Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-08

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 outlines the steps that are involved in the formation of rain-shadow deserts.

Overall, there are seven stages involved in the formation of rain-shadow deserts, process begins with the winds that approached coast and ends when dry winds reached inland areas and formed rain-shadow desert.

On a look at the diagram, it is clear that initially, wind comes from over the sea and approached the mountains coast, then the coast pushed the wind upwards and with the distance moist air starts rises and cools. After that, winds reached windward side of the mountains and start forming clouds. In the next step, these clouds caused rain falls and lead the further process.

Furthermore, in the next stage, dry air from rain continued over mountain and reached leeward side . It continued to blow downwards until it reached inland areas. And finally after covering thousands of kilometres dry winds form rain-shadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main stages of the rain-shadow desert formation process, identifying the movement of air from the sea to the inland areas. However, the description is somewhat mechanical and lacks a clear synthesis of the key features. While the overview mentions seven stages, the body paragraphs do not clearly delineate these, making it difficult for the reader to follow the progression. The summary is accurate but lacks the analytical depth required for a higher band, as it focuses on listing steps rather than highlighting the significant environmental changes occurring at each stage of the mountain crossing.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader navigate the process. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat repetitive and occasionally mechanical (e.g., 'In the next step', 'Furthermore, in the next stage'). There are also issues with sentence-level cohesion, such as the run-on sentence in the second paragraph: 'process begins with the winds that approached coast and ends when dry winds reached inland areas and formed rain-shadow desert.' The referencing is sometimes unclear, and the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to show the causal relationships between the stages.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to describe the process clearly. There are some attempts at topic-specific terminology, such as 'windward side' and 'leeward side', which is positive. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'approached coast' instead of 'approached the coast' and 'moist air starts rises' instead of 'starts to rise'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision and sophistication of the writing. A wider range of vocabulary related to meteorological processes would improve the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Examples include missing articles ('approached coast'), incorrect verb forms ('moist air starts rises'), and tense inconsistencies ('wind comes... approached'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the placement of commas. While the meaning remains clear, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. To improve, the student should focus on subject-verb agreement, consistent tense usage, and the correct application of articles in descriptive writing.

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

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