Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-30

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)

This diagram illustrates the process of making sugar from sugar cane. It includes seven stages, which begin with cultivation and ends with drying and cooling.

Overall, the manufacturing of sugar from sugar cane is a seven stage process. It starts with cultivation and harvesting. It ends with drying and cooling. Between these steps mechanical and chemical processes take place.

Initially, the plants were grown for 12 to 18 months and then harvested by hand or by machines, once matured. Then in order to get juice, sugar cane is crushed by a crushing machine, this juice is then purified by a limestone filter.

The filtered juice is then poured into an evaporator, excess moisture is then turned into steam and we got syrup. After that, in order to get crystals, this syrup is added into a centrifuge. At the end, these crystals are then dried and cooled. Now the sugar is ready for use.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student successfully covers all the key stages of the sugar cane manufacturing process, from cultivation and harvesting through crushing, purifying, evaporating, and centrifuging to final drying and cooling. An overview is present in both the introductory paragraph and a separate summary paragraph, outlining the main stages effectively. However, the response is relatively brief (just over the 150-word minimum), which limits the extent of detail and extension provided. While the sequence is accurately reported, the description remains somewhat basic and lacks deeper reporting of the physical conditions or equipment depicted, such as the limestone filter, heat source, or mechanical harvester. Overall, the response meets the core requirements of Task Achievement at a competent level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression from the beginning to the end of the process. The student makes effective use of sequencing cohesive devices such as 'Initially', 'Then', and 'After that' to guide the reader through the stages. Paragraphing is utilized, dividing the introduction, overview, and body steps appropriately. However, the cohesion feels somewhat repetitive and mechanical in places, such as starting consecutive sentences or clauses with 'Then' or 'this juice'. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as the shift from plural 'plants were grown' to singular 'sugar cane is crushed'. Despite these minor flaws, the logical flow is clear throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a process, incorporating terms like 'cultivation', 'harvested', 'crushed', 'purified', 'evaporator', and 'crystals'. There are some successful attempts to use less common vocabulary, though word choice is occasionally imprecise or informal, such as writing 'we got syrup' instead of 'resulting in syrup' or 'producing syrup'. Spelling is accurate throughout the text, and vocabulary errors do not impede communication. To reach a higher band, the student should integrate a wider variety of precise process-related collocations and more sophisticated academic terminology.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating passive structures like 'sugar cane is crushed' and 'are then dried and cooled', which are appropriate for process descriptions. However, there are noticeable inconsistencies in tense and grammatical control. For example, the text opens with present tense ('illustrates', 'includes'), shifts to past tense ('Initially, the plants were grown'), and then returns to present ('is crushed', 'is added'). There is also a run-on comma splice in the third paragraph: '...crushing machine, this juice is then purified...'. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and communication is not impeded.

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