Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-22
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 multi-stage process for manufacturing sugar from sugar cane.
Overall, it can be observed that there are total 5 main stages used for making sugar cane.
To begin with, sugar canes are cultivated for 12 to 18 months on specific land. After that, it has been harvested by either manually or by machinery. In the next step, sugar canes have been strain in to machine and make liquide from it.
In following step, liquide pass through the limestone filter and make them heating for remove water. Sybsequently, sugar syrup has been seprated for making component by Centrifuge for rapid sepration. At the end of the process it is dried and cooled and turn into actual form of sugar.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student successfully identifies the main purpose of the diagram, which outlines the process of manufacturing sugar from sugar cane, and covers the general progression from growing to drying and cooling. However, the response falls significantly short of the required 150-word minimum, containing only 121 words. Furthermore, the overview states there are 'total 5 main stages', whereas the diagram actually depicts seven distinct steps (growing, harvesting, crushing, purifying, evaporating, centrifuging, and drying/cooling). This inaccuracy in summarising the core features, combined with the word count penalty, limits the task achievement score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text is organized into short paragraphs that attempt to follow the chronological order of the process. Some cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'To begin with', 'After that', and 'At the end of the process'. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped, with several very brief paragraphs that fail to structure the information effectively. Additionally, referencing is occasionally vague or mechanical, and the overall progression is disrupted by sentence-level errors and the brevity of the response.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a basic vocabulary range suitable for describing a simple industrial process, using terms like 'cultivated', 'harvested', 'machinery', and 'sugar syrup'. However, there are numerous lexical and spelling errors that detract from the writing, such as 'liquide', 'strain in to', 'Sybsequently', 'seprated', and 'component'. These inaccuracies and awkward collocations show a limited control of less common lexical items, placing the response firmly in the band 5 range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('there are total 5 main stages'), passive voice errors ('it has been harvested by either manually'), and preposition misuse ('strain in to machine'). Punctuation and word form errors are also noticeable. While the meaning can generally be parsed, the high frequency of errors across basic and complex forms restricts the score to band 5.
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.