Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-27

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 6.0)

The Picture below illustrates how sugar is produced from sugarcane. From growing sugarcanes to harvesting then crushing and finally sugar is made from purified juice after passing through evaporator and centrifuge.

The diagram shows that sugar is made from sugarcanes through seven steps; First sugarcanes are planted they grow in 12-18 months after becoming mature they can be harvested in two ways either manually through manpower or through harvesting machinery. After Harvesting, sugarcanes are passed through a crushing machine to extract juice from it. The extracted juice is then passed through a filter made of limestone for purification. The purified juice is then passed through evaporator by applying heat to a container for syrup formation. The Syrup then goes through a process of centrifugation where sugar crystals are separated from syrup. After drying and cooling in a separate container finaly sugar is produced in a stewise manner which is ready to be packaged and transported.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student covers all parts of the prompt by describing the seven-step linear process of manufacturing sugar from sugar cane, starting from growing and harvesting through to final drying and cooling. An overview is attempted in the opening sentence, noting how sugar is produced. However, the response lacks a clear, distinct overarching summary paragraph that highlights the key stages or the nature of the process (e.g., that it is a multi-stage industrial process involving mechanical, thermal, and chemical methods). Furthermore, some details are slightly blurred, such as treating the entire sequence as a single dense paragraph following a brief introduction. While the main features are reported, the lack of well-structured paragraphing and a cohesive overview limits the development, placing this response at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text suffers from poor paragraphing, containing only an introductory sentence followed by a single massive block of text that runs together multiple distinct steps of the diagram. Cohesive devices are used (e.g., 'After Harvesting', 'The extracted juice is then', 'The Syrup then goes through'), but punctuation is weak, leading to run-on sentences and a lack of clear separation between ideas. For instance, the second paragraph crams harvesting, crushing, purifying, evaporating, centrifuging, and drying into a continuous stream of clauses with minimal punctuation control. While there is a logical chronological progression following the diagram, the mechanical referencing and absence of proper paragraph separation prevent the response from achieving a Band 7.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range to describe the process, successfully incorporating task-specific terms from the diagram such as 'harvesting machinery', 'crushing machine', 'limestone', 'evaporator', 'centrifugation', and 'sugar crystals'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation issues, such as 'manpower' instead of 'manually' or 'by hand', and minor preposition errors like 'from it' instead of 'from them' when referring to sugar canes. Spelling and word formation errors also appear, most notably 'stewise manner' instead of 'stepwise manner' and the misspelling of 'finally' as 'finaly'. Despite these limitations, the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main steps clearly, aligning with Band 6.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using passive voice appropriately in places (e.g., 'sugarcanes are passed through', 'juice is then passed through'). However, grammatical accuracy is hindered by severe punctuation issues, particularly run-on sentences and comma splices, such as in the opening sentence where clauses are strung together without proper terminal punctuation. There are also capitalization errors (e.g., capitalizing 'Syrup' mid-sentence) and missing articles. Because errors in punctuation and sentence boundaries occur frequently and require the reader to re-read parts of the text, the performance fits the Band 5.5 descriptor.

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