Process diagrams: sequencing and the passive (IELTS Task 1 lesson)

The Task 1 type that rewards preparation most

With a line graph, you have to decide which numbers matter. A process diagram gives you every stage, already in order. So why do so many candidates get stuck at band 5.5 on processes?

They write no overview, or one that only says “there are many steps”.
They copy the labels as a list: “Then harvesting. Then retting. Then drying.”
They invent a subject (“they cut the jute”) instead of using the passive.
They make verb-form errors that show up in almost every sentence: is cutted, are weaved, is occurred.

The good news is that a process is the most predictable Task 1 type. Learn one routine, a set of sequencers and the passive, and you can describe any process at band 7+, whether it shows how jute bags are made or the life cycle of the hilsa.

Natural or man-made? Know what you are describing

	Natural process	Man-made (manufacturing) process
Examples	Life cycle of a frog, butterfly or hilsa; the water cycle; how a sand dune or river delta forms	Making jute bags, bricks or tea; recycling plastic bottles; treating drinking water
Who does the action?	Nature itself: animals, water, wind, the sun	People and machines, which the diagram usually does not name
Main voice	Mostly active: the eggs hatch, water evaporates, the fish migrate	Mostly passive: the seeds are sown, the cloth is woven
Usual shape	A cycle: the last stage leads back to the first	Linear: raw material in, finished product out
Overview focus	Number of stages, the fact that it is continuous, the main changes of form or place	Number of stages, raw material → final product, the main phases (e.g. farm → factory)
Typical trap	Forcing the passive onto verbs that cannot take it (~~the fish are migrated~~)	Inventing a subject: ~~the workers cut the stalks~~ → the stalks are cut

Your 3-minute analysis routine (before you write a word)

1
1. Identify the type and the shape
Natural or man-made? Linear or cyclical? Write N/M and L/C on your question paper. This decides your main voice (active or passive) and how your overview will end.
2
2. Count the stages
If the stages are numbered, use that number. If not, count the labelled boxes or pictures joined by arrows. When two actions share one box (Washing and drying), count it as one stage, as the diagram does. If two inputs join, note where: ‘the two materials are combined at the fourth stage’.
3
3. Find the start and the end
Linear: the raw material and the finished product. Cycle: choose a logical starting point (often the top of the diagram, the egg or the adult) and remember that a cycle repeats.
4
4. Split the stages into two groups
Look for a natural break where the place or purpose changes: farm vs factory, collection vs treatment, river vs sea. Each group becomes one body paragraph. Uneven groups (seven and four) are perfectly fine.
5
5. Turn the labels into verbs
Labels are usually nouns (Harvesting, Grading, Transport). Plan your verbs now: are harvested, are graded, are transported. Check the irregular participles (sown, spun, woven, ground).
6
6. Note any special features
Look for timings (2–3 weeks), temperatures, a by-product that is reused, a stage that repeats, or a point where the process splits. The most important one often belongs in your overview.

The production of jute bags in Bangladesh

Sowing

Seeds sown in moist fields, March–May

Growing

Plants reach 2.5–3.5 m in about 4 months

Harvesting

Stalks cut by hand with sickles and tied into bundles

Retting

Bundles submerged in ponds or canals for 2–3 weeks to loosen the fibres

Fibre extraction

Fibres stripped from the stalks by hand

Washing and drying

Fibres washed, then dried in the sun on bamboo racks

Grading and baling

Sorted by quality and pressed into bales

Spinning

Bales taken to a jute mill by truck or boat; fibre softened, combed and spun into yarn

Weaving

Yarn woven into hessian cloth on power looms

Cutting, sewing and printing

Cloth cut, stitched into bags and printed with logos

Distribution

Bags packed and shipped to shops in Bangladesh and abroad

Model diagram. Before reading the answer below, count the stages, find the start and the end, and look for the natural break between the farm and the mill.

Annotated band 9 model: how jute bags are made

Task: The diagram below shows the stages in the production of jute bags in Bangladesh. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The diagram illustrates how jute bags are manufactured in Bangladesh, from the sowing of the seeds to the distribution of the finished product.

Overall, the process consists of eleven stages, which fall into two distinct phases: the cultivation and preparation of the raw fibre in rural areas, followed by its conversion into bags at a mill. It is a linear process that begins with sowing and ends with the bags being shipped to shops.

