Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-27
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The diagram below shows how geothermal energy is used to produce electricity.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
The diagram describes the process of producing electricity from geothermal energy.
Overall, there are five main stages starting with cold water and ending with the produced electricity using of geothermal powe plant.
To begin with cold water, that water pump down in a long 4.5 km down to the injection well, then this water passess into geothermal zone from the injection well, which consists of hot rocks, where the water temperature increases to the required one, in the next step that hot water pumped up from a production well through a large 4.5 km pipe to transfer it to a condenser.
Subsequently, the hot water from the condenser steamed through a naroow way that goes to the turbine from condenser, the turbine is all powered by steam, the turbine is spinnig and passing its energy to the generator, the generator is powered by the turbine and its prodicing electricity and then passing it to the grid stations.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by describing the overall process of generating electricity from geothermal energy. An overview is provided, noting the starting point (cold water) and the end point (produced electricity), which satisfies the requirements for a clear summary. Key features such as the 4.5 km depth, the injection and production wells, the geothermal zone with hot rocks, the condenser, turbine, and generator are all correctly identified and reported in a logical sequence. The information is fully grounded in the provided diagram without major omissions or misreadings, resulting in a solid performance for Task Achievement.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has a clear overall progression, starting with an introductory sentence and overview, followed by the sequential steps of the diagram. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'then', 'in the next step', and 'Subsequently' are used to guide the reader through the process. However, paragraphing is weak, as the entire body of the response is clumped into just two lengthy and run-on sentences. Referencing is occasionally strained due to excessive clause linking with commas instead of full stops or appropriate conjunctions (e.g., 'To begin with cold water, that water pump down...'). While the logical flow of the process is discernible, the structural cohesion at the sentence and paragraph level needs significant improvement.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms from the diagram such as 'geothermal energy', 'injection well', 'production well', 'condenser', 'turbine', and 'generator'. However, there are notable word-choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'using of geothermal powe plant', 'water pump down', 'water passess', 'steamed through a naroow way', and 'prodicing electricity'. Spelling errors like 'powe', 'passess', 'naroow', and 'prodicing' also occur. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they reflect a limited control over less common lexical items.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, attempting multi-clause sentences to describe the process. However, grammatical control is weak, with frequent errors including missing auxiliary verbs ('that water pump down', 'hot water pumped up'), incorrect verb forms ('water passess'), and run-on sentence structures joined incorrectly by commas ('To begin with cold water, that water pump down in a long 4.5 km down to the injection well, then this water passess...'). Punctuation is generally insufficient, leading to breathless, overly long sentences. These frequent errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader and prevent the response from achieving a higher band.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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