Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-19

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 6.5)

The process diagram illustrates the cyclic process of ethanol production.

Overall, ethanol processing invloves several steps beginning with the plants taking up several resources from environment and the phenomenon starts again by adding carbon gas in the ecosystem.

At the initial stage, growing plants and trees use environmental energy, sunlight, and carbon dioxide for growth purposes. After this, harvesting of these plants has taken place, harvested trees and plants pass through the pre-processing stage for the production of cellulose, which is then further processed at industry level.

Furthermore, processed carbohydrate transformed into the sugars. At the final stage, an addition of microorganisms have taken place as a last step of ethanol production. Moreover, ethanol is used as a fuel for numerous means of trasportation, such as cars, trucks, and airplanes. These vehicles release carbon dioxide in the environment, which is again used by plants. Thus, the cyclic process of ethanol can be started again.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You give a clear overview of the cycle and describe its main stages, from plant growth and harvesting through processing to ethanol use and carbon dioxide returning to plants. The sequence is generally accurate, and you include the transport examples shown in the diagram. This covers the task well. However, one important stage is not clearly reported: microbes are added to the sugars to produce ethanol. Your sentence, “an addition of microorganisms have taken place as a last step of ethanol production,” makes this sound like the final step rather than the conversion stage before ethanol is obtained. Also, “processed carbohydrate” is less precise than cellulose, the material identified in the diagram. Clarifying these relationships would make the account more fully developed and precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall progression, with an overview followed by the production stages and then the fuel-use cycle. Sequencing expressions such as “At the initial stage,” “After this,” and “At the final stage” help the reader follow the process, and the final sentence returns to the cycle introduced at the start. Some linking is mechanical, however, particularly the repeated use of “Furthermore,” “Moreover,” and “Thus.” The long sentence beginning “After this” also joins several stages together, making the relationships between harvesting, pre-processing, cellulose, and industrial processing harder to track. Use clearer sentence boundaries and refer explicitly to each material as it moves to the next stage.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of process vocabulary, including “harvesting,” “pre-processing,” “cellulose,” “microorganisms,” and “carbon dioxide,” which suits the topic. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “at industry level” and “numerous means of transportation.” Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural: “carbon gas” is not the diagram’s term, “processed carbohydrate” is imprecise, and “for growth purposes” is wordy. Spelling slips in “invloves” and “trasportation” also reduce accuracy. Aim for concise, standard process language and check spelling; precise terms such as “sugars” and “microbes” will make the stages easier to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a relative clause in “which is then further processed” and a longer sequence describing the production stages. Meaning is generally recoverable, but some grammatical errors remain. In “an addition of microorganisms have taken place,” the singular subject requires “has,” and the construction is awkward; “microbes are added” would be clearer. “Processed carbohydrate transformed into the sugars” is missing a finite verb, while “harvested trees and plants pass” shifts into an unclear construction after the preceding clause. There are also tense and article inconsistencies, such as “has taken place” within a process described in the present. Use consistent present simple forms and check that every clause has a clear subject and verb.

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