Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-01

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 6.0)

The diagram illustrates how rain-shadow desert is formed. Overall, it is a cyclical process consisting of several steages, begining with winds approaching coast and ending when dry winds reach inland areas. Notably, this process also include a stage which tells about the formation of clouds and how the winds approaches the coast. At the first stage, winds coming from the sea approach coast, before being pushed upwards by coast. Following this, moisture of air rises and cools and making a windward slide before being formed into clouds. Once cloud has been formed it starts raining on the mountains making a windward slideSubsequently, dry air continues over the mountain on the leeward side, then dry air reaches the inland areas before forming the rain-shadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the task achievement score. While the student identifies the main stages of the rain-shadow desert formation, the description is underdeveloped and lacks the necessary detail to fully explain the process. The summary is brief and misses opportunities to elaborate on the transition between the windward and leeward sides. Because the response is 26 words under the limit, it cannot be considered a fully developed report, leading to a lower band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized into two paragraphs, but the flow is somewhat mechanical. While some cohesive devices are used, such as 'At the first stage', 'Following this', and 'Subsequently', the transitions between ideas feel abrupt. The paragraphing is also unbalanced, with a very short introduction and a dense, slightly repetitive body paragraph. The referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly in the second paragraph where the sequence of events becomes slightly muddled due to repetitive phrasing regarding the 'windward slide'.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. The student uses terms like 'winds', 'coast', 'clouds', and 'mountains' correctly, but there is a lack of more precise, academic vocabulary related to meteorological or geographical processes. There are also several spelling errors, such as 'steages' and 'begining', and some awkward phrasing like 'tells about the formation'. To improve, the student should focus on using more varied and precise terminology to describe the scientific process shown in the diagram.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include missing articles ('approach coast', 'making a windward slide'), subject-verb agreement errors ('process also include', 'winds approaches'), and awkward sentence construction. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some run-on sentences and missing commas. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors indicates a lack of control over complex structures, keeping the score in the lower range.

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