Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-12

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 5.5)

The daigram illustrates the information of how winds coast change in rain falls and travel thousands of kilometers from sea coast to inland.

Overall, the process consist of seven levels, beggining with a moist winds approaching the coast and ending with a dry winds reaching inland areas, where rain-shadow desert develops.

Firstly, winds approach coast and winds pushed upwards and transformed into moist air that was moving windward side and transformed into clouds form then heavy rain falls at the peak of mountain and dry air continues over the mountain.

After releasing most of its moisture, the air continues moving over the mountain towards the leeward side . During this stage, the air become increasingly dry. Finally these dry winds traval towards the inland areas.

very littly rainfall occurs on this side of mountain, creating a dry region known a rain

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main sequence from winds approaching the coast to dry winds reaching inland, and your overview correctly notes that the process ends where a rain-shadow desert develops. You also include the key contrast between the rainy windward side and the drier leeward side. However, some stages are unclear or inaccurately described: the winds do not become moist as they rise; rather, moist air rises and cools, clouds form, and rain falls before the remaining dry air crosses the mountain. The final sentence is cut off at “known a rain,” leaving the desert’s formation incompletely reported. The response is also below the required 150 words. Clarifying the causal stages and completing the ending would make the summary more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and a description of the process in sequence. “Overall,” “Firstly,” “After,” and “Finally” help guide the reader through the stages, and the movement from the coast towards inland areas is generally easy to follow. However, the first process paragraph compresses several stages into one sentence, making the order of rising, cooling, cloud formation, and rainfall difficult to track. The transition to the second paragraph repeats the movement over the mountain rather than clearly advancing the account, and the final sentence is incomplete. Use separate, clearly linked sentences for the windward and leeward stages, and ensure the conclusion finishes the process description.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “windward side,” “leeward side,” “moisture,” and “rain-shadow desert,” which helps convey the diagram’s subject. There is also some attempt to vary wording with “approach,” “continues,” and “travels.” However, several word choices and forms are inaccurate or awkward, such as “winds coast change,” “transformed into clouds form,” and “very littly rainfall.” Spelling errors including “daigram,” “beggining,” and “traval” are noticeable, while “rain falls” is repeated without much variation. Choose precise process verbs such as “rise,” “cool,” “condense,” and “precipitate,” and check spelling and collocations. This would make the description clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the overview clause “beginning with … and ending with …” and the time phrase “After releasing most of its moisture.” The main stages can usually be understood, but some grammatical errors make relationships between them unclear. For example, “the process consist” has subject–verb disagreement, and “a moist winds” and “a dry winds” have mismatched articles and plurals. In “the air become increasingly dry,” the verb form is also incorrect. The long sentence beginning “Firstly” joins several stages without clear grammatical control, and the final sentence is unfinished. Practise agreement, articles, and complete sentence boundaries, while using shorter sentences to express each stage accurately.

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