Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-01

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 gives information on how ethanol is made.

Overall, the process contains seven stages, beginning with planting a trees and waiting to reach maturity and ending with adding microbes to sugars. Besides, harvesting is a important process  to produce biofuel.

Initially, the process starts with growth of plants and trees, which absorb the carbon dioxide from the atmostphere. After they reach maturity, they undergo to harvesting process using tractors and mechanical machines. After completing harvesting, they undergoes to pre-processing procedure where it cut into small pieces, and then they goes cellulose process.

On the other hand, after cellulose process they goes to chemical process where they add chemical in cellulose. Moreover, after the chemical procedure, next step is to add sugars. Furthermore, after adding the microbes in sugars. We get the final product, ethanol. Ethanol is used in cars, trucks, and planes which produced a lot of carbon dioxide.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response attempts to cover the main features of the biofuel production diagram, but the account is only partially developed and contains inaccurate sequencing. For instance, the student states that the process begins with 'planting a trees' and later confuses the order of cellulose and chemical processing, omitting key intermediate stages like sugars and microbes in the right sequence. The overview provided in the second paragraph is somewhat mechanical and limited. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to select and report the main stages more accurately and provide a clearer, more fully developed summary of the overall process without missing crucial steps shown in the visual data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation in the response, moving chronologically from the initial growth of plants to the final use of ethanol, but there is no clear overall progression due to confusing transitions and mechanical cohesion. The text is divided into paragraphs, but the logical flow is disrupted by awkward linking devices such as 'Besides', 'Initially', and 'On the other hand', which are used inappropriately for a process diagram. Referencing is also unclear in places, such as shifting between singular and plural pronouns ('it cut into small pieces, and then they goes'). To improve, the writer must ensure that cohesive devices are used accurately to signal the natural progression of steps in a process rather than argumentative contrasts.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey the basic topic of biofuel production. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items related to the diagram, such as 'maturity', 'harvesting', 'pre-processing', and 'microbes', but noticeable word-form and word-choice errors occur frequently throughout the text. Examples include 'planting a trees', 'atmostphere', 'mechanical machines', and 'produced a lot of carbon dioxide' where verb tense and form are affected by lexical inaccuracies. These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to expand their lexical range, use correct word forms consistently, and avoid repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with frequent errors in complex structures. There are persistent grammatical mistakes throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement errors ('they undergoes', 'they goes'), missing articles ('harvesting is a important process'), and incorrect prepositional patterns ('undergo to harvesting process'). Furthermore, punctuation is sometimes faulty, and sentence boundaries are strained by awkward phrasing. These frequent errors cause noticeable difficulty for the reader. To improve, the writer must work on basic grammatical accuracy, particularly verb-subject agreement, correct use of articles, and accurate prepositions within grammatical structures.

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

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