Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-29
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 process of making sugar from sugar cane.
Overall, it is clear that it contains multiple-stages, starting with growing sugar canes and ending with the drying and cooling the sugar. Skipping of any step can spoil the whole process.
To start with, growing sugar canes for 12-18 months in farm. Then harvesting by the hand of workers or by the harvesting machine. The sugar can is then sent into a crusher, where it is broken down into smaller, juice form. After that, the sugar cane juice purifying into the limestone filter.
Moving on, In evaporator, the juice is heated, which convert juice into syrup and the gas moves upword into air. Then centrifuge, keep separates the sugar crysrals from the sugar. Finally, the sugar put in a drum, where it cooled down. Then the sugar is ready to distributed through to houses and other industries for use.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by outlining the main stages of the sugar manufacturing process, from growing and harvesting through to crushing, purifying, evaporating, centrifuging, and finally drying and cooling. An overview is provided at the beginning, noting that the process has multiple stages and starts with growing and ends with drying and cooling, which satisfies the requirement for a clear summary of main features. However, the explanation introduces a slight extraneous generalization in the overview by stating that 'Skipping of any step can spoil the whole process,' which is not depicted in the visual data. Overall, the key steps are identified and reported, supporting a Band 6.0 performance.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is arranged coherently with a logical overall progression that follows the chronological order of the flowchart. Paragraphing is attempted to separate the introduction, the initial stages, and the final stages of the process, though the paragraph breaks are somewhat awkward and uneven. Cohesive devices such as 'To start with', 'After that', 'Moving on', and 'Finally' are used to sequence the steps, but some linking is mechanical and referencing is occasionally faulty, such as 'The sugar can' and 'the sugar put in a drum, where it cooled down'. This fits the profile for Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating process-specific terms such as 'harvesting', 'crusher', 'limestone filter', 'evaporator', 'syrup', 'centrifuge', and 'crystals'. However, there are notable word-choice and form errors throughout the text, including 'multiple-stages' (hyphenation error), 'sugar can' (plural/singular confusion), 'purifying into' (incorrect passive/active form), 'convert' instead of 'converts', 'upword', 'crysrals', and 'ready to distributed'. These lexical errors and awkward formations limit the score to a Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but it is heavily impacted by frequent grammatical errors and incomplete clauses. Examples include sentence fragments and missing verbs such as 'Then harvesting by the hand of workers', 'the sugar cane juice purifying into the limestone filter', and 'Then centrifuge, keep separates the sugar crysrals'. Additionally, there are punctuation and preposition slips like 'in farm' instead of 'on a farm' or 'in farms'. While communication is maintained, the high density of grammatical inaccuracies across simple and attempted complex forms places this at a Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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