Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-14

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 5.0)

The given figure illustrates the procedure of the formation of rain shadow deserts step by step.

Overall, this is a multi-stage lengthy process on mountains area with multiple complicated seven steps from sea to rain shadow desert, one side is windward while the other is leeward side this process is natural human intervention does not include.

On a cursory look, it becomes evident that the whole operation commences with, winds approaching the coast start from Sea then pushed winds upwards to the mountains. In the next stage, winds convert into moisturizing cool air furthermore, clouds form start after step 3. Following this, simple clouds converted into rainfall clouds on the windward side on top of the mountains. Later on, moist air converted into dry winds over the mountain leeward side and continued movement. Thereafter, dry winds reach the inland areas and form the rain shadow desert. This process takes thousands of kilometers of distance from coast to rain shadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student attempts to summarize the key steps of the rain-shadow desert formation process, covering the general progression from the sea to the windward side, over the mountains, and down to the leeward side into the inland area. However, the response lacks a clear overview paragraph and struggles with precise reporting of the visual data. Key features, such as the mechanism of moisture loss and cloud precipitation, are described rather mechanically and with some inaccuracies in interpretation. The student mentions that the process takes 'thousands of kilometers of distance', which misinterprets the scale shown in the diagram. Overall, the task is addressed, but the development of main features is somewhat limited and lacks precision, corresponding to Band 5.5, which is best rounded to Band 5.5 or Band 6. Let us award a Band 5.5 as the details remain basic and slightly imprecise.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The text suffers significantly from poor paragraphing and run-on sentence structures. The entire body of the response is essentially jammed into a single block alongside a brief introductory sentence, rather than being organized into logical paragraphs representing different stages of the diagram. While the student attempts to use sequencing markers such as 'In the next stage', 'Following this', and 'Later on', the overall progression is hampered by severe punctuation errors, notably missing periods and comma splices, as seen in 'winds approaching the coast start from Sea then pushed winds upwards to the mountains.' These issues make the logical flow disjointed. Because referencing is not always clear and paragraphing is virtually absent, the organizational flaws place this response firmly at Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The lexical range is quite limited and repetitive, relying on basic terms like 'winds', 'mountains', 'clouds', and 'process'. There are noticeable awkward word choices and phrasing anomalies, such as 'procedure of the formation', 'lengthy process on mountains area', and 'rainfall clouds'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'moisturizing cool air' and 'human intervention', but these are used inaccurately or inappropriately in context. Spelling and word formation errors, such as omitting necessary prepositions or articles, occur throughout the text. While communication is not entirely blocked, the vocabulary falls short of the Band 6 threshold due to frequent limitations and unnatural collocations, making Band 5.0 an accurate assessment.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The grammatical range is heavily restricted, characterized by frequent run-on sentences and a lack of proper punctuation. Many sentences are fused together incorrectly with commas instead of full stops or proper conjunctions, for example, 'one side is windward while the other is leeward side this process is natural human intervention does not include.' There are numerous structural errors, including missing verbs, incorrect verb forms ('simple clouds converted into rainfall clouds'), and faulty subject-verb relations. Complex structures are attempted but are generally ungrammatical or awkwardly phrased. Because the frequency of errors is high and causes considerable difficulty for the reader in parsing the meaning, the appropriate band score for grammar is 4.5, rounded to 5.0.

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

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