Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-26

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 given diagram illustrates the complete procedure about how sugar is made from sugar cane.

Overall, it is a seven step process that starts from sowing and growing the sugar canes to drying and cooling the manufactured sugar crystals.

In first step, sowed seeds of sugar cane take between 12 to 18 months to be prepared. In second step, grown sugar canes can either be harvested through reaping physically or through the harvestor. In third step, harvested sugar canes are crushed through the roller machine to extract the juice from sugar canes. In fourth step, a device called limestone filter is used to purify the obtained juice. In fifth step, purified juice is put in the evaporator and given heat, due to which juice becomes the syrup. In step sixth, centrifuge seperates the sugar crystals from the syrup. In step seventh, the seperated crystals of sugar are dried and cooled and those crystals eventually become sugar that we can use.

In conclusion, this whole process takes considerable time period and involves many processes and each process serves distinct purpose.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response covers all key stages of the sugar cane manufacturing process, from growing and harvesting through to crushing, purifying, evaporating, centrifuging, and finally drying and cooling. An overview is successfully provided in the introduction and conclusion, outlining that it is a seven-step linear process. However, the description relies heavily on a rigid, step-by-step listing format ("In first step", "In second step", "In third step") rather than a more integrated and fluid summary of the process. While all parts of the diagram are addressed accurately, the lack of varied transitional structures keeps this at a Band 6.0 level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The report has a clear overall progression, moving sequentially from the beginning of the process to the end. Paragraphing is appropriately structured with an introduction, a body paragraph detailing the steps, and a concluding sentence. However, the cohesion feels somewhat mechanical and repetitive due to the excessive use of ordinal phrases to link sentences, such as "In first step", "In second step", and "In third step". Pronoun referencing is generally clear, but the lack of sophisticated cohesive devices prevents the response from achieving a higher band.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, accurately identifying process-specific terms such as "harvestor", "crushed", "limestone filter", "evaporator", and "centrifuge". However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation issues, such as "sowed seeds" instead of planting, "reaping physically" instead of manual harvesting, and spelling errors like "seperates" instead of separates. While less common vocabulary is attempted, these inaccuracies and awkward phrasing restrict the score to Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses and passive constructions ("sugar is made", "juice is put in the evaporator"). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with missing or incorrect articles ("In first step", "given heat, due to which juice becomes the syrup"), prepositions, and word forms. Despite these errors, communication is not impeded, and the meaning of each stage remains clear to the reader, supporting a Band 6.0 score.

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