Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-01

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 5.5)

The diagram represents how the rain-shadow desert is formed. The sea, mountains and wind play a major rule in its formation. The water drops passes through different stages, starting from the sea and ends up in the desert forming rain-shadow desert.

Initially, the winds approach coast and push the water drops upwards. Moist air rises and cools as it reaches the top, and right after it reachers the windward, the water drops combine and form clouds. At the top of the mountain, it starts raining due to high altitude and low temperature. This process takes a lot of time because the mountains are thousand of kilometer wide and are of high altitude. The dry air continues over mountain and carries the rain drops accross Leeward side. Finally, the dry winds reach inland areas and form Rain-shadow desert. In this desert, the rain drops are captured underground and are scattered accross the land.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main stages of the process, identifying the movement of air from the sea to the leeward side. However, the description is somewhat inaccurate in its scientific explanation, specifically regarding the claim that 'rain drops' are carried across the mountain and 'captured underground'. The task requires an accurate summary of the provided diagram, and the student's interpretation of the physical process is slightly flawed. While the main features are identified, the lack of precision in describing the meteorological process (e.g., moisture condensation vs. rain drops) limits the development of the response. The overview is present but could be more clearly defined to highlight the contrast between the windward and leeward sides.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into two paragraphs, which is a logical approach for a process description. There is a clear progression from the sea to the inland desert. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'the' and simple sentence starters. Referencing is generally clear, but the transition between the mountain stage and the final desert formation could be smoother. The paragraphing is sufficient, but the internal flow within the second paragraph feels slightly disjointed due to the reliance on short, simple sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the precision required for a higher band. There are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'major rule' instead of 'major role' and 'reachers' instead of 'reaches'. The student uses basic terminology like 'water drops' and 'rain drops' repeatedly, whereas more technical terms like 'moisture', 'precipitation', or 'condensation' would be more appropriate for an academic task. Spelling errors such as 'accross' and 'kilometer' (should be plural 'kilometers') also detract from the overall quality of the lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that, while not always impeding communication, are noticeable. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('water drops passes', 'it reachers'), incorrect pluralization ('thousand of kilometer'), and missing articles or prepositions. The control over complex sentence structures is limited, and the errors in basic grammar suggest a need for more careful proofreading. The punctuation is generally functional, but the overall grammatical accuracy is inconsistent.

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