Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-17

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 shows the step-by-step manufacturing process of making sugar from sugar cane.

Overall, the diagram shows three basic manufacturing steps that include harvesting, crushing, and shaping into a final product to make it available for marketing.

The process starts with growing sugar cane, which requires 12-18 months. Once the canes are grown, the farmers cut them and transport them by tractor to the place where they will be crushed. The sugar canes are put into the crusher, which will make juice from them. Juice from the crusher machine is transferred to the cone-shaped limestone filter paper, which purifies it and releases the filtered juice in drops. The filtered juice is then heated in a container and the evaporator converts the juice into syrup. The next step is centrifugation, during which sugar crystals are separated from the syrup and in the next step, they are dried and cooled and the final sugar product is made available for markets

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover the main sequence from growing through drying and cooling, and correctly include the 12–18-month growing period, crushing, purification, evaporation and centrifugation. The overview identifies broad stages, but “shaping into a final product” is vague and does not clearly summarise the process’s key transformation from cane to sugar. Some details are inaccurate or unsupported: the diagram shows two harvesting methods, mechanical and manual, rather than saying the canes are transported by tractor; it also does not show the sugar being made available for marketing. The filter is described as cone-shaped and made of “filter paper,” neither of which is indicated. This covers the task, but some features are less fully and precisely reported than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response follows the process in a generally logical order, and the opening overview helps orient the reader. Sequencing expressions such as “Once,” “The next step,” and “during which” make the stages easy to follow. However, the overview’s three “basic manufacturing steps” does not align clearly with the detailed account that follows, which describes several more stages. The body is presented as one long paragraph, and the final sentence joins multiple stages with repeated “and,” making the progression less controlled. A separate overview and a body paragraph grouped into early and later stages would improve paragraphing and make the organisation more deliberate. Overall, the sequence is coherent, though cohesion is not consistently smooth.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of process vocabulary, including “crusher,” “purifies,” “evaporator,” “syrup,” and “centrifugation,” which allows the reader to understand the stages. Some less common terms are attempted, but a few choices are imprecise or unnatural: “shaping into a final product” does not accurately describe the process, “filter paper” is not supported by the diagram, and “available for markets” is an awkward collocation. “Cone-shaped” also adds a visual detail that is not established. These choices do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision. Aim to use the diagram’s labels directly where possible and choose standard process collocations, such as “the juice passes through a limestone filter” and “the sugar is ready for use.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use both simple and complex sentence forms, including the relative clause “which purifies it” and the time clause beginning “Once the canes are grown.” Most of the process remains understandable, but some sentence boundaries and punctuation need attention. The final sentence runs through centrifugation, separation, drying and cooling without a full stop, and the clause “during which sugar crystals are separated from the syrup and in the next step, they are dried” is awkwardly joined. The phrase “the final sugar product is made available for markets” also has an unclear grammatical relationship between the product and its intended destination. Break long sentences into clearer units and check clause connections and punctuation.

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.