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 depicts the information about produce electricity by the help of geothermal.

Overall it can be seen that, there are five different steps. However, main step is underground geothermal.

Looking into more details, first step is cold water pumped down in ground about 4.5 km. Moreover, cold water injection well and form geothermal zone hot rocks and production well.In addition, pumped up in the form of hot water.

Furthermore, the hot water store in a condenser and it produce steam.The last step is steam pass by generators turbine and powered by staem and then powered by turbine and produce electricity. With the help of electric trover electricity give to people and they uesd in their household.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response only partially addresses the task requirements and fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 150 words, falling short at 117 words. While the student attempts to summarise the diagram illustrating how a geothermal power plant produces electricity, the coverage of main features is limited and basic. Some steps in the process, such as the role of the condenser and the specific mechanics of the injection and production wells, are underdeveloped or described vaguely. The overview provided in the second paragraph is extremely simplistic ('there are five different steps. However, main step is underground geothermal'), lacking a clear summary of the overall process flow from cold water injection to electricity generation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation attempted through paragraphing, but the response lacks a clear overall progression. The relationship between sentences is sometimes disjointed or mechanical, with basic cohesive devices like 'Furthermore', 'Moreover', and 'In addition' used repetitively or awkwardly. Referencing is also unclear in places, such as in the sentence 'cold water injection well and form geothermal zone hot rocks and production well', where the grammatical subject and logical flow are lost. Paragraphing is attempted to separate the overview and details, but the abrupt transitions prevent a smooth, logical progression of ideas throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The student relies heavily on basic or lifted terms directly from the prompt, such as 'geothermal zone', 'hot rocks', 'condenser', and 'steam'. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'produce electricity by the help of geothermal' and 'electric trover electricity give to people and they uesd in their household', which cause some difficulty for the reader. Spelling is generally acceptable for common words, but the overall lexical range restricts the precision needed to describe a technical process effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, consisting mostly of simple or heavily flawed complex attempts. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing verbs, incorrect prepositions, and faulty sentence construction, such as 'The diagram depicts the information about produce electricity' and 'first step is cold water pumped down in ground about 4.5 km'. Errors in articles ('the ground', 'a condenser') and verb forms ('steam pass by generators turbine') are frequent and often cause strain for the reader, keeping the control of grammar at a low level.

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