Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-26
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 diagram illustrates the lifecycle of creation of a biofuel gas named as ethanol and its different application where we can use it. This involves different processing steps where a several chemical and specific operations perform for its genertion.
The primary resources of ethanol's from where it begin into its existance is sunlight and carbon dioxide. These are used by crops and trees to initiate a process called photosynthisez. This process produce grain that harvested by humans and passed through the pre-processing steps leads to generation of cellulose. The cellulose further put under a process in laboratory to generate sugars. At the end some microbes addes into the sugar resulted into ethanol gas.
The ethanol used as fuel primarly in transportation like cars, airplanes and trucks again produce some amount of carbon dioxide respectively that again mixup in envoirenment leading to a non-stop lifecycle of ethanol generation where the same process repeats.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The student covers the overall process shown in the diagram, beginning with sunlight and carbon dioxide, moving through harvesting, pre-processing, cellulose extraction, processing into sugars, and finally adding microbes to produce ethanol. The description also notes the transportation uses and the recycling of carbon dioxide back into plant growth. However, the response is relatively brief and some parts of the process descriptions are rather basic or slightly imprecise, such as referring to ethanol as a "biofuel gas" rather than a liquid fuel. Overall, the main features are reported satisfactorily, meeting the baseline requirements for a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The text is divided into three logical paragraphs that follow the chronological stages of the circular process diagram. Progression is generally clear, moving from production steps in the second paragraph to application and carbon dioxide release in the third paragraph. Cohesive devices such as "These are used", "The cellulose further", and "At the end" are employed to connect ideas, though referencing is occasionally mechanical or slightly awkward (e.g., "The ethanol used as fuel primarly in transportation... again produce some amount of carbon dioxide respectively that again mixup..."). Paragraphing is used appropriately, resulting in a coherent overall arrangement that fits Band 6.0 descriptors.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, incorporating topic-specific terms such as "photosynthisez" (spelling error for photosynthesize), "harvested", "cellulose", "sugars", and "microbes". However, there are notable word-choice and spelling inaccuracies throughout the text, such as "genertion" instead of generation, "existances" instead of existence, and "envoirenment" instead of environment. Less common lexical items are attempted but lack precision or correct morphological form. These errors do not completely impede communication, placing the response firmly at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as "The primary resources of ethanol's from where it begin into its existance is sunlight and carbon dioxide." However, grammatical control is weak, with frequent errors in verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions (e.g., "operations perform for its genertion", "The cellulose further put under a process", "microbes addes into the sugar resulted into"). Punctuation and article usage are also faulty in places. While the meaning remains generally understandable, the frequency of structural errors prevents the score from reaching Band 6.0.
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