Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-25

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 given process chart illustrates the manufacturing of sugar from sugarcane.

This process involves 7 steps, all steps are essential, if one of the step is excluded the whole process will be vanished. First and foremost, sugarcane is grown for about 12-18 months then the sugarcane are harvested afterwards sugarcane is crushed, subsequently, juice is purified using limestone filter, after that through the process of evaporation juice is converted into syrup, moving forward, the process of centrifuge takes place in which crystal are separated from syrup, after that, sugar is dried and cooled.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student successfully identifies the main purpose of the diagram, which is the manufacturing process of sugar from sugarcane, and lists the seven main stages from growing to drying and cooling. However, the response suffers from a critical limitation in length, containing only 93 words against the required 150-word minimum. This severe under-length prevents the writer from fully expanding on the details of each step, such as the two harvesting methods (mechanical and manual) or the physical changes occurring in the evaporator and centrifuge stages. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed, leading to a Band 5.0 score for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The text is written as a single, overly long and dense sentence (apart from the introductory sentence), which creates a significant run-on effect. The student attempts to link the stages using sequential transitions like 'First and foremost', 'then', 'afterwards', 'subsequently', 'after that', 'moving forward', and 'after that again'. However, the lack of proper paragraphing and terminal punctuation makes the text difficult to follow and results in mechanical and repetitive cohesion. While a logical progression of steps is present, the poor organizational structure and absence of sentence boundaries restrict the coherence score to Band 4.5, rounded to 5.0 based on the clear sequence of ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses a basic and repetitive vocabulary appropriate to the diagram, such as 'sugarcane', 'harvested', 'crushed', 'juice', 'filter', and 'syrup'. There are some useful topic-specific words attempted, including 'manufacturing', 'purified', 'evaporation', and 'centrifuge'. However, lexical range is quite limited, and there is a noticeable lexical error in the phrase 'the whole process will be vanished', where 'vanished' is incorrectly used instead of 'halted' or 'disrupted'. Because the vocabulary is minimally adequate for describing the process but contains word choice errors and lacks variety, it meets the criteria for Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The grammatical structure of the response is extremely weak, dominated by a massive run-on sentence that strings multiple independent clauses together with commas (comma splices), such as '...sugarcane is grown for about 12-18 months then the sugarcane are harvested afterwards sugarcane is crushed...'. There are also agreement errors, such as 'one of the step' instead of 'one of the steps', and missing plural verb agreement ('sugarcane are'). The range of sentence structures is severely restricted to simple active or passive clauses linked by conjunctions and adverbs. Due to the frequent structural errors and lack of proper punctuation, a Band 5.0 is appropriate.

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