Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-06

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows how one type of desert, known as a rain-shadow desert, is formed.

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

The formation of rain-shadow deserts

Student answer (Band 5.0)

The diagram below illustrates how a rain-shadow desert if formed.It is formed when a water body beside a mountain receives strong winds(windward), when these winds are pushed upwards, moist air rises and cools thus forming clouds which leads to heavy rains.

At the leeward side,dry air continues to flow over the mountain, when these air reaches the inland areas it forms a shadow thus the name rain-shadow desert. These inland areas never receive rainfall as they are on the leeward side.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the main process: moist air rises, cools, forms clouds and produces rain on the windward side, while dry air travels inland on the leeward side. However, the response reports the stages only briefly and does not give a sufficiently complete account of the diagram, including winds approaching from the sea and the rain-shadow desert’s position thousands of kilometres inland. The claim that inland areas “never receive rainfall” is stronger than the diagram supports, which shows dry winds reaching the desert rather than proving that it never rains there. The response is also 69 words below the required minimum, leaving the process underdeveloped. Add a clear overview and describe the stages and locations more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The information follows the basic sequence from rising moist air and rainfall to dry air moving inland, and the contrast between the windward and leeward sides gives the reader a useful organising idea. The two sentences also broadly separate the wet and dry parts of the process. However, the response is very brief, so the stages are compressed and the progression is not fully developed. The long first sentence links several steps with “when,” “thus” and “which,” making the relationships less clear than they could be. Use separate sentences for the wind’s approach, uplift, cooling and rainfall, then connect the final inland stage with a clear transition such as “Beyond the mountains.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “windward,” “leeward,” “moist air,” “dry air” and “inland areas,” which helps communicate the diagram’s main concepts. The range is nevertheless limited, with repeated use of “winds,” “air” and “areas,” and some phrasing is imprecise: “a water body beside a mountain receives strong winds” does not clearly describe winds approaching from the sea. “It forms a shadow” is also vague because the intended result is a rain-shadow desert. Choose more precise process language and vary verbs, for example, “moisture-laden air is forced upwards” and “precipitation falls on the windward slope.” Check spelling and word forms, including “formed,” to make the description more accurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts to combine stages using subordinate clauses, as in “when these winds are pushed upwards” and “when these air reaches the inland areas,” and the overall meaning remains understandable. However, control is uneven. In “these air reaches,” the demonstrative and verb do not agree; “this air reaches” would be correct. The opening also contains a faulty construction: “how a rain-shadow desert if formed” should be “how a rain-shadow desert is formed.” Several clauses are joined into long sentences, and punctuation spacing is inconsistent, as in “formed.It” and “side,dry.” Use a wider range of accurately controlled sentence patterns, and proofread agreement, verb forms and sentence boundaries.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.