Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-21

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 process diagram illustrates the phenomenon of sugar production from the crops of sugar cane.

Overall, the linear process involves seven stages that begins with the growth of sugar canes, and ends with the drying and cooling the sugar.

Initially, crops of sugar canes are grew, which takes upto 12 to 18 months. Afterwards, when growing period of sugar cane is completed, farmers harvest these sugar canes crops for further processing. Furthermore, these harvested crops are taken to the crushing machine, where the juice is made from these sugar canes.

Subsequently, this juice from crushing machine is purified by passing through the limestone filter. Following this, purified juice is transferred to an evaporator, where it is heated to convert it into the syrup. Afterwards, syrup is transferred into a centrifuge machine for separating the sugar crystals from the syrup. At the final stage, sugar crystals are dried and cooled.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully covers all seven main stages of the sugar manufacturing process, from the initial growth period to the final drying and cooling. An overview is provided, noting the linear nature of the process and its start and endpoints. Key features such as the 12 to 18-month growth, mechanical or manual harvesting, juice extraction, limestone filtration, evaporation, and centrifugation are reported accurately. However, the response falls slightly short of the minimum length requirement at 149 words, which results in a minor penalty under the task achievement descriptor guidelines.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is coherent overall and follows the chronological sequence of the diagram logically. Information flows reasonably well through appropriate transition markers such as 'Initially', 'Afterwards', 'Furthermore', and 'Subsequently'. Paragraphing is used to separate the introduction and overview from the body details, although the body paragraph is left as a single large block of text. Cohesive devices are generally well managed, though referencing could be slightly more varied to enhance overall cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a process, incorporating terms like 'phenomenon', 'processing', 'purified', 'evaporator', and 'centrifuge machine'. However, there are some awkward lexical choices and word-form errors, such as 'crops of sugar canes are grew' instead of 'grown', and 'upto' instead of 'up to'. While these errors do not impede communication, they reflect a limited control over less common lexical items.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

A mix of simple and complex sentence forms is attempted throughout the response, such as relative clauses ('where the juice is made') and adverbial time clauses ('when growing period of sugar cane is completed'). However, grammatical errors are present, including a passive voice error ('are grew' instead of 'are grown'), a missing article ('when growing period'), and a tense inconsistency in the overview ('seven stages that begins' instead of 'begin'). These errors persist but do not impede understanding.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.