Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-21

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)

The flowchart illustrates how a biofuel called ethanol is produced through different procedures.

The plants and trees grows through of carbondioxide and the energy of sunlight then that is harvest by a tractor or some other machine after that it wil be crushed through a chopper machine into small pieces to make cellulose and then it process in a factory with different procedures and make into sugars after that microbes added into sugar and ethanol has been produced and this is used in different vehicles like car truck and aeroplane and these are the sources of carbondioxide which is used to grow a tree or plants.

overall its a proper machinery process that is made through various kind of machines

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student successfully identifies the main stages of the process, from plants growing and harvesting to pre-processing, cellulose creation, processing into sugars, adding microbes, and finally producing ethanol which is used in vehicles and releases carbon dioxide. However, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 120 words. This under-length impacts the depth of the overview and results in a penalty under Task Achievement. While the key steps are covered, the lack of word count and a more developed overview prevent the score from reaching Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The response suffers severely from a lack of proper punctuation and paragraphing. It is essentially written as one long, run-on sentence with very few periods or commas, and a brief, poorly integrated concluding sentence ('overall its a proper machinery process...'). Cohesive devices are virtually absent, relying instead on endless repetition of 'and then' or 'after that'. Although the logical sequence of the diagram is generally followed, the complete absence of paragraphing and structural control places this criterion at Band 4.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive (e.g., 'plants and trees grows', 'crushed through a chopper machine', 'different procedures'). There are attempts at process-related vocabulary such as 'harvest', 'cellulose', 'sugars', 'microbes', and 'ethanol', but these are tied to simplistic sentence frames. Word choice is occasionally imprecise, and there are mechanical repetitions of words like 'carbondioxide'. The range is minimally adequate to convey the basic steps, fitting the Band 5 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatically, the text demonstrates severe issues. The entire body is a single run-on sentence connected by coordinating conjunctions ('and', 'then'). There are noticeable subject-verb agreement errors ('plants and trees grows'), missing articles ('is harvest', 'in factory'), and a complete lack of punctuation and capitalisation. Complex structures are non-existent or faulty, and frequent errors strain the reader and obscure the boundaries of clauses. This aligns with a Band 4.0 level.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.