To begin with, jute seeds are sown in moist fields between March and May, and the plants grow to a height of 2.5 to 3.5 metres over roughly four months. Once they have matured, the stalks are cut by hand with sickles and tied into bundles, which are then submerged in ponds or canals for two to three weeks to loosen the fibres. These are subsequently stripped from the stalks by hand. After being washed, the fibres are dried on bamboo racks in the sun, before being graded according to quality and pressed into bales.

At the next stage, the bales are transported to a jute mill by truck or boat, where the fibre is softened, combed and spun into yarn. This yarn is then woven into hessian cloth on power looms. Finally, the cloth is cut, stitched into bags and printed with logos, and the finished bags are packed and shipped to shops in Bangladesh and abroad.

Introduction: paraphrase, not copy‘shows the stages in the production of’ becomes ‘illustrates how … are manufactured’. The writer also adds the start and end points. One sentence is enough.
Overview: the essentialsNumber of stages (eleven), shape (linear), start and end (sowing → shipped to shops), plus the two main phases. There are no times or measurements here; they belong in the body. Without a clear overview, Task Achievement is very unlikely to go above band 5.
Paragraphing at the natural breakBody 1 covers the farm stages (sowing to baling). Body 2 covers the mill stages (transport to distribution). The examiner sees the organisation at a glance, which is what Coherence and Cohesion rewards.
Active voice for natural growth‘the plants grow’, not ‘are grown’, because here the plants are getting bigger by themselves. (‘Jute is grown in Bangladesh’ is also correct, but it means that farmers cultivate it.)
Present simple passiveare sown, are cut, are submerged, is woven, are shipped. Note the irregular participles: sown (sow), spun (spin), woven (weave).
Time clause with the present perfect‘Once they have matured, …’ shows that one stage must be finished before the next begins. ‘Once the stalks have been cut, …’ (present perfect passive) would be equally good.
Participle clausesIn ‘After being washed, …’ and ‘… before being graded …’, the subject of both clauses is ‘the fibres’, so the sentence is logical. These clauses are a quick way to show grammatical range.
Relative clauses join stages‘… bundles, which are then submerged …’ and ‘… a jute mill …, where the fibre is softened …’ combine two stages in one sentence instead of producing a list of short sentences.
Verbs the diagram doesn’t giveThe label says only ‘Grading and baling’. The writer supplies ‘graded according to quality’ and ‘pressed into bales’, and turns ‘by truck or boat’ into ‘are transported … by truck or boat’.
Varied sequencingTo begin with, Once, then, subsequently, After being, At the next stage, then, Finally. Not every sentence begins with a sequencer; some sequencers sit inside the sentence.
No conclusion, no opinionThere is nothing about jute being ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘the golden fibre of Bangladesh’. That may be true, but it is not in the diagram, so it is irrelevant here.

Sequencing language: beyond ‘then … then … then’

Position	Phrases	Example
Starting	First, / To begin with, / Initially, / The process begins with + noun / The first stage is …	The process begins with the sowing of jute seeds in moist fields.
Continuing	Next, / Then / After that, / Following this, / Subsequently, / At the next stage, / In the following stage,	Subsequently, the fibres are stripped from the stalks by hand.
When one stage must finish first	Once + present perfect / As soon as / When / After + -ing / After being + past participle / Having been + past participle	Once the fibres have dried, they are graded according to quality.
Two stages in one sentence	before + -ing / before being + past participle / , after which … / , which is then … / , where …	The fibres are dried in the sun before being graded.
Two things at the same time	Meanwhile, / At the same time, / while / simultaneously	While the leaves are drying, the next batch is picked.
Final stage	Finally, / Lastly, / In the final stage, / The process ends with … / culminates in …	Finally, the bags are packed and shipped to shops.
Cycles	… and the cycle begins again. / … at which point the cycle repeats itself.	The adult fish then return to the rivers to spawn, and the cycle begins again.
Avoid	At last (it means ‘after a long, frustrating wait’), Firstly … secondly … ninthly, then in every sentence, And then at the start of a sentence	~~At last, the bags are shipped.~~ → Finally, the bags are shipped.

