Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-03

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 hydroelectric power station generates light.

The first stage shows a pool of river on high-level reservoir being obstructed by a dam. The dam is being opened during the day and closed at night, during the day, there is a rapid flow of water to supply electricity which flows through the pipe leading to a generator inside a power station. In the night, the water flows to pump water into a high-level reservoir while in the day , it operate with the generator, it is a reversible turbine.

In the power station, we have the power lines followed by the grid, during the day the intake gate is opened, allowing water to flow towards the power station, it drives a generator which produces electricity and flows back to the low-level reservoir. At night it allow water to be stored and reused to generate light the following day.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main day/night cycle and include several relevant stages: water passes from the high-level reservoir through the power station, electricity is sent to the grid, and water returns to the low-level reservoir before being pumped back at night. However, some key details are unclear or inaccurate. The dam itself is not opened and closed; the intake is open by day and closed at night. The account also says the water is stored at night without clearly explaining that the reversible turbines pump it uphill to the high-level reservoir. There is no clear overview of the system’s two-way operation. To strengthen the response, distinguish the intake from the dam and summarise the contrast between daytime generation and nighttime pumping before describing the stages.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a broadly chronological arrangement and uses time markers such as “during the day” and “At night” to distinguish the two operating modes. These help readers follow the basic process. However, the progression is not consistently clear: the first paragraph moves between daytime flow, nighttime pumping and the turbine, while the second returns to daytime operation and repeats some information. Connections such as “In the power station” do not clearly signal the next stage, and “it” has an uncertain reference in places. Organise the description into a brief overview followed by a clear account of daytime flow and nighttime pumping, using explicit links between each stage.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of process vocabulary, including “high-level reservoir,” “intake gate,” “reversible turbine,” “generator,” “power lines” and “low-level reservoir.” These terms show awareness of the diagram’s subject and generally make the process understandable. Some choices are imprecise or unnatural, however: “a pool of river on high-level reservoir” and “generate light” do not describe the system accurately, while “the dam is being opened” confuses the dam with the intake. “Rapid flow” is also an unsupported description. Aim for precise process collocations and avoid adding effects not shown in the diagram. For example, describe electricity as being transmitted to the national grid and water as being pumped back uphill.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including clauses linked with “while” and “allowing,” but control is uneven. Errors in sentence boundaries and punctuation make some relationships difficult to follow: “The dam is being opened during the day and closed at night, during the day, there is…” joins separate ideas without a clear structure. There are also problems with articles and agreement, as in “how hydroelectric power station generates” and “it allow water to be stored.” Tense and pronoun choices are sometimes unclear, particularly in “it operate with the generator.” Use consistent present simple for process descriptions, check subject–verb agreement, and divide long sentences into stages with clear subjects.

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