Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-16

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 4.5)

First plants is planted and then they grow and then they become trees.A former comes and harvest the tress.When tress are harvested then they pass from a process and their seeds become separate. Their seeds pass from a process and cellulose become separate from their seeds. Cellulose does not become ethanol directly.Cellulose is send into factory and in factory cellulose pass through a process and chemicals is mixed with it.

When chemicals is mixed with it and process is completed then it converts into sugar. Then sugar pass from a process and sugar is convert into microbes added then it converts into ethanol and then it supply into whole world through cars,trucks and airoplanes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, coming in at 114 words. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed. While the student attempts to trace the steps of the diagram from planting to fuel usage and carbon dioxide release, the overview is missing entirely, and the description is oversimplified and inaccurate in places (e.g., stating that 'seeds become separate' and confusing stages like 'sugar is convert into microbes added'). Because the response is under-length and lacks a clear summary of the main features and overall cyclical nature of the process, it corresponds to Band 4.5, rounded to 5.0 based on positive marking for identifying several sequence stages.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The text lacks proper paragraphing, presented as a single block of text or broken abruptly. Cohesive devices are extremely basic and repetitive, relying almost entirely on 'and then' to link clauses and sentences (e.g., 'First plants is planted and then they grow and then they become trees'). There is no clear overall progression or sophisticated referencing; pronouns like 'it' are frequently ambiguous, referring back to unclear antecedents. Overall, the organization is very mechanical and basic, fitting the descriptors for Band 4.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive (e.g., 'process', 'plants', 'trees', 'seeds', 'cellulose'). There are frequent word choice errors and inappropriate word forms, such as 'former' instead of 'farmer', 'tress' instead of 'trees', and 'airoplanes' instead of 'aeroplanes'. The student attempts some less common terms from the prompt like 'cellulose', 'microbes', and 'ethanol', but overall the lexical range is inadequate for an academic task, restricting the score to Band 4.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The grammatical structures are extremely limited, consisting mostly of simple and active-voice clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions. There are frequent basic grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement errors ('First plants is', 'chemicals is mixed', 'sugar pass') and incorrect passive constructions ('sugar is convert into microbes added'). Punctuation is also problematic, with missing spaces after periods. Due to the high frequency of errors and very limited sentence variety, the grammar aligns with Band 4.0.

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

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