Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The given diagram demonstrates the manufacturing stages for making sugar from sugar cane.

Overall, it is clear that process consist of seven stages from the garvesting of sugar cane to made the sugar from sugar cane juice.

To begin with, in the initial step, sugar cane takes 12-18 months to grow in the farms. When the fully grown they are ready to harvest, after this sugar cane is cutt either mannually or mechanically and transported in the factory. In addition, fed in the crushing machine that juice could seperated from the sugar canes.

Moving further, once the waste material is seperated from juice it is purified by limestone filter. In fifth step, whole juice is transferred in the substanial container to give the heat that juice become liquid syrup. Meanwhile, sugar crystals are seperated from the juice and drying in the sun heat from days. finally pure sugar crystals are made raw sugarcane.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the process as a sequence and include several key stages, including the 12–18-month growing period, harvesting by hand or machine, crushing, limestone filtration and heating. This gives the reader a relevant account of the diagram. However, the overview is unclear: “from the garvesting of sugar cane to made the sugar” does not accurately summarise the full process, which begins with growing and ends with drying and cooling. Some later details are also incomplete or inaccurate. The diagram shows a centrifuge separating sugar crystals from syrup, followed by drying and cooling; it does not say that crystals are dried in sunlight or that this takes days. A clearer overview and more accurate coverage of the final stages would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs describing the stages in sequence. Transitions such as “To begin with” and “Moving further” help signal progression, and the main stages are generally presented in the correct order. However, some links between ideas are awkward or unclear. For example, “When the fully grown they are ready to harvest, after this…” combines several steps without clear sentence boundaries, while “Meanwhile” does not accurately signal the centrifuge stage. The final stages are compressed into one sentence, making their relationship difficult to follow. Use clearer sentence boundaries and connect each stage explicitly to the next, especially from evaporation through separation to drying and cooling.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “limestone filter,” “crushing machine,” “juice,” “syrup” and “sugar crystals,” which helps communicate the subject. There are also attempts at more specific wording, such as “substanial container,” although this is not the most suitable description. A number of spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision, including “garvesting,” “cutt,” “mannually,” “seperated” and “raw sugarcane.” Some phrases are also unnatural, such as “give the heat” and “made raw sugarcane.” Aim for accurate process collocations and consistent spelling: for example, say that juice is heated until it becomes syrup, then that crystals are separated and dried. This would make the vocabulary more reliable and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and the sequence is usually understandable. However, some grammatical errors affect clarity. The overview has faulty structure in “process consist of seven stages … to made the sugar,” and “When the fully grown” is missing a subject and a suitable verb form. In “sugar cane is cutt … and transported,” the passive construction is not maintained clearly, while “that juice could seperated” lacks the correct passive form. The final sentence also joins stages without a clear grammatical relationship. Practise accurate passive forms for describing processes, subject–verb agreement, and complete clauses. Shorter, well-controlled sentences would help you explain each stage before attempting more complex links.

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