The present simple passive: forms and irregular participles

Form	Pattern	Examples and notes
Basic	am / is / are + past participle	The cloth is woven. The stalks are cut.
With an adverb	is / are + adverb + past participle	The bundles are then submerged. The bales are subsequently transported.
With the means	is / are + past participle + by hand / by truck / using rollers	The fibres are stripped by hand. Only add by + agent when it gives information: ~~by workers~~ adds nothing.
Modal passive	can / must / may + be + past participle	The husk can be reused as fuel.
Present perfect passive (in time clauses)	has / have been + past participle	Once the stalks have been cut, …
Continuous passive	is / are being + past participle	While the yarn is being dyed, …
Irregular participles to know	sow → sown · grow → grown · spin → spun · weave → woven · grind → ground · cut → cut · feed → fed · freeze → frozen · lay → laid · shake → shaken · spread → spread · dig → dug · sell → sold · leave → left	~~is cutted~~ → is cut · ~~are weaved~~ → are woven · ~~is grinded~~ → is ground · ~~are layed~~ → are laid. (Weaved exists only with the meaning ‘moved in and out’: the rickshaw weaved through the traffic.)

Not every verb can be passive

Only transitive verbs (verbs that take an object) have a passive form. Many verbs in natural processes are intransitive, so the passive is simply wrong:

✘ Wrong	✔ Right
~~Changes are occurred in the leaves.~~	Changes occur in the leaves.
~~The fish are migrated upstream.~~	The fish migrate upstream.
~~The water vapour is risen.~~	The water vapour rises.
~~The rain is fallen on the hills.~~	The rain falls on the hills.
~~Most of the larvae are died.~~	Most of the larvae die.
~~The adult is emerged from the cocoon.~~	The adult emerges from the cocoon.

Quick test: can the verb take something after it? The farmers cut something ✔, so a passive is possible. The fish migrate something ✘, so there is no passive.

Some verbs work both ways: grow (jute is grown = farmers cultivate it; the plants grow = they get bigger), dry, melt, cool. Choose according to the diagram: if a person or machine does it, use the passive; if it happens by itself, use the active.

Six sentence patterns that lift your grammar score

1
1. Passive + sequencer (your basic sentence)
Next, the yarn is woven into hessian cloth.

Accurate and clear, but if every sentence looks like this, your grammar will seem limited. Use it for about half your sentences at most.
2
2. Once + present perfect (passive)
Once the fibres have been dried, they are graded according to quality.

This shows that one stage must be complete before the next can start.
3
3. Participle clause: After being / Having been + past participle
After being washed, the fibres are dried in the sun. / Having been graded, the fibre is pressed into bales.

⚠ The subject of the main clause must be the thing that was washed. ~~After being washed, farmers dry the fibres.~~ This says the farmers were washed! This ‘dangling participle’ is a typical band 6 error.
4
4. Relative clause: which / where
The stalks are tied into bundles, which are then submerged in ponds.

The bales are taken to a mill, where the fibre is spun into yarn.
5
5. before + -ing / before being + past participle
The fibres are dried in the sun before being graded.

Two stages in one smooth sentence.
6
6. Nominalisation (a noun instead of a verb)
The process begins with the sowing of seeds. / Harvesting is followed by retting, which lasts two to three weeks.

Turning a stage into a noun gives you variety and sounds academic. Don't overuse it: one or two examples per answer are enough.

The diagram gives nouns and pictures: you supply the verbs

What the diagram shows	Verbs you can add	Your sentence
A truck, ship or boat between two stages	transported, delivered, taken, shipped, carried	The bales are transported to the mill by truck or boat.
A conveyor belt or a pipe	conveyed, carried, fed into, pumped, piped	The crushed leaves are carried on a conveyor belt to the dryer.
A furnace, oven, boiler or flame	heated, baked, fired, boiled, steamed	The clay tiles are fired in a kiln.
A sieve, mesh or filter	sieved, filtered, screened, sorted	The water is filtered to remove sand and grit.
A crusher, roller or grinder	crushed, ground, rolled, milled, pressed	The roasted beans are ground into a fine powder.
A tank, silo or warehouse	stored, kept, held, left to stand	The juice is stored in tanks.
A label with a time (2–3 weeks)	left, kept, soaked, submerged + for + period	The bundles are left in water for two to three weeks.
A label with a noun (Grading)	graded, sorted, classified + according to / by	The fibres are graded according to quality.

Same stages, different band: the first half of the jute process

Band 5 version

First, farmers sow the jute seed in March to May. Then the jute grow to 2.5–3.5 m. Then they cut the jute by hand. Then they put the jute in pond for 2–3 weeks. Then they take out the fibre by hand. Then they wash and dry the fibre. Then grading and baling.

Band 8 version

To begin with, jute seeds are sown in moist fields between March and May, and the plants grow to a height of 2.5 to 3.5 metres over roughly four months. Once they have matured, the stalks are cut by hand and tied into bundles, which are then left in ponds or canals for two to three weeks to loosen the fibres. After being stripped from the stalks, the fibres are washed and dried in the sun before being graded and pressed into bales.

