Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-15

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 6.5)

The diagram below illustrates how a water clock is built. Overall, there are 7 stages with several equipments being used and labelled on the diagram. The equipments are: a tap, a straw, glue, two plastic bottles, tape, and a stand.

The water bottle being taped above in the stand contains two certain holes. One below it's neck, and the other at the bottom, right in the middle. The hole made above has a straw glued to it.

Another water bottle is cut in half and only the lower part of it's body is utilized as it sits on the stand.

The process begins with the tap being on while the bottom hole is being covered with a finger. The top bottle is meant to be overflowing with water before it's leveled constant. The finger should be taken away by then, and the water droplets per minute is to be measured as it gets collected in the lower bottle. The bottle can be emptied and the process repeated for timing the results.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The report covers the main stages and gives a clear overall summary that the process has seven stages and uses several pieces of equipment. It also describes the upper and lower bottles and explains the sequence from turning on the tap to repeating the process. These details show good coverage of the task. However, some features are unclear or inaccurately described: the diagram shows a straw fixed near the top as an overflow drain, not a hole made above the bottle’s neck, and “leveled constant” does not clearly explain that the water level is kept constant before the finger is removed. The calibration marks on the lower bottle could also be explained more precisely. More exact descriptions of these steps would make the account more complete and developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is arranged in a sensible order: an introduction and overview are followed by a description of the apparatus and then the operating stages. This gives the reader a coherent account, and phrases such as “The process begins” and “before” help signal sequence. Paragraphing is also appropriate. Some links between ideas are less clear, however. The second paragraph describes the bottles, while the next returns to the tap and finger, so the apparatus and sequence could be connected more smoothly. In “The finger should be taken away by then,” the reference to “then” is not fully precise. Use clearer stage markers such as “Once the upper bottle is full” and “After the water level stabilises” to make the progression more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The response uses a suitable range of process vocabulary, including “overflowing,” “glued,” “collected,” and “repeated,” and the main meaning is generally clear. There are also attempts to describe the apparatus specifically. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or imprecise: “equipments” is not normally pluralised, “leveled constant” is not a natural description of the water level, and “water droplets per minute” does not clearly convey the calibration marks used to measure levels over time. “The water bottle being taped above in the stand” is also awkwardly phrased. Choose precise terms such as “equipment,” “attached to the stand,” and “water level stabilises”; this would improve accuracy and naturalness without changing the report’s overall structure.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

There is a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including the opening overview and the sentence explaining that the lower bottle “sits on the stand.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but some grammatical errors remain. In “One below it's neck,” the possessive should be “its,” and the fragment needs to be joined to the preceding sentence. “Another water bottle is cut in half and only the lower part of it's body is utilized” contains the same possessive error and an unclear construction. The passive sequence “The top bottle is meant to be overflowing … before it's leveled constant” is also grammatically awkward. Use complete sentences and consistent passive forms, for example, “The upper bottle is filled until it overflows, after which the water level is allowed to stabilise.”

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