Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-04

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 given diagram illustrates the manufacturing of sugar from sugar cane. It contains 7 important steps including harvesting,refining,purification and centrifugation.

Overall, the whole procedure follows a linear, multistage sequence that begins from growing sugar cane crops and ends with drying and cooling.

Firstly, the crops are grown between 12-18 months before it goes in the process of harvesting.In that process, sugar canes are harvested by two methods which consist utilising machine equipments or physical. Afterwards, the crops are crushed into a roller machine to produce juice.

Next step is purification, sugar canes juice are refined by a limestone filter to eliminate the access. Than, the purified juice is heated in an evaporator to convert juice into a thick syrup. The thick syrup is centrifuged to separates sugar crystals from syrup. Atlast, the syrup was dried up and cooled to form sugar particles in a large container. The whole process is simple but required a lot of hardwork.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by outlining the main stages of the sugar manufacturing process, from growing to drying and cooling. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing the linear nature of the process. Key features are selected and reported, such as the duration of the growing phase, the two harvesting methods, and the subsequent mechanical and chemical treatments. However, some ideas remain slightly under-developed or briefly glossed over, such as the exact function of the centrifuge or the details of the final packaging stage. This keeps the response at the current level, as a fully developed response would elaborate slightly more on how the syrup and sugar crystals are separated and what happens during the cooling phase.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from the initial growth of the sugar cane to the final product. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overview, and body details. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader through the steps, using sequencers like 'Firstly', 'Afterwards', 'Next step', and 'Atlast'. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally feel somewhat mechanical rather than entirely natural, and punctuation errors around transitions slightly affect the flow. To reach the next level, the writer needs to use more sophisticated referencing and a wider variety of cohesive relationships without relying heavily on simple sequence markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying the basic meaning of the process steps with terms like 'manufacturing', 'centrifugation', 'evaporator', and 'limestone filter'. The writer attempts less common vocabulary, but this is accompanied by some inaccuracies in word choice, form, and collocation, such as 'access' instead of 'excess', 'machine equipments' instead of 'machinery' or 'mechanical equipment', and 'Atlast' instead of 'Lastly' or 'Finally'. There are also minor typographical issues like missing spaces after commas. While communication is not impeded, these lexical slips and a somewhat limited range of precise terminology prevent the writing from achieving a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and passive constructions such as 'the crops are grown' and 'the purified juice is heated'. However, there are noticeable grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('sugar canes juice are refined', 'the syrup was dried up'), incorrect pronoun usage ('before it goes'), and awkward phrasing ('physical' instead of 'manually' or 'physical labour'). Punctuation and article usage also show inconsistencies. Although these errors rarely impede overall communication, they represent a recurring pattern of structural lapses that prevent the grammar score from advancing further.

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