Skip to the tool
formerly ielts.gg
Start

Process diagram: The nitrogen cycle

Pick out the main features of this process diagram for your overview, write your report on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.

WRITING TASK 1

Process diagram

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The diagram below shows how nitrogen circulates through the air, soil and living things.

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

Write at least 150 words.

The nitrogen cycle
  1. 1Nitrogen fixationBacteria turn atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia
  2. 2NitrificationOther bacteria convert ammonia to nitrates
  3. 3Plant uptakeRoots absorb nitrates from the soil
  4. 4Animals eat plantsNitrogen passes to herbivores and predators
  5. 5Waste and deathExcretion and decay return nitrogen to the soil
  6. 6AmmonificationDecomposers release ammonia
  7. 7DenitrificationBacteria convert nitrates back into nitrogen gas

The cycle then repeats from stage 1.

GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.

What your overview should say

An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:

  1. 1Overall, the nitrogen cycle is a continuous process with seven stages, in which nitrogen moves between the air, the soil and living organisms.
  2. 2Bacteria convert nitrogen from the air into ammonia and then nitrates, which plants take up through their roots and pass to animals.
  3. 3When organisms die or excrete waste, decomposers release ammonia, and denitrifying bacteria convert nitrates back into nitrogen gas.

Write it on the clock

Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.

20:00

0 words of 150 minimum

Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.

Band-8 model answer

Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.

Show model answer (170 words)

The diagram shows how nitrogen circulates through the air, soil and living things in the nitrogen cycle.

Overall, the cycle has seven stages. Nitrogen from the air is made available to plants by bacteria, passes through animals, and is eventually returned to the atmosphere as nitrogen gas, so the cycle has no fixed beginning or end.

The cycle can be described as beginning with nitrogen fixation, in which atmospheric nitrogen is turned into ammonia by bacteria. Other bacteria then convert the ammonia into nitrates in a process called nitrification. These nitrates are absorbed from the soil by the roots of plants, which is known as plant uptake. When animals eat the plants, nitrogen is passed to herbivores and predators.

Nitrogen is returned to the soil in a different way. Through excretion and decay, waste and dead organisms release nitrogen. Decomposers then release ammonia in the stage of ammonification. Finally, bacteria convert nitrates back into nitrogen gas in denitrification, and the gas returns to the air, where the cycle starts again.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
nitrogen fixationconversion of nitrogen gas into usable forms
ammoniaa nitrogen compound
nitratesnitrogen compounds absorbed by plants
decomposersorganisms that break down dead matter
excretionremoval of waste by organisms
be absorbed through rootsbe taken in by roots

Guides

More questions like this

All process diagram questions

Getting ready for IELTS?

Get your study plan

More free IELTS tools

All free tools

Speaking topic generator

Answer random Part 1, 2 and 3 questions on an exam timer.

IELTS band score calculator

Average your four skill bands, rounded the way IELTS rounds them.

IELTS score converter

Compare an IELTS band with TOEFL, Duolingo and PTE scores and CEFR levels.

University IELTS requirements

Look up the IELTS score a university asks for, with the source.