Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-21

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 diagram illustrates the process by which a rain-shadow desert is formed.

Overall, the process consists of seven main stages, beginning with winds approaching to the coast and ending with dry winds reaching toward inland areas. Rain falls in windward side, while leeward side remains dry, eventually desert formed. Winds travels thousands of kilometers to complete this process.

Initially, winds approach the coast and pushed upwards to converted into moist air and become cooler, therefore clouds formed. When moist air formed into clouds then rain falls occurs on the windward side of the mountains.

After loosing most of its moisture wind become dry, and continues downwards to leeward side this dry winds reaches in inland areas where there is little rainfalls, as a result area become dry and formed into rain-shadow desert. The whole process of the formation of rain-shadow deserts completed in seven steps and winds travel thousands of kilometers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main stages of the rain-shadow desert formation process, identifying the movement of air, cloud formation, precipitation on the windward side, and the resulting dry conditions on the leeward side. However, the description is somewhat repetitive, particularly in the final paragraph where the mention of 'seven steps' and 'thousands of kilometers' is restated from the introduction. While the main features are reported, the analysis lacks a more sophisticated synthesis of the relationship between the elevation of the mountain and the moisture content of the air. The response meets the requirements of the task but could be improved by focusing more on the causal links rather than simply listing steps.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into three paragraphs, which is appropriate for this task. There is a clear overall progression from the initial wind movement to the final desert formation. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate. For example, the transition 'When moist air formed into clouds then rain falls occurs' is grammatically awkward and disrupts the flow. Additionally, the referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the phrase 'eventually desert formed' which lacks a proper subject or article. While the paragraphing is logical, the internal cohesion within sentences needs more variety and precision to reach a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, allowing the reader to follow the process. There are some attempts at topic-specific vocabulary such as 'windward side', 'leeward side', and 'moist air'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'pushed upwards to converted into' and 'loosing most of its moisture'. These errors do not impede communication, but they demonstrate a limited range and a lack of precision. To improve, the student should focus on correct verb forms and more natural collocations related to geographical processes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('rain falls occurs'), incorrect verb forms ('pushed upwards to converted'), and missing articles ('eventually desert formed'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some run-on sentences and missing commas that would help clarify the meaning. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors indicates that the student has not yet mastered complex sentence structures, keeping the score in the 5.5 to 6.0 range.

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

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