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 diagram illustrates the process that producing sugar from sugar cane.

Overall, there are seven main stages of the process. Stating with the growing and ending with the drying and cooling for sugar.

Initially, sugar cane is grown from 12-18 months. Once it has matured, sugar cane is harvested by either manually or by machine. After that, the sugar canes is crushed and extracted the juice. The juice is purified by the limestone filter that removes the extra particles to the juice.

Furthermore, the purifying juice is heated by an evaporator then it becomes a syrup. The syrup is passed through the centrifuge for further separate sugar crystals from syrup. After that, syrup is dryed and cooled and produced the final sugar.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student successfully identifies all seven main stages of the sugar manufacturing process, from growing through to drying and cooling, and includes the two harvesting methods (manually or by machine). A clear overview is provided at the beginning, noting the total number of stages. However, the response is penalised under length requirements as it contains only 122 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum. Furthermore, some minor details are slightly imprecise, such as stating the evaporator heats the purifying juice rather than the purified juice. Because of the under-length penalty and minor descriptive inaccuracies, the score is capped.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text is arranged logically in chronological order, following the linear steps of the diagram. Cohesive devices such as 'Initially', 'Once it has matured', 'After that', and 'Furthermore' are used to guide the reader through the process. However, paragraphing is weak; the response is split into only two very short paragraphs, and the second paragraph tries to bunch too many sequential steps together without adequate separation. Referencing is occasionally awkward, such as 'the purifying juice'. Overall arrangement is coherent, but structural cohesion requires better paragraphing and a wider variety of transitional links.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a process, incorporating terms like 'matured', 'harvested', 'crushed', 'extracted', 'purified', 'evaporator', and 'centrifuge'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'The diagram illustrates the process that producing sugar' (grammatical/lexical mismatch) and 'Stating with the growing' (spelling/form error for Starting). Phrases like 'for further separate sugar crystals' and 'syrup is dryed' also show lexical and spelling limitations. While meaning is generally conveyed, errors prevent the score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as passive voice forms ('is grown', 'is harvested', 'is crushed') which are appropriate for process diagrams. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several structural errors, including 'the process that producing sugar', 'Stating with the growing', 'the sugar canes is crushed' (subject-verb agreement error with plural noun and singular verb), and 'for further separate' instead of 'to further separate'. Punctuation and spelling ('dryed' instead of 'dried') also show occasional lapses. Simple sentences are generally accurate, but complex constructions frequently contain errors.

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