Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-03

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 5.0)

The diagram shows how geothermal energy is used to produce electricity.

overall the process consists of several stages,begining with cold water being pumped under ground and ending with electricity being produced by a generator .The main purpose of the process is to use heat from hot rocks to produce steam.

First ,Cold water is pumped back to the surafce through anotherpipe

Next the hot water enter a condenser In this stage the hot water is converted into steam

The steam then moves towards a turbine and cause its blade to rotate .The rotating turbine is connected to a generator .Finally generator uses the movement of the turbine to produce electricity

which is then supplied to the electricity netword .

overall geothermal energy uses

underground to heat to convert water into steam a generate electricity.

This process is enivirmentally friendly because its uses natural heat from the earth of burning traditional fuels✨.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 150 words, containing only 142 words, with 9 words copied directly from the prompt not counted. Furthermore, the task is only partially addressed. While the student attempts to outline the process of how a geothermal power plant generates electricity, key mechanical details and stages from the diagram—such as the injection well depth of 4.5 km and the distinction between the injection and production wells—are missed or described with significant gaps. The overview is repetitive and lacks a fully developed summary of the main features shown in the visual data, leading to an underdeveloped and incomplete response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The text displays some overall organization with attempts at sequential signposting such as 'First', 'Next', and 'Finally', but it suffers from a lack of clear progression and mechanical or inadequate cohesive devices. Paragraphing is highly fragmented and erratic, with single sentences or broken fragments standing alone instead of forming cohesive, unified paragraphs. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and the repetitive concluding sentences fail to establish a smooth logical flow, causing the overall arrangement to feel disjointed and lacking in appropriate textual cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

Vocabulary is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The student uses basic terms related to the process, such as 'cold water', 'steam', 'turbine', and 'generator', but attempts at less common or precise vocabulary frequently result in word-choice errors, spelling mistakes, and collocation issues, such as 'netword' instead of network, 'enivirmentally friendly', and 'its uses' instead of it uses. These noticeable lexical errors and repetitive phrasing cause some difficulty for the reader and restrict the range to a basic level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences alongside poorly controlled attempts at complex forms. Frequent errors are present in punctuation, capitalization, articles, and verb forms, such as missing spaces after punctuation marks ('First ,Cold'), incorrect verb agreement ('generator uses', 'hot water enter'), and awkward phrasing like 'cause its blade to rotate'. These frequent errors disrupt the reading flow and can cause difficulty for the reader, reflecting basic control over sentence construction and mechanics.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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