Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-18
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 given diagram illustrate the sugar production steps from the cultivation of sugar cane. The whole manufacturing procedure has been establish in 7 steps.
Overall, this is a conversion of the natural product into sugar by passing the harvesting, pressing, purifying, heating, centrifuge and drying procedures.
It can be seen that sugar canes takes 1-1.5 year to grow before harvesting attempt. Harvesting is processed in two ways such as harvesting machine or manually by using sickle. Afterwards, in the crushing action, sugar canes are pressed with pressure to produce juice.
The obtained juice futher proceed to purify with the use of limestone filter. Now the precursor is heated to get syrup under closed enviroment in evaporator. In the 6th step, where centrigation action is occured, the sugar separation from syrup is proceed. In the final intiative, drying and cooling operation is applied to receive end product in the form of sugar.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student successfully covers all stages of the sugar manufacturing process, starting from the initial growing phase (12-18 months) and harvesting methods through to crushing, purifying, evaporating, centrifuging, and finally drying and cooling. An overview is provided, highlighting the 7-step nature of the conversion process. However, some minor inaccuracies exist in expression, such as stating the growing period is '1-1.5 year' and slight awkwardness in summarizing the overview. Nevertheless, the main features of the diagram are clearly reported and all parts of the task are addressed, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.5, rounded to 6.0 based on general descriptive matching.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a clear overall arrangement and follows a chronological sequence corresponding to the diagram stages. Paragraphing is used, though the body of the response could be better divided into separate paragraphs for the agricultural phase versus the industrial processing steps. Cohesive devices such as 'Afterwards', 'The obtained juice', and 'In the final intiative' are utilized, but some referencing and transitional links feel mechanical or slightly unnatural, such as 'The obtained juice futher proceed to purify'. Overall, the progression is logical and easy to follow, supporting a Band 6.0 score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a process, incorporating terms like 'cultivation', 'harvesting', 'crushing', 'limestone filter', and 'evaporator'. However, there are notable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'illustrate' instead of 'illustrates', 'has been establish' instead of 'established', 'harvesting attempt', and 'centrigation action' instead of 'centrifugation'. Spelling mistakes ('futher', 'enviroment', 'intiative') and awkward grammatical forms of words restrict the score to Band 5.5, as these errors occasionally strain the reader.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing passive structures appropriate for a process description (e.g., 'Harvesting is processed in two ways', 'sugar canes are pressed'). However, there are frequent grammatical and mechanical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('The given diagram illustrate'), incorrect verb forms ('has been establish', 'futher proceed to purify', 'is proceed'), and incorrect prepositions or articles. These errors occur regularly and reduce clarity in places, positioning the grammatical control firmly at Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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