluency. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of passive voice, which is essential for describing industrial processes.

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