The band 5 version has the right content, but: (1) it invents subjects (farmers, they) instead of using the passive; (2) ‘Then’ begins six sentences, so the cohesion is mechanical; (3) there are grammar errors (the jute grow, in pond) and a sentence with no verb (Then grading and baling.); (4) it simply copies the labels. The band 8 version uses accurate passives, a time clause (Once …), a relative clause (which are then …) and participle clauses (After being …, before being …), and it keeps every detail accurate.

Check your understanding

8 questions

1
Which is the best overview for the jute bag diagram?
2
Jute seeds are in moist fields between March and May.
3
At the mill, the yarn is into hessian cloth on power looms.
4
Find and correct the mistake:
Once the stalks have been cut, they are tie into bundles.
5
Find and correct the mistake:
After being harvested, farmers tie the stalks into bundles.
6
Find and correct the mistake:
Mature hilsa are migrated upstream from the Bay of Bengal.
7
The jute diagram has eleven stages. How should you divide them into two body paragraphs?
8
The label on a diagram says only ‘Grading and baling’. What should a band 7+ writer do?

Answer every question to check.

The life cycle of the hilsa (ilish)

Upstream migration

Mature hilsa swim from the Bay of Bengal into rivers such as the Meghna and Padma

Spawning

Females release eggs in fresh water, mainly in September and October

Hatching

Eggs hatch within about 24 hours

Larvae drift

Tiny larvae are carried downstream by the current

Jatka stage

Juveniles (jatka) feed and grow in rivers and estuaries for several months

Return to sea

Young fish swim out to the Bay of Bengal

Maturing at sea

Fish reach adult size over 1–2 years, then migrate upstream again

Back to step 1: Upstream migration (the cycle repeats)

A natural, cyclical process. Notice the verbs: the fish do most of these actions themselves.

Describing a natural cycle: overview and body (extract)

Task: The diagram below shows the life cycle of the hilsa, a fish found in Bangladesh.

Overview: Overall, the hilsa’s life cycle consists of seven stages and is continuous, alternating between the salt water of the Bay of Bengal and the fresh water of major rivers. Breeding and early growth take place in the rivers, whereas the fish reach maturity at sea.

Body (extract): The cycle can be said to begin when mature hilsa migrate upstream from the Bay of Bengal into rivers such as the Meghna and the Padma. There, the females release their eggs, mainly in September and October, and these hatch within about 24 hours. The tiny larvae are then carried downstream by the current, eventually developing into juveniles known as jatka, which feed and grow in rivers and estuaries for several months. Once they are large enough, the young fish swim out to sea, where they reach adult size over one to two years. At this point, they return to the rivers to spawn, and the cycle begins again.

Overview for a cycleThere is no real start or end, so the writer says the cycle is continuous, gives the number of stages and states the big pattern (river ↔ sea, breeding vs maturing).
Choosing a starting point‘The cycle can be said to begin when …’ picks a starting point without claiming that the cycle has a true beginning.
Active voicemigrate, release, hatch, feed, grow, swim, reach, return: the fish do these things themselves, so the active voice is correct.
Passive where it fits‘The larvae are carried downstream by the current’: here something (the current) acts on the larvae, so the passive is natural even in a natural process.
Result participle‘… eventually developing into juveniles’ shows the next stage without starting a new sentence.
Reference wordsThere, these, which, where, At this point: these words link the stages and avoid repeating ‘the hilsa’ in every sentence.
Closing a cycle‘… and the cycle begins again’ closes the description neatly. No conclusion is needed.

Passive কখন, Active কখন?

বাংলায় ‘ঘটানো হয়’ ধরনের বাক্য ভাবার অভ্যাস থেকে আমরা অনেক সময় ইংরেজিতে ‘is occurred’ বা ‘was happened’ লিখে ফেলি — এটি ভুল। occur, happen, rise, migrate, die, emerge — এই intransitive verb-গুলোর কোনো object থাকে না, তাই এদের passive হয় না। সহজ নিয়ম: কাজটি যদি মানুষ বা মেশিন করে (বীজ বোনা, কাপড় বোনা), তাহলে passive — the seeds are sown, the cloth is woven; আর প্রকৃতি বা প্রাণী নিজে থেকে করলে active — the fish migrate, water evaporates।

Writing Task 1 practice

150+ words · 20 min

The diagram below shows how paddy (unprocessed rice) is turned into packaged rice for sale.

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

Write at least 150 words.

