Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-09

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 6.5)

The diagram illustrates the manufacturing of sugar and its process from sugar cane.

Overall, the process consists of seven main stages until sugar is produced, beginning with growing the sugar cane which is the longest time consuming process in this cycle for 12-18 months, ending with drying and cooling the produced sugar.

Intially, The full growing period of the sugar cane is 12-18 months. Following this, harvesting. Harvesting can be made in two different ways. one using tractors specially designed for sugar harvesting or manual harvesting. once this stage has been completed, the sugar canes are procssed into a crushing machine to separate the juice. The purifying juice are then heated in a boiling evaporator to turn the juice into syrup.

In the subsequent stage, Centrifuge where it seperates the sugar crystals from the syrup. After that, the sugar is dried and cooled which makes it has the final stage of the process.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response covers the main stages and gives a clear overview: it identifies seven stages, the 12–18-month growing period, and the final drying and cooling stage. It also accurately notes the two harvesting methods and explains that crushing extracts juice and centrifuging separates crystals from syrup. These details make the process understandable and address the task well. However, some stages are compressed or described imprecisely: the account does not mention the limestone filter used to purify the juice, and it says the juice is heated in a “boiling evaporator” without clearly stating that evaporation turns it into syrup. To strengthen the report, describe each transformation precisely and include the filter as a key process feature.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall progression, moving from the overview through growing and harvesting to the later processing stages. Paragraphing also helps distinguish the overview from the detailed account, and transitions such as “Following this” and “In the subsequent stage” guide the reader. This provides a coherent arrangement, but cohesion is not consistently controlled. The sequence “Following this, harvesting” is a fragment, while “After that” is followed by an unclear explanation of the final stage. Some links between stages are also abrupt, particularly the move from purification to heating. Use complete sentences and connect each stage explicitly to the next; this would make the progression smoother and more consistently logical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for describing a production process, with relevant terms such as “harvesting,” “crushing machine,” “syrup,” and “sugar crystals.” The writer also attempts more specific wording, including “mechanical harvester” and “centrifuge,” which helps convey the diagram’s stages. However, several choices are inaccurate or awkward: “the longest time consuming process” is an unnatural phrase, “boiling evaporator” is not the clearest label, and “makes it has the final stage” does not express the intended meaning. Spelling slips such as “Intially,” “procssed,” and “seperates” also reduce precision. Choose standard process vocabulary and check spelling and collocations carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts a mix of simple and more complex forms, including the overview sentence beginning “Overall” and the clause “which is the longest time consuming process.” Meaning is generally recoverable, but some grammatical errors and sentence fragments remain. “Following this, harvesting” lacks a finite verb, and “The purifying juice are then heated” has an agreement problem and an unclear grammatical construction. The final clause, “which makes it has the final stage,” is also faulty, while capitalisation after full stops is inconsistent. Aim to make each process step a complete sentence, check subject–verb agreement, and use a clear passive pattern such as “The juice is then purified.”

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