Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-24

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 demonstrates the production of Ethanol known as biofuel.

The ethanol is a versatile chemical used in the manufacturing of many products like in beverages, medicine and used as fuel in the whole world.

The process of producing this biofuel takes different steps as given in the diagram. Firstly, It needs the crops containing high amount of starch and sugar for example sugarcane. The plants crops were grown at the wide area where carbon dioxide and sunlight is accessible to the plants.Then the harvesting of these crops have done with the help of tractors.The crops are ready for the pre processing by passing from the mill which turns it into the powder form.Now the next step is to isolate the cellulose and further send it to the chemical processing which the sugar molecules get separated and mixed with some beneficial microbes to make the final biofuel.The ethanol now can be used in vehicles and the emitting carbon dioxide from their smoke returns to the environment and used by the plants again.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the process as ethanol production and describe its broad sequence from plant growth and harvesting through processing to fuel use and carbon dioxide returning to plants. This captures the diagram’s cyclical feature. However, several details are added or misrepresented: the diagram does not specify starch-rich crops, sugarcane, a mill producing powder, or ethanol’s use in beverages and medicine. It shows cellulose being processed into sugars, with microbes added before ethanol is produced, and ethanol powering cars, trucks and aircraft. The response also lacks a clear overview of the main stages and cycle, while some steps are compressed or unclear. Focus on the information shown and summarise the key stages accurately to make the account more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response follows a generally understandable chronological order, using “Firstly,” “Now,” and “The ethanol now” to guide the reader through the process. It also ends by linking carbon dioxide back to plant growth, which gives the account a sense of completion. However, the ideas are presented as one continuous paragraph, and the progression becomes difficult to follow in the long sentence beginning “Now the next step is to isolate the cellulose.” Some links between stages are unclear, particularly how processing produces sugars and how microbes lead to ethanol. Use separate paragraphs for an overview and the process details, and make each stage’s connection explicit. This would create clearer progression and reduce the reliance on basic sequencing words.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “harvesting,” “cellulose,” “chemical processing,” “microbes,” and “carbon dioxide,” which helps communicate the subject. However, several choices are inaccurate or imprecise for describing the diagram: “crops containing high amount of starch and sugar” introduces unsupported information, while “mill,” “powder form,” and “beneficial microbes” do not match the labels or add useful precision. There are also awkward collocations, such as “grown at the wide area” and “carbon dioxide and sunlight is accessible.” Aim for concise, diagram-based terms and avoid adding technical details that are not shown. More precise process vocabulary would make the description clearer and more appropriate to an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence boundaries are frequent enough to make parts of the account awkward. For example, “the harvesting of these crops have done” needs a passive construction with singular agreement, and “the plants crops were grown” has an unclear noun phrase and tense. In “where carbon dioxide and sunlight is accessible,” the verb does not agree with the compound subject. The long sentence beginning “Now the next step” also joins several stages without clear grammatical links. Practise accurate passive forms for process descriptions and divide complex sequences into shorter, correctly punctuated sentences.

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