Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-13

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 4.5)

The diagram illustrates that how sugar is produced from sugar cane. First of all, farmer grows a sugar cane in 18 months. when sugar cane have matured then farmer harvested with tha help of machinery and different people. Next, Sugar cane are crushed into juice and purify through filters. After that, heat is given to juice through boiler indirectly and are change their shape into thick material like syrup. In this, there are many impurities.Thats we centrifuge the syrup to remove crystal and then we keep the remaining juice in container for dry and cool. When all steps have completed so sugar have prepared.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 150 words, coming in at only 104 words. This automatically limits the score for Task Achievement. On a content level, the writer attempts to describe the main features of the sugar cane manufacturing process, starting with growing and harvesting, followed by crushing, purifying, heating, centrifuging, and drying. However, the overview lacks completeness and some steps are described with overly simplistic or underdeveloped language. Because the response is significantly under-length and misses several comparative or synthesizing elements, it cannot achieve a passing mark above Band 4.0. To improve, the student must write at least 150 words and ensure all stages of the process diagram are clearly reported with a proper overview.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The text suffers from a lack of proper paragraphing, written as a single block of text rather than organized into logical stages or introduction-body-conclusion format. Although basic sequence markers such as First of all, Next, After that, and When are used to link events chronologically, referencing and cohesion are often faulty. For example, expressions like 'Thats we centrifuge' and 'When all steps have completed so sugar have prepared' lack grammatical clarity and disrupt the logical flow. The overarching organization is very basic, preventing the response from reaching higher bands. To improve, the student should divide the response into clear paragraphs and use a broader, more accurate range of cohesive devices.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, suitable for a lower band level. The student relies on simple terms like 'grows', 'harvested', 'crushed', and 'juice', while attempting some less common words such as 'impurities', 'centrifuge', and 'syrup'. However, word choice and collocations are frequently flawed, as seen in phrases like 'heat is given to juice' instead of 'the juice is heated', and 'keep the remaining juice in container for dry and cool'. Spelling and word formation errors also appear, such as 'Thats we' instead of 'That is why we'. The lexical range is limited and minimally adequate for conveying basic ideas.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The grammatical range is extremely limited, consisting mostly of simple and attempted complex sentences that contain frequent errors. There are numerous basic errors in subject-verb agreement and tense usage, such as 'farmer grows a sugar cane', 'when sugar cane have matured then farmer harvested with tha help', and 'sugar have prepared'. Punctuation is also problematic, with missing capitalization after periods and faulty clause structures like 'The diagram illustrates that how sugar is produced'. These frequent grammatical errors cause difficulty for the reader and prevent the response from achieving a higher score.

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

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