Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-12

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 5.0)

The diagram illustrates the manufacturing process of sugar from by using sugarcane.

Overall, it is a seven-step process, begins with planting and growing of sugar canes and ends with drying and cooling of sugar.

At the first stage of the process, the crops of sugar canes is growing for almost 12 to 18 months. After that, the crop is harvested by using to methods. One method is harvesting by machine and other is human labor harvests the crops.

After harvesting, the sugarcane transferred to a machine, there juice will come from sugarcane, and in next stage it goes under process of purifying by limestone filter. Subsequently, the purified juice heated on evaporator to becomes syrup and proceeds with centrifuge process. In this process, the sugar crystals will be separated syrup. At last, the sugar crystals undergo a drying and cooling process, and sugar is ready.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to cover all stages of the sugar manufacturing process, starting from planting and ending with drying and cooling. However, there are some inaccuracies and omissions in reporting the main features, such as missing the washing and crushing phases in detail. Furthermore, the length requirement is not met, as the response contains only 145 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum. This under-length impacts the overall development of the task. While an overview is provided, the description lacks the precision and thoroughness required for a higher band. Consequently, these limitations place the task achievement score at a band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response shows some logical organisation with a clear introduction and an overall summary statement. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression, such as 'At the first stage', 'After that', and 'Subsequently'. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped, and the text reads largely as a single block of body text. Referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in awkward transitions like 'transferred to a machine, there juice will come from'. There is no clear overall progression across well-defined paragraphs, which limits the score to a band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using domain-specific terms such as 'manufacturing process', 'harvested', 'limestone filter', 'evaporator', 'centrifuge process', and 'sugar crystals'. However, there are noticeable word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'by using to methods', 'human labor harvests', and 'separated syrup' instead of 'separated from the syrup'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic steps of the diagram, the frequent lexical inaccuracies restrict the score to a band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('crops of sugar canes is growing'), incorrect prepositional use ('by using to methods'), and missing verbs or articles ('there juice will come from sugarcane', 'becomes syrup'). Complex structures are often faulty, and punctuation is occasionally misused. These errors can cause some difficulty for the reader, though communication is generally maintained, placing this criterion at a band 5.0.

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

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