IELTS Process Diagram: Sample Answer and Writing Guide

Learn how to write an IELTS process-diagram report with stage analysis, a clear overview, Band 8 sample answer, language and common mistakes.

Back to IELTS Task 1

Introduction to IELTS Process Diagrams

A process diagram gives you a route to follow. Your report should explain what happens at each stage, how the material changes and where it goes next.

This IELTS process diagram sample answer follows greeting-card production from the initial design to delivery. Study the diagram, check the planning notes and then read the complete model. You can try a different type of process in the practice task at the end.

For more general approaches to this question type, see our IELTS process-diagram guide.

The process-diagram task

Practice question

The diagram shows how greeting cards are produced and delivered to shops. Write a report explaining the main stages and how they are connected.

Write at least 150 words and spend about 20 minutes on your report, following the official IELTS Academic Writing guidance.

Identifying stages and sequence

Trace the arrows before writing. The main route runs through stages 1–7, but the quality check creates a branch: accepted cards continue to packing, while rejected cards leave the production line.

Also look for materials entering the process. Recycled card is used at the printing stage. Envelopes join the process later, when the accepted cards are packed. Keep these inputs in the correct places in your report.

A useful way to group this diagram is:

  • Stages 1–4: prepare the design and make the folded cards.
  • Stages 5–7: check, pack and deliver them.

You can combine connected actions in one sentence. For example, cutting and folding belong together because the pieces created by the first action are used in the second.

Follow the sequence shown by the arrows, even when a diagram changes direction on the page. Here, the second row runs from right to left.

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Writing a strong overview

Your overview should make the whole process clear before you explain the individual stages.

For this diagram, an overview could read:

Overall, the process begins with a digital design and ends with the delivery of packaged cards to shops. A quality check separates accepted cards from rejected ones before packing.

This identifies the starting point, the endpoint and an important branch. It gives the reader more information than a sentence such as “There are several stages”.

You can include the number of stages when it is clear. This diagram has seven numbered main stages, plus a route for rejected cards. If an unnumbered diagram groups several actions together, prioritise an accurate description over forcing an exact count.

A clear four-paragraph plan

For this example, the change from making the cards to checking them is a natural place to start the second body paragraph.

A four-paragraph plan for the IELTS greeting-card process report.
Paragraph What to include
1Introduction State that the diagram shows greeting-card production and delivery.
2Overview Summarise the main sequence, its starting and finishing points, and the quality check.
3Body paragraph 1 Describe stages 1–4: creating the design, printing, cutting and folding.
4Body paragraph 2 Describe stages 5–7: checking, removing rejected cards, packing and delivery.

This structure keeps the overview separate from the details. You can finish with delivery in the final body paragraph; an additional conclusion would repeat the overview.

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Band 8 sample answer

This is a Band 8-style teaching model. It has not been given an official examiner score.

The diagram illustrates a simplified process used to manufacture greeting cards and deliver the finished products to shops.
Overall, the main production sequence consists of seven stages, beginning with a digital design and ending with delivery. Cards are printed, cut and folded before being checked, and only accepted cards proceed to packing.
First, a digital design is created on a computer and printed onto sheets of recycled card. These sheets are then cut into pieces of the required size, each of which is folded in half. At the end of this part of the process, the printed sheets have been turned into individual folded cards.
In the next stage, the folded cards undergo a quality check. Any cards that are rejected are removed from the production line, while those that are accepted continue to the packing stage. Envelopes are introduced at this point, and each accepted card is packed together with one envelope. Finally, the packaged cards are delivered to shops.

Word count: 161.

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Passive-voice and sequencing language

The diagram focuses on what happens to the design, sheets and cards. The present simple passive is useful here:

is / are + past participle

For example, the cards are folded describes the action without adding a worker or machine that the diagram does not identify. Keep the verb consistent with the subject: the design is created, but the cards are checked.

These patterns help connect the stages of this particular report:

Passive-voice and sequencing patterns for the IELTS greeting-card process report.
Language pattern Meaning / use Example
is + past participle describe an action performed on a singular subject A digital design is created on a computer.
are + past participle describe an action performed on a plural subject The folded cards are checked.
is / are then + past participle show the next action in a sequence The printed sheets are then cut into smaller pieces.
after which + clause link one completed action to the next The sheets are printed, after which they are cut to size.
before being + past participle show what happens later to the same subject The cards are folded before being checked.
once + subject + verb introduce a stage that has been completed Once the cards have been checked, the accepted ones are packed.
those that … refer back to a particular group of plural items Rejected cards are removed, while those that are accepted are packed.
together with show that another item is included Each accepted card is packed together with one envelope.
at the final stage introduce the last step in a sequence At the final stage, the packaged cards are delivered to shops.

Active sentences can also work well. The process begins with a digital design is clear and grammatical. Natural actions such as seeds germinate and plants grow will be useful in the practice task below.

For more examples, explore our guides to passive voice in Task 1 and process-diagram vocabulary.

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Why the answer works

The official Writing band descriptors assess task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. This model addresses those areas through specific choices:

  • Complete coverage: all seven main stages appear, along with both material inputs and the route for rejected cards.
  • Clear organisation: the first body paragraph explains how the cards are made; the second covers checking, packing and delivery.
  • Precise verbs: printed, cut, folded and packed describe the actions shown.
  • Controlled grammar: passive forms keep attention on the materials, while each of which and those that connect related information.

The reader can follow the process without needing to guess what happens between the stages.

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Common mistakes

Writing instructions.

“Next, fold the card in half” tells someone what to do. A report describes the action: “Each piece is then folded in half”.

Leaving out part of the passive.

Write “The cards are printed”, with both the form of be and the past participle. The past participle of cut is cut, not cutted.

Missing the rejection branch.

The diagram shows that some cards are removed. Make clear which cards continue to packing.

Adding details from your own knowledge.

Do not invent dimensions, production times, ink colours or a delivery vehicle. Include such details when the diagram supplies them.

Choosing a tense automatically.

This undated process is described in the present simple. Follow any dates or time references given in another task.

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Practice task

Now try a natural cycle. The diagram shows a simplified life cycle of a flowering plant. Write a report describing the main stages and explaining how the cycle repeats.

Original, simplified practice diagram. Write at least 150 words and allow about 20 minutes.

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The stages in text

  1. Seeds lie in the soil.
  2. The seeds germinate.
  3. Seedlings grow.
  4. The mature plants flower.
  5. New seeds develop.
  6. The seeds are dispersed, returning the cycle to seeds in the soil.

Before writing, decide where to start your description and how to divide the details into two body paragraphs. Check which verbs work naturally in the active voice.

Check your plan after writing: this process is cyclical. One possible grouping is germination and growth in the first body paragraph, followed by flowering, seed development and dispersal in the second.

An overview could read:

Overall, this is a repeating natural cycle in which seeds develop into mature flowering plants. New seeds are then produced and dispersed, allowing the cycle to begin again.

Use the seeds germinate and the seedlings grow. The seeds are dispersed is a useful passive form. Check that your final sentence shows the return to the cycle, and avoid adding a method of dispersal that the diagram does not specify.

For short weekday English practice alongside your IELTS study, LEW Daily gives you activities on LINE. I check replies and send feedback.

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More IELTS Task 1 and writing lessons

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