Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-11

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 5.5)

The diagram illustrates how the electricity is generated through hydrostatic power station.

The river flow is halted by the dam, which helps store enormus amount of water in a high level reservoir. During the day water flows from reservoir through intake pipe directly to the generater. The high speed water spins the turbine at high speed which intern generated electricity. The generator is connected to main power lines which are then sent to national grid.

The water coming from high reservoir spins the Reversible turbine an fills up the low-level reservior. At night water seating at low level is pumped back to the high level resevior to repeat the day process.

Both the day and night process spins the turbine to generate electric power. No external pump is used during the day which makes it a good renewable source of energy. As compared to the process which takes place during the day, night process need to use external source to pump the water back to reservior seating at high potential level.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You cover the main stages and distinguish the daytime flow from the nighttime pumping cycle: water passes from the high-level reservoir through the turbines, reaches the low-level reservoir, and is returned at night. However, some details are inaccurate or unsupported. The river is described as being “halted,” although the diagram shows it feeding the reservoir, and the claim that an “external source” is needed at night is not shown. The overview also says both processes generate electricity, whereas the diagram indicates that the turbines generate electricity by day and pump water back at night. The renewable-energy comment is an added evaluation rather than a process feature. A more accurate overview and clearer reporting of the two operating modes would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable sequence, moving from the reservoir and dam to electricity transmission, then to the low-level reservoir and nighttime pumping. Paragraph breaks also separate the stages reasonably well. However, progression is weakened by repetition: the daytime flow and turbine action are described more than once, and the final paragraph repeats the day/night contrast without adding much process information. Some links between ideas are unclear, particularly “Both the day and night process spins the turbine to generate electric power,” which conflicts with the earlier account of nighttime pumping. Organise the response into a concise overview followed by a chronological description of the daytime and nighttime cycles, using references such as “this water” only when their meaning is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “reservoir,” “intake,” “generator,” “turbine,” and “national grid,” so the reader can identify the main components. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “high potential level.” However, spelling errors are noticeable (“enormus,” “generater,” “reservior,” “resevior”), and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate: “hydrostatic power station” is not the appropriate term here, and “water seating at low level” is unnatural. “River flow is halted” also overstates what the diagram shows. Use standard technical terms consistently and check spelling; more precise phrases such as “water is stored” and “flows into the low-level reservoir” would make the description clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including clauses linked with “which” and “as compared to.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in sentence structure and agreement recur. For example, “The high speed water spins the turbine at high speed which intern generated electricity” has an unclear clause connection and an incorrect verb form; “Both the day and night process spins” has a subject–verb agreement error; and “night process need to use” also lacks agreement and an article. There are further problems with articles and sentence boundaries, as in “through hydrostatic power station.” Review agreement, verb forms, and clause punctuation, and keep each sentence focused on one stage so that complex structures remain controlled.

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