Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-30

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 6.5)

The given illustration presents the stages of the manufacturing process. It shows how sugar is produced from sugar cane.

Overall, at a glance, it has 7 stages, starting with the growing of sugar cane and ending with the drying and cooling of sugar.

Initially, the sugar cane is cultivated, which takes 12–18 months to fully grow. This is followed by the harvesting of the canes using harvesting machines and manual labour. After that, the canes are fed into the crushing machine so that they are crushed to produce juice. In the next stage, the juice is passed through the limestone filter for purification.

Moving further in the process, the purified juice is heated in an evaporator to evaporate the liquid. Following this, the juice is converted into syrup. Then, the syrup is fed into a centrifuge, where sugar crystals are separated from the remaining liquid. Finally, the sugar is dried and cooled.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully identified the main stages of the sugar production process and provided a clear overview. The response covers all key steps from cultivation to the final drying phase. However, to reach a higher band, you should aim to make more explicit comparisons or highlight the transformation of the product more clearly. For instance, noting the transition from raw cane to juice, and then from syrup to crystals, would enhance the analytical quality of your report. The information is accurate and well-selected, providing a logical summary of the provided diagram.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response is logically organized, with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs that follow the chronological order of the process. You use a variety of cohesive devices such as 'Initially', 'This is followed by', 'After that', and 'Moving further in the process' to guide the reader. The paragraphing is appropriate, effectively separating the initial agricultural stages from the industrial manufacturing steps. The flow of information is smooth and easy to follow, demonstrating a good command of organizational structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a process, such as 'cultivated', 'purification', 'evaporator', and 'centrifuge'. The terminology is accurate and relevant to the task. To improve, you could incorporate more sophisticated collocations or precise verbs to describe the changes, such as 'extracting' instead of 'produce' or 'crystallization' instead of 'converted into'. While the current vocabulary is sufficient and clear, adding a few more precise technical terms would elevate the lexical quality.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

Your grammar is generally accurate, and you use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures effectively. There are very few errors, and those present do not impede communication. You demonstrate good control over passive voice constructions, which is essential for process descriptions (e.g., 'canes are fed', 'juice is passed'). To achieve a higher score, you could experiment with more varied sentence beginnings and more complex subordinating clauses to demonstrate greater flexibility in your grammatical range.

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

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