Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 portrays different kinds of seven steps of forming a desert known as a rain-shadow desert.

Overall, winds approach the mountains and changes its temperatures at various stages to ultimately form a rain-shadow desert. The winds cover thousands of kilometers of mountainous distance to finally reach the inland areas.

First of all, winds from above the sea reach at the coast of mountains and they get pushed upwards along the steepy surfaces of mountains. During this journey of going upward, the air becomes moist and cold. Once the air becomes humidified, it helps to the formation of clouds. After the formation of clouds, the rain is ready to fall from the top of the mountains.

During this whole jounery of wind along the windward side, it travels thousands of kilometers over the mountains. After raining, the air becomes dry and it continues to move downwards along the leeward side. Eventually, it reaches the inland areas where it forms the rain-shadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully identifies the main topic of the diagram, which is the formation of a rain-shadow desert, and covers the primary sequential stages from winds approaching the coast to reaching inland areas. The overview captures the overall essence of the process well. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting the visual details, such as stating that 'the air becomes moist and cold' when it is actually forced upwards and cools, and claiming that 'the air becomes dry' after raining before moving downwards along the leeward side. Despite these minor factual slips in interpreting the physical science behind the diagram, the response satisfies the core requirements of Task Achievement and covers all parts of the prompt adequately.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organised into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction and overview, followed by the sequential steps of the process. Cohesive devices are used to signal the progression of stages, such as 'Overall', 'First of all', and 'Eventually'. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally feel mechanical or slightly awkward, as seen in phrases like 'During this whole jounery of wind along the windward side, it travels thousands of kilometers over the mountains.' Paragraphing is appropriate, but the logical flow between sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a process, incorporating terms like 'mountains', 'coastal', 'humidified', 'precipitation/rain', and 'inland areas'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'portrays different kinds of seven steps', 'steepy surfaces', and 'helps to the formation of clouds'. Spelling errors are also present, notably 'jounery'. While the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main points, these inaccuracies restrict the score to the mid-range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'Once the air becomes humidified, it helps to the formation of clouds' and 'Eventually, it reaches the inland areas where it forms the rain-shadow desert.' There are several grammatical errors and awkward agreements throughout the text, including 'winds approach... and changes its temperatures', 'reach at the coast', and missing articles. These errors do not impede overall communication, but they occur with enough frequency to prevent the writing from reaching a Band 7.

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

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