Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-07

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows how electricity is generated in a hydroelectric power station.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The diagram above visualizes how electricity is generated in a hydroelectric power station. The mechanism although looks complicated, it is a process that is built meticulously by engineers who discovered a different approach of generating electricity. The water from the river gets stored in a high-level reservoir, blocked by a dam. This water then travels through a pathway called intake, which is open during the day for the flow of water to generate electricity and closed at night for the function of flow of water during pumping. This intake leads the water to reversible turbines which operate the generator during the day and pumps the water into the high level reservoir at night. The stream of current is the pushed up into a power stationed generator which is connected to the power lines and henceforth the national grid. While the rest of the rest of the water, in circulation gets pushed out to a low- level reservoir between the day and night.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main features of the hydroelectric power station process, including the reservoir, intake, turbines, and generator. However, the description is somewhat narrative rather than analytical. The inclusion of subjective commentary, such as 'The mechanism although looks complicated, it is a process that is built meticulously by engineers,' is unnecessary for an Academic Task 1 report, which should remain objective and focused solely on the data or process provided. While the key stages are identified, the comparison between day and night operations is present but could be more clearly structured to highlight the cyclical nature of the system.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is coherent, with a logical flow that follows the process from the reservoir to the national grid. However, the paragraphing is non-existent; the entire response is a single block of text, which hinders the overall structure. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'This water then travels' and 'While the rest of the water,' but the transition between the day/night cycle and the final output is slightly mechanical. To improve, you should group related stages into distinct paragraphs to help the reader navigate the information more effectively.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, using technical terms like 'reservoir,' 'intake,' 'reversible turbines,' and 'national grid.' There are some awkward phrasings, such as 'stream of current is the pushed up' and 'for the function of flow of water,' which sound unnatural. The range is sufficient to convey the process, but there is a lack of more sophisticated or precise collocations that would elevate the response to a higher band. Focusing on more academic phrasing rather than conversational descriptions will improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical errors that affect clarity, such as 'The mechanism although looks complicated, it is a process...' (incorrect clause structure) and 'the stream of current is the pushed up' (incorrect article usage and word order). There are also minor punctuation issues. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from reaching a higher band. You should aim for more error-free sentences by proofreading for subject-verb agreement and correct prepositional usage.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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