Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-21

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows the process for making a water clock.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN WATER CLOCK

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The process flow chart illustrates various steps involved in building a water clock.

Overall, there are seven stages involved in that process. Begining with opening the tap, covering the hole with finger and causing overflow from bottle in the third stage. Additionally, final stages includes measuring water levels per minute. Lastly, repeating the entire process to capture better timing obervations.

To begin with, the initial stages involved in that project. Firstly, open the tap to ensure water is flowing in the plastic bottle then covering the hole at the bottom of that bottle with finger. Furthermore, filling the experimental bottle till it overflows through a straw being glued at the top in the third stage. Moreover, measuring the water level till it reaches the straw and causes overflow.

In continuity, removing the finger from the hole at the bottom to ensure water is dropping on to the measuring beaker placed below it in the fifth stage. Additionally, calculating the levels of water per minute present in that beaker in the next step. Finally, draining the water from the bottle and restarting the process to get better insights and values.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers all seven stages of the water clock creation process, providing a sequential description of how the apparatus is built and operated. The overview touches upon the total number of steps and highlights the key measuring aspects. However, the response lacks a clear introductory overview of the main equipment components (such as the upper and lower bottles, stand, tap, and straw), which is essential for a Band 7 score. Furthermore, some sentences read more like bullet points or instructional fragments rather than a cohesive report, such as "Begining with opening the tap..." and "To begin with, the initial stages involved in that project." While all parts of the visual diagram are addressed, the development of ideas remains slightly mechanical and dependent on the prompt's listed stages.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The report exhibits a logical overall arrangement, moving step-by-step from the initial setup to the final timing measurement, matching the chronological stages of the diagram. Paragraphing is utilized to separate the introduction, overall summary, and body steps. However, cohesive devices are sometimes awkwardly used or mechanically forced, such as "In continuity" or starting multiple sentences with transitions like "Additionally" and "Moreover". Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like "that project" or "experimental bottle" without clear prior definition. The progression within paragraphs is somewhat disjointed due to fragmented sentence structures.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, attempting less common terms such as "overflow," "calibration," "draining," and "observations." However, there are notable word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as "Begining" instead of "beginning," and awkward collocations like "capture better timing obervations" or "levels of water per minute present in that beaker." The range is minimally sufficient to describe the process, but frequent minor spelling and lexical errors prevent the score from reaching Band 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The text displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though many sentences lack a main verb or complete clause structure, functioning instead as fragments (e.g., "To begin with, the initial stages involved in that project." and "Begining with opening the tap, covering the hole with finger and causing overflow..."). There are noticeable grammatical errors regarding articles ("with finger" instead of "with a finger") and prepositional usage. While communication is not severely impeded, the high frequency of incomplete sentence structures keeps the grammar score at Band 5.5.

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