Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-29

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 below shows the manufacturing process for making sugar from sugar cane.

Overall, it is clear that there are several stages in the process, beginnig with growing of sugar canes and ending with drying and cooling of sugar. It is a linear process.

Looking first at the intial stage, the process begin with growing sugar canes in farm for 12 to 18 months. Following this, the sugar cane is harvested either by machine or manually by workers. After this, the harvested sugar canes is transferred to crushing machine where sugar canes is converted into liquid then the juice is purified by limestone filter.

In the next stage, the purified juice is converted into syrup by heating process. Meanwhile, in centrifuge process the sugar crsytals is separated from syrup, then the sugar is transferred for drying and cooling process. The whole process involves both manual and mechanical methods of making sugar from sugar canes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main stages and give a clear overview: the process starts with cane growing and ends with drying and cooling, and you correctly mention the 12–18-month growing period and the two harvesting methods. The sequence from crushing and filtering through heating and centrifuging is also broadly accurate. However, some details are underdeveloped: for example, explain that crushing extracts juice, and that the centrifuge separates sugar crystals from syrup. The final claim that the process uses both manual and mechanical methods is less useful as a summary of the production stages. The response is 143 words, below the 150-word minimum; the 12 words copied from the prompt are excluded from the count. Add a little more precise process detail.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an overview followed by stages in sequence, and phrases such as “Following this,” “After this,” and “In the next stage” help guide the reader. The progression is generally easy to follow. However, the linking is somewhat mechanical and the final paragraph combines several steps in a way that makes their relationships less clear. “Meanwhile” is not an appropriate link for the centrifuge stage, which follows evaporation rather than happening at the same time. Paragraphing could also distinguish the initial growing and harvesting stages from the later processing stages more clearly. Use a wider range of precise links, and make each sentence show the order and relationship between stages.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “harvested,” “purified,” “limestone filter,” “syrup,” and “centrifuge,” so the reader can understand the main stages. There is some repetition of “process,” “sugar canes,” and “stage,” and a few choices are imprecise or awkward, such as “converted into liquid” for the extraction of juice and “transferred for drying and cooling.” Spelling errors in “beginnig,” “intial,” and “crsytals” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise process collocations and vary repeated nouns where possible; for example, use “cane” or “the crop” after introducing sugar cane. These improvements would make the description more natural and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including the overview sentence with “beginnig with … and ending with …” and a sequence joined by “where.” Meaning remains clear overall, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “the process begin” needs subject–verb agreement, while “the harvested sugar canes is transferred” and “the sugar crystals is separated” have agreement errors. Articles and number are also inconsistent in “in farm” and “crushing machine.” The sentence beginning “In the next stage” joins several actions with commas, making the structure less controlled. Check agreement and singular/plural forms, and use full stops or conjunctions to separate stages. More consistently accurate complex sentences would strengthen the description.

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