Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-01

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 5.0)

The given diagram illustrates the process and multiple stages of how biofuel called ethanol is produced from plants.

This process contains 5 stages in which, harvesting of plants and tree are happening in the initial stages.

After that, the collected goods are transferred to the pre-processing level, which make sure to separate the cellulose from the trees and plants. Therefore, a process take place to produce sugar and microbes are added in that sugar to create the ethanol which will be used in vehicle

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the topic and mention several relevant stages, including harvesting, pre-processing, cellulose, sugar, microbes and ethanol. However, the response only minimally covers the diagram: it omits the initial growth of plants using sunlight and carbon dioxide, the transport uses of ethanol, and the carbon-dioxide loop that completes the cycle. The claim that the process contains “5 stages” is inaccurate, and the explanation that pre-processing separates cellulose is not clearly supported by the diagram. There is also no clear overview of the cycle’s main features. The response is 66 words below the required minimum, which leaves too little space to report the process adequately. To improve, describe the full sequence and highlight how carbon dioxide returns to support plant growth.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The ideas are presented in a broadly chronological order, and phrases such as “After that” and “Therefore” help signal movement between stages. This gives the reader a basic sense of progression. However, the response is a single paragraph and the sequence is not consistently clear: “This process contains 5 stages” does not match the stages that follow, while “Therefore, a process take place” leaves the connection between cellulose and sugar vague. The final sentence also stops after mentioning vehicles, without completing the cycle. Organise the response into an introduction, an overview and a sequenced description, using clear links such as “Next” and “Finally” only where they accurately reflect the diagram.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “harvesting,” “pre-processing,” “cellulose,” “microbes” and “ethanol,” so the topic is recognisable. However, the range is limited, and several phrases are imprecise or awkward for describing a process. “Collected goods” is vague, and “create the ethanol” is less natural than a precise production verb. The response also refers to “sugar” rather than the diagram’s “sugars,” and “vehicle” does not capture the three transport types shown. Use specific terms consistently and add vocabulary for the cycle, such as “release,” “fuel” and “carbon-dioxide emissions,” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts to connect ideas with a relative clause (“which make sure…”) and a result link (“Therefore”), but most sentences follow simple patterns, and errors recur in the longer constructions. For example, “which make sure” does not agree with the singular noun “level,” and “a process take place” needs a correctly inflected verb. The phrase “in which, harvesting…” is also an awkward sentence construction, while the final sentence lacks a full stop. These issues do not make the general topic impossible to understand, but they reduce accuracy and control. Practise forming complete sentences with accurate subject–verb agreement, articles and punctuation, then combine stages using controlled clauses such as “After the plants are harvested, they are pre-processed.”

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