Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

The diagram illustrate the manufacturing process for making sugar from sugar cane. The diagram has also mention the process of making sugar cane.

The diagram has highlight the process of making sugar from sugar cane. The process of making sugar is divided into seven parts. They are growing, harvesting, crushing, purifying juice, evaporator, centrifuge and drying & cooling. Thus, this is the process of making sugar from sugar cane.

Sugar Cane takes 12-18 months to grow. Once it grows well then the whole process will start.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the length requirement, containing only 77 words (with 9 words copied from the prompt excluded from the count), falling far short of the 150-word minimum. Furthermore, the response is severely underdeveloped and responds to the task only minimally. The student describes the first stage of the process regarding growing sugar cane, but completely omits the majority of the subsequent stages shown in the diagram, such as harvesting, crushing, purifying, evaporating, centrifuging, and drying. There is no comprehensive summary of the main features or comparisons across the entire process. This partial and highly incomplete address of the task places the response at this band level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The text shows some basic organizational structure by attempting to break the introduction into separate sentences and introducing the stages in a list-like fashion. However, there is no clear overall progression or logical development of ideas throughout a cohesive text. The student relies heavily on repetitive phrasing, such as repeatedly stating 'The diagram has...' and 'the process of making sugar from sugar cane,' which creates redundancy rather than smooth textual flow. Paragraphing is disjointed, consisting of very short, isolated sentences and mini-paragraphs that fail to group information logically. These cohesive and organizational limitations keep the response at this level.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently reusing terms from the prompt such as 'manufacturing process,' 'making sugar,' and 'sugar cane.' While the student attempts to name some stages like 'growing,' 'harvesting,' and 'crushing,' the lexical range is extremely limited and minimally adequate for the task. There are also noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'The diagram has mention' instead of 'mentions,' and 'The diagram has highlight' instead of 'highlights.' These errors and the restricted vocabulary prevent the writing from achieving a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The grammatical structures attempted are very basic, consisting mostly of simple sentences such as 'Sugar Cane takes 12-18 months to grow.' The range of structures is limited, and attempts at more complex formulations are absent. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and verb forms, such as 'The diagram illustrate' (should be 'illustrates') and 'The diagram has mention' (should be 'has mentioned' or 'mentions'). Punctuation is generally simplistic. These frequent errors and the lack of a varied sentence structure reflect the characteristics of this band level.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.