Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-07-26
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The diagram below shows how a biofuel called ethanol is produced.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
The process diagram demonstrates how a specific kind of biofuel named ethanol is made.
Overall, it is clear that this cyclic cycle contains twelve stages from beggining with the photosyntesis and ending with the relasment of the carbon dioxide to the air.
Firstly, plant and trees are using sunlight and carbondioxide for photosyntesis to grow. After that, the trees and plants are harvested and send to some pre-processing machines. This machines turned these plants into cellulose, following this cellulose went into some procceses, and sugars are made
Furthermore, microbes are added to the sugars. These microbes used the sugar for their food suplement and fermented them into ethanol. After ethanol is produced, it is than started to use for biofuelin different transportation purposes. This veichles started to relase carbon dioxide to the air and this cycle started to
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main stages of the ethanol production process, but it is incomplete. The final sentence is cut off mid-thought, and the description of the process lacks detail in several areas. Furthermore, the response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the ability to fully develop the response. While the main features are identified, the lack of completion and the brevity prevent a higher score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organised into paragraphs, and there is a basic attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Furthermore', and 'After that'. However, the flow is disrupted by the incomplete final sentence and some mechanical phrasing. The progression of ideas is logical, but the lack of a concluding summary and the abrupt ending make the overall structure feel unfinished. Referencing is generally clear, but the cohesion is somewhat repetitive.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but limited. There are several spelling errors, such as 'beggining', 'photosyntesis', 'relasment', 'veichles', and 'relase'. These errors are frequent and occasionally distract the reader. While the student attempts to use process-related terminology like 'fermented' and 'cellulose', the range is not sufficient to demonstrate flexibility. The word choice is functional but lacks the precision expected at higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('This machines turned', 'These microbes used') and incorrect verb forms ('is than started to use'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the incomplete final sentence. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of errors is high, which limits the score.
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