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)

So i will talk about the manufacturing process how sugar is produced from sugarcane, so at first sugarcane will be grown for atleast 12-18 months until they will be mature growing plant and ready to harvest , until its ready to harvest the farmer will come and harvest all the sugarcane and then by collecting them , he will store it in a truck and load all the sugarcane in it. He will take the truck full of sugarcane to the place where all the crushing machines are and then one by one the worker there will crush the sugarcane from the machine and as a result the fresh juice will come out of the machine, the worker will simply collect all the juice and will the help of limestone filter he will purify the juice of sugarcane.Then the juice will tranfered to the evaporator machine where the juice becomes syrup by giving it the heat for a short period of time, after collecting all the syrup from the evaporator we will centrifuge it which will help separating sugar crystals from the syrup and at last we will sent it for drying and when it will cool down we will collect the sugar.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully identifies and describes the main stages of the sugar manufacturing process, ranging from the initial growing period of 12-18 months through harvesting, crushing, purifying, evaporating, centrifuging, to the final drying and cooling. All key components of the visual prompt are included, such as the limestone filter, evaporator, and centrifuge. However, the response lacks a clear overview paragraph summarising the main features of the process (such as the total number of stages and the cyclical or linear nature). Furthermore, the style is overly conversational and personal ('So i will talk about...'), which detracts from the appropriate academic tone required for Task 1. Ideas are adequately covered, but development is slightly narrative rather than analytical. Therefore, a Band 6.0 is appropriate.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The text is written as one single, continuous block paragraph without any paragraph breaks. This severely impacts the structural readability of the response, as standard IELTS reports should separate the introduction/overview from the body stages. Cohesion relies heavily on a string of coordinate clauses linked by conjunctions like 'and then' and 'and as a result', creating a run-on sentence structure that lacks precise organisational markers. While there is a chronological progression that follows the diagram correctly, the lack of paragraphing and the mechanical repetition of basic conjunctions prevent the response from achieving a higher band score. Coherence is maintained at a basic level, justifying a Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate to describe the process, featuring topic-specific words such as 'harvest', 'crushing', 'limestone filter', 'evaporator', 'syrup', and 'sugar crystals'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there is noticeable repetition of basic verbs like 'harvest', 'collect', and 'crush'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, but word choice and collocation are occasionally awkward, such as 'tranfered' (spelling error) and 'giving it the heat'. While communication is not impeded and the subject matter is clearly conveyed, the presence of spelling mistakes and lack of lexical flexibility place this response firmly in the Band 5.0 territory.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response features an over-reliance on a continuous string of clauses connected by 'and', resulting in excessively long, run-on sentences. There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is inconsistent. Errors include punctuation omissions (such as lowercase 'i'), spelling ('tranfered' instead of 'transferred', 'sent' instead of 'send'), and tense inconsistencies (shifting between future 'will be grown' and present/past). Punctuation is virtually absent outside of commas linking clauses together into a single giant paragraph. Although meaning remains mostly clear, the density of grammatical and punctuation slips limits the score to a Band 5.0.

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.