Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The diagram illustrates the production process of crystal sugar from sugar cane plants at on commercial scale.

Overall, the manufacturing process consists of seven main stages.The linear production process begining with plantation, harvesting, crushing, purifying, eveporating, centrifuging and ending with final product.

At the initial stage, sugar canes are grew 12 to 18 months of time period before harvest. The harvesting process being conducted by using machines or by farmers. After that all the well-growh sugar canes being put into the machine and crushed it well. The juice were collected to the basket.

At the fourth stage, cane juice were undergo the purifying process by using limestone filter. Filtered droplets being transfered to the evaporator. In the evaporator juice turnes to the syrup and this process takes much time to produce sugar syrup. Then after sugar syrup was undergo for seperation. Meanwhile, centrifuger used at this stage o seperate sugar crystals from syrup. Finally, crystal sugar being formed which,after drying and cooling were done.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully covers all major stages of the sugar manufacturing process, starting from the growing and harvesting phases through crushing, purifying, evaporating, centrifuging, and finally drying and cooling. A clear overview is provided in the second paragraph, outlining the seven-step linear process. However, some minor inaccuracies and awkward phrasing occur in describing specific details, such as stating 'the juice were collected to the basket' rather than a container, and minor slips in summarizing the mechanics of the diagram. Nevertheless, all parts of the prompt are addressed adequately, fulfilling the requirements for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged coherently with a logical progression from the initial agricultural phase to the final industrial product. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overview, and body details. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or awkwardly deployed (e.g., 'At the initial stage', 'After that all the well-growh sugar canes', 'Then after sugar syrup was undergo for seperation'). Referencing and linking lack seamless flexibility, placing the response firmly in the Band 6 category.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student attempts a range of task-specific vocabulary related to the process, such as 'plantation', 'harvesting', 'crushing', 'purifying', 'evaporating', and 'centrifuges'. However, there are frequent word-choice errors, spelling mistakes ('eveporating', 'well-growh', 'seperation', 'o seperate'), and awkward collocations (e.g., 'crystal sugar from sugar cane plants at on commercial scale'). The vocabulary is adequate for the task, but errors in form and spelling occasionally detract from precision, warranting a Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical accuracy is relatively weak. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement and voice (e.g., 'sugar canes are grew', 'all the well-growh sugar canes being put', 'cane juice were undergo', 'juice turnes'). Passive constructions are frequently malformed (e.g., 'sugar syrup was undergo for seperation'). While meaning is generally clear despite these errors, the high frequency of grammatical slips keeps the score at a 5.0.

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