Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-20

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 5.0)

The diagram illustrates the recycling process for producing sugar from sugar cane.

Overall, there is a wide range of sugar categories and ways in which sugar is produced from sugar cane. And after this completing this process, it is supplied in different areas.

In the first stage, the sugar cane is planted and grows over these months, and after this planting, the sugar cane is taken out from the garden for harvesting through both methods: machinery and hand harvesting. In the third step,

the cane was crushed, and it was turned into juice through a juicer machine.

In the fourth step, the purified juice was taken out through a limestone filter, and the temperature of the juice was adjusted to become syrup-shaped; after this procedure, the sugar crystals were separated from the syrup. In the last process, the cane was transferred into sugar and underwent drying and cooling.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the general subject and describe several stages, including harvesting by hand or machine, crushing, filtering, evaporation and separation. However, the response only minimally fulfils the task: the overview introduces unsupported claims about “a wide range of sugar categories” and supply to “different areas,” neither of which appears in the diagram. Important details are also missing or unclear, especially the 12–18-month growing period, the evaporator’s use of heat to turn juice into syrup, and the final drying and cooling stage. “The cane was transferred into sugar” misrepresents the process; sugar crystals are dried and cooled. The response is also two words below the required minimum. A concise, accurate overview and fuller reporting of the stages would strengthen the answer.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic paragraph structure, with an overview followed by a description of the process, and it generally follows the diagram’s sequence. Stage markers such as “In the first stage,” “In the third step,” and “In the fourth step” help the reader follow the account. However, progression is weakened by the unsupported overview and by awkward or unclear links, including “And after this completing this process.” The final paragraph compresses several distinct stages into one sentence, making the sequence from evaporation to centrifuging and then drying less clear. Use a more direct overview, give each group of stages a clear progression, and connect steps with accurate references such as “the resulting syrup” and “the separated crystals.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “harvesting,” “crushed,” “limestone filter,” “syrup,” and “crystals,” so the main subject is usually understandable. There is also some variety in how you refer to the stages. However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for this diagram: “recycling process” suggests reuse, “sugar categories” is not shown, “taken out from the garden” is imprecise, and “syrup-shaped” does not describe the juice’s transformation. “Juicer machine” is less suitable than a term such as crusher. Aim for precise process collocations and avoid adding vocabulary that implies information absent from the visual. The suggested alternatives can help make the description more natural and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, and most of the process can be understood. For example, the sentence beginning “In the fourth step” links purification, heating and separation. However, control is uneven: “And after this completing this process” is not a well-formed clause, while “after this planting” creates an unclear grammatical relationship. The sentence “the sugar cane is taken out … for harvesting through both methods” also has a confusing construction, and the shift from present forms (“is planted,” “is taken”) to past forms (“was crushed,” “was turned”) is inconsistent for describing a process diagram. Use the present simple consistently and check clause structure, articles and punctuation, especially where several stages are joined in one sentence.

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