Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-28

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 process involved in production of sugar from sugar cane.

Overall, manufacturing of sugar mainly consist of 7 major steps from growing of sugar canes to extract juice then eventually transformed entirely into crystals.

Sugar cane growing can take upto 12-18 months, once crop matured it can be harvested by hands or with the help of machines. The next step involve crushing of sugar canes, the process include raw sugar canes put into a big crushing machine which is responsible to extract juice from the raw material.

For the purification of highly concentrated extracted juice limestone filter is used to filter out any impurites, once juice filtered out from the filter it then transfer in a evaporator, after that, juice exposed to a extreme temperature in evaporator which transformed juice into syrup. In next step, there is centrifuge process which is responsible for separates sugar crystals from syrup. The sugar crystals put in a storage for drying and cooling purposes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by outlining the main features of the sugar manufacturing process from the initial growing stage to the final product. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, which correctly identifies the seven main steps. Key features such as the 12-18 month growing period, the two harvesting methods, crushing, juice purification via a limestone filter, evaporation into syrup, centrifugation, and drying are all reported accurately based on the provided diagram. The information is relevant and properly selected without significant omissions, satisfying the requirements for Task Achievement at a Band 7.0 level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is logically organised and follows the chronological sequence of the diagram. Progression is generally clear throughout the text, moving from the agricultural stages to the processing and refining phases. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as "once crop matured", "The next step involve", and "after that". However, paragraphing is somewhat underutilised, as the body of the process is condensed into a single dense paragraph rather than being broken down into logical sub-stages. Furthermore, referencing and transitional links occasionally feel slightly mechanical, placing this response firmly in the Band 6.0 category for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a process, incorporating terms like "manufacturing", "concentrated", "impurities", and "centrifuge process". However, there are noticeable word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as "manufacturing of sugar mainly consist" (should be 'consists'), "harvested by hands" (should be 'by hand'), and "transfer in a evaporator" (should be 'transferred into an evaporator'). Spelling errors also occur, such as "impurites". These inaccuracies prevent the lexical score from reaching higher bands, aligning it with Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as "Once crop matured it can be harvested by hands..." and "For the purification of highly concentrated extracted juice limestone filter is used...". However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly involving verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and missing articles, such as "manufacturing of sugar mainly consist", "step involve crushing", "juice filtered out from the filter it then transfer", and "extreme temperature". Punctuation is also occasionally faulty with run-on clauses. These persistent errors place the grammatical performance at a Band 5.0.

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