Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-23

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 process diagram illustrates the information about the production of sugar from sugar cane.

Overall, there are seven stages in the production of sugar from sugar cane. The process begins with growing sugar cane and ends with drying and cooling the sugar crystals.

Initially, sugar cane takes approximately 12-18 months for their full growth after that time-period, they are ready for harvesting. Next, farmers are harvesting sugar cane with themselves and sometime from the machines. Following this, by the use of crush machine, sugar cane juice extracted and then purify the juice by passing it from limestone filter. Subsequently, heating the purified juice in the evaporator to covert it into syrup.

Thereafter, we centrifuge the syrup, which involve seperating sugar crystals from syrup and finally the last step, in which we put all the crystals in the container and leave it for drying and cooling the sugar crystals. finally, after cooling and drying process, sugar is ready for use.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You cover the full sequence and give a clear overview: the process has seven stages, beginning with cane growth and ending with drying and cooling. The 12–18-month growing period is accurately reported, and the harvesting methods, crushing, limestone filtration, evaporation and centrifuging are all included. This gives the reader a well-supported account of the main features. Some details could be more precise: for example, the centrifuge separates sugar crystals from the remaining syrup, and the final stage dries and cools the sugar rather than simply leaving crystals in a container. Avoid adding the unsupported claim that the finished sugar is “ready for use.” More exact descriptions of these final stages would strengthen an otherwise complete response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is arranged in a clear sequence, with an overview followed by the stages from growing to the finished product. Connectors such as “Initially,” “Next,” “Following this,” and “Thereafter” help the reader follow the process, and the paragraphing separates the overview from the detailed account. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent overall organisation and shows some of the flexibility associated with stronger cohesion. However, the transitions are somewhat mechanical and occasionally awkward: “after that time-period” and “finally the last step” repeat or over-explain the sequence. The long middle paragraph also packs several stages together. Use fewer, more natural linking phrases and group related stages into clearer units to improve flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a relevant range of process vocabulary, including “harvesting,” “limestone filter,” “evaporator,” “syrup,” and “centrifuge,” so the stages are generally understandable. There are also attempts at more specific wording, such as “sugar crystals.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural: “farmers are harvesting sugar cane with themselves,” “crush machine,” and “put all the crystals in the container” do not describe the diagram precisely. Spelling errors such as “seperating” and “covert” also reduce accuracy. Aim for standard process collocations—for example, “the cane is crushed,” “the juice is purified,” and “the crystals are dried and cooled”—and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex structures, including a relative clause in “which involve separating sugar crystals from syrup” and a sequence of subordinate clauses describing the stages. The overall meaning remains understandable, but grammatical control is uneven. For example, “sugar cane takes approximately 12–18 months for their full growth” has problems with the subject and possessive reference, while “after that time-period, they are ready” creates an unclear pronoun reference. Tense and sentence construction also shift in “heating the purified juice in the evaporator to convert it into syrup,” which is not a complete clause as written. Practise consistent present-simple passive forms for processes, and check agreement, articles and sentence boundaries.

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