From paddy to packaged rice

Harvesting

Ripe paddy cut by hand or by combine harvester

Threshing

Grains separated from the stalks

Sun-drying

Grains spread out in the sun for 1–2 days

Parboiling

Soaked in water overnight, then steamed for 20–30 minutes

Second drying

Dried until moisture content falls to about 14%

Husking

Outer husk removed by machine; husk burned as fuel for the steaming in stage 4

Polishing

Brown bran layer removed to produce white rice

Sorting and grading

Broken grains and stones removed; rice graded by size

Packing

Weighed and sealed in 5 kg or 25 kg bags

Distribution

Delivered by truck to wholesalers and supermarkets

0 / 150 words0 paragraphs0 linking wordsDraft saved on this device

Self-check before submitting

☐ My introduction paraphrases the prompt instead of copying it (e.g. ‘is turned into’ → ‘converting … into’).
☐ My overview gives the number of stages (ten), says the process is linear, and names the start (harvesting) and the end (delivery to retailers).
☐ I mentioned that the husk is reused as fuel for the parboiling stage.
☐ I used two body paragraphs with a logical break (e.g. field and drying stages / mill stages).
☐ Every passive verb has am/is/are + a correct past participle (is cut, are separated, is removed, are sealed).
☐ I used at least two complex structures: a time clause (Once … have been …), a participle clause (Having been … / After being …) or a relative clause (which / where).
☐ My sequencers are varied and do not start every sentence, and I did not use ‘At last’.
☐ I reported the details accurately: 1–2 days, overnight, 20–30 minutes, about 14%, 5 kg or 25 kg.
☐ I did not add opinions, reasons or facts that are not in the diagram, and I did not write ‘In conclusion’.
☐ I wrote at least 150 words in about 20 minutes.

Final quiz: process diagrams

10 questions

1
Which of these is a natural process that will mostly need the active voice?
2
Choose TWO sentences that are grammatically correct.
Select 2.
3
the fibres have been dried, they are graded according to quality.
4
Find and correct the mistake:
The cloth is cutted and stitched into bags.
5
Find and correct the mistake:
At last, the bags are packed and shipped to shops.
6
The bales are taken to a mill, the fibre is spun into yarn.
7
Match what the diagram shows with a verb you could add.
A lorry between the farm and the factory
A conveyor belt
A kiln or furnace
A sieve
A grinder
A storage silo
8
What is the main tense for describing a process diagram?
9
Find and correct the mistake:
The eggs are laid by the female and hatching after ten days.
10
Put the parts of a process answer in the best order.
Drag the cards (or use the arrows) into the correct order.
- 1Overview: number of stages, linear or cyclical, start and end
- 2Body paragraph 1: the first group of stages in sequence
- 3Introduction: paraphrase what the diagram shows
- 4Body paragraph 2: the remaining stages, ending with the final product

Answer every question to check.

Key takeaways

Process vocabulary

Saved as flashcards with a free account

submerge

verb/səbˈmɜːdʒ/

to put something completely under water or another liquid

পানিতে ডুবিয়ে রাখা

The bundles of jute are submerged in ponds for two to three weeks.

extract

verb/ɪkˈstrækt/

to remove or take something out, especially by a special process or with effort

নিষ্কাশন করা; বের করা

The fibres are extracted from the stalks by hand.

grade

verb/ɡreɪd/

to sort things into groups according to their quality or size

মান অনুযায়ী শ্রেণিবিন্যাস করা

The rice is graded by size before being packed.

subsequently

adverb/ˈsʌbsɪkwəntli/

after something else has happened; later

পরবর্তীতে

The bales are subsequently transported to the mill by truck or boat.

cyclical

adjective/ˈsaɪklɪkl/

happening in a cycle that repeats itself

চক্রাকার

The life cycle of the hilsa is a cyclical process with no fixed end point.

by-product

noun/ˈbaɪ ˌprɒdʌkt/

something that is produced during the making of something else

উপজাত দ্রব্য

Rice husk, a by-product of milling, is burned as fuel.

raw material

noun/ˌrɔː məˈtɪəriəl/

a basic substance in its natural state that is used to make a product

কাঁচামাল

Jute fibre is the raw material for hessian cloth and bags.

convert

verb/kənˈvɜːt/

to change something into a different form or use

রূপান্তর করা

At the mill, the fibre is converted into yarn.

distribute

verb/dɪˈstrɪbjuːt/

to send goods to shops and businesses so that they can be sold

বিতরণ করা

The finished bags are distributed to retailers at home and abroad.

Keep your progress