Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The information in the picture illustrates the process of making a water clock. It is a step by step guide to make an accurate clock.

The process starts with making an appropriate stand for the clock, first take a stand and tape a bottle with a hole in its bottom and a straw inserted in the neck of the bottle and glued into it for overflow, then comes the second step in which a bottle with its neck cut off is placed at the bottom exactly under the bottle mentioned above.

Then the stand is placed under a water tap where the bottle on the upper part of the stand is filled to the top by covering the hole at its bottom with finger until it starts to overflow, then the finger is to be removed from the bottom hole so that water droplets start falling into the bottle which is placed right under the top bottle and then levels per minute are to be marked with a pencil on the bottle, the last step is to empty the bottle and repeat the process for timing things and then u have a functional water clock.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The report covers the main purpose and sequence, from assembling the stand and bottles to allowing water to drip, marking levels, and repeating the process. Details such as the overflow straw and the lower bottle are relevant and mostly match the diagram. However, some stages are combined or presented in an unclear order: the tap is introduced after the bottles are assembled, and the constant water level and the numbered “levels per minute” are not clearly distinguished. The description also says the straw is inserted in the bottle’s neck, whereas it is fixed to the side near the top. A clearer overview of how the apparatus works, followed by a more precise account of the numbered stages, would make the coverage more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has an overall chronological arrangement, and sequencing expressions such as “The process starts,” “then,” and “the last step” help the reader follow the procedure. The opening also identifies the diagram’s subject. However, most of the process is compressed into one very long sentence beginning “Then the stand is placed under a water tap,” which makes the relationships between filling, overflow, releasing the finger, and marking the levels harder to follow. The shift from assembling the apparatus to operating it could be signposted more clearly, ideally with separate paragraphs for construction and use. Some sequencing is also imprecise because the tap is described only after the bottles have been positioned.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for describing the equipment and process, with relevant terms such as “overflow,” “water droplets,” “stand,” and “levels per minute.” These choices generally communicate the intended meaning. There are, however, some imprecise or informal expressions: “appropriate stand” is vague, “bottle mentioned above” is an awkward reference, and “u have a functional water clock” is too conversational for an academic report. “A step by step guide to make” is also less natural than a concise description of the diagram. More precise process vocabulary and a consistently formal register would improve control, for example by naming the upper and lower containers consistently and describing the straw as an overflow outlet.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts both simple and complex structures, including a sequence of instructions and clauses linked by “where,” “until,” and “so that.” The main meaning remains understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems are noticeable. For example, “first take a stand and tape a bottle” shifts into an imperative after an introductory statement, while “covering the hole at its bottom with finger” is missing an article. The long sentence beginning “Then the stand is placed under a water tap” contains several actions joined without clear sentence boundaries, and “then u have” uses an inappropriate pronoun form. Breaking the procedure into shorter sentences and checking articles, verb forms, and punctuation would make the complex ideas more accurate.

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