IELTS Writing Task 1 Process Diagram: Model Answer

An IELTS Writing Task 1 process diagram asks Academic candidates to describe the stages of a process in at least 150 words, in about 20 minutes, using their own words. The Academic Writing paper lists a diagram of an object, device, process or event among the visual formats for Task 1, and the process version tends to show either a natural process or a manufacturing process. A response that counts the stages, states them in an overview and then reports each one in order covers what the task asks.

Because Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1 to the Writing score, keeping Task 1 to about 20 minutes leaves time for the longer task. Task 1 is marked on four criteria: Task achievement, Coherence and cohesion, Lexical resource, and Grammatical range and accuracy, and a process diagram answer can be checked against each of them during regular timed practice sessions.

What does an IELTS process diagram task look like?

A process diagram shows a sequence of stages, and the process is either natural, such as the life cycle of a pond frog from egg to adult, or man-made, such as the production of cement or freeze-dried coffee. The shape of the sequence varies too. A cyclic process, like the frog's life cycle, loops back to its start; a linear process, like freeze-dried coffee, runs from a start to a finish; a mixed process, like hydroelectric power, has a start and finish but also a cycle of water. Task 1 itself asks candidates to describe visual information in their own words.

How do you count the stages before writing?

List the stages on scrap paper before writing, by asking how many steps or stages the diagram shows. A diagram of cement production, for instance, might show five steps before the concrete is mixed, and that count goes straight into the overview.

Once the stages are listed, the writing becomes a matter of describing what happens in sequence. While counting, note the materials, equipment and outputs attached to each stage, and check whether the final stage leads back to the first, since that tells you whether the process is linear, cyclic or mixed.

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What goes in the overview of a process diagram?

The overview states how many stages the process has, where it starts and ends, and whether it is a cycle, without any specifics. It also tends to mention the main changes to materials and any machinery, and it sits straight after the sentence that paraphrases the task. The specifics belong in the detail paragraphs that follow.

A typical overview sentence reads: Overall, the process has six stages, beginning with the extraction of raw material and ending with the delivery of the finished product. In a cyclic diagram the start and end are the same point, so the overview says that the process repeats.

• Number of stages
• Start point and end result
• Linear, cyclic or mixed
• Main materials, changes or machinery

Which language suits a process diagram: passive voice and sequencing?

The passive voice suits most process descriptions because the actions and materials matter more than the people carrying them out, and sequencing words show the order. A sentence such as The glass is crushed into small pieces keeps the material as the subject, as in the model answer below.

Sequencing language includes first, next, then, finally, after being heated and once the mixture has cooled. Varying these markers keeps the description clear without repeating then at the start of every sentence. Natural processes often use ordinary active verbs, because living things act on their own: the egg hatches and the tadpole grows.

How do you describe a stage without inventing information?

Report only what the diagram labels or shows: the materials, the equipment and the action that leads to the next stage. Because the task is to describe visual information, reasons, temperatures, durations and purposes that are not labelled have no place in the answer.

Use the technical terms printed on the diagram accurately, and paraphrase the rest. If an arrow joins two boxes, name the action it represents in plain verbs. Key features and overall flow matter more than minor details or personal opinions, so a reader checking each sentence should be able to point to the part of the diagram it comes from.

Model answer: Manufacturing process: recycled glass bottles

Task: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The diagram below shows how recycled glass bottles are made.

1. Used glass bottles are collected from household recycling bins.
2. The bottles are sorted by colour at a recycling plant.
3. Metal caps and labels are removed.
4. The glass is crushed into small pieces called cullet.
5. The cullet is mixed with sand, soda ash and limestone.
6. The mixture is melted in a furnace.
7. The molten glass is poured into moulds and shaped into new bottles, which are then cooled.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features.

Write at least 150 words.

"

The diagram illustrates how new glass bottles are manufactured from used ones.

"

The process is linear and consists of seven stages, beginning with the collection of used bottles from household recycling bins and ending with the cooling of the newly shaped bottles. No stage is repeated, so the production line runs in one direction from collection to finished product.

"

In the first stage, used bottles are collected from household recycling bins. They are then sorted by colour at a recycling plant, and their metal caps and labels are removed, so that only glass remains for processing.

"

Once the caps and labels have gone, the glass is crushed into small pieces called cullet. This cullet is mixed with sand, soda ash and limestone, and the resulting mixture is melted in a furnace. Three raw materials are therefore added to the recycled glass before heating begins.

"

After melting, the molten glass is poured into moulds, where it is shaped into new bottles. In the final stage, these bottles are cooled, which completes the process and produces the finished bottles.

What this model answer does:

• Task achievement: the overview gives the number of stages, the start point, the end point and the fact that the process is linear, and all seven stages are reported.
• Coherence and cohesion: sequencing language (in the first stage, then, once, after melting, in the final stage) keeps the order clear across short paragraphs.
• Lexical resource: the diagram's technical term cullet is used accurately, and verbs such as collected, crushed and melted are varied.
• Grammatical range and accuracy: passive forms are combined with relative clauses (where it is shaped) and a purpose clause (so that only glass remains), with no information added beyond the task.

What are the common mistakes in process diagram answers?

The common mistakes in process answers are a missing or buried overview, a skipped or merged stage, a changed order, added opinions and wording copied from the diagram.

• Leaving out the overview, or placing it after the details
• Skipping a stage or merging two stages into one
• Describing stages in a different order from the diagram
• Adding reasons, figures or opinions the diagram does not give
• Copying labels word for word when the task asks for the candidate's own words
• Writing fewer than 150 words or spending more than 20 minutes

How should you practise process diagram tasks?

Practise in a fixed order: count the stages, write the overview, then describe each stage, all within 20 minutes and at least 150 words. Alternate between natural and manufacturing processes, and between linear and cyclic ones, so that each shape is familiar.

Afterwards, check the answer against the four criteria. For Task achievement, confirm that the overview is clear and every stage appears. For Coherence and cohesion, check that sequencing words show the order. Lexical resource depends on accurate technical terms and paraphrased wording elsewhere, so check both. Passive forms need to be correct and sentence structures varied when checking Grammatical range and accuracy.

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