Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-22

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)

This diagram illustrates about one type of desert know as a rain shadow desert,how its formed.

At first wind approach the coast from top of the sea to the mountain as winds pushed upwards. while the wind is going to the top it moist the air rises and cools it self's. And the clouds form and starts to rain, as dry air continues to flow down over the mountain and then finally reaches the bottom by then the wind drys and reaches the inland areas.

Then, their are windward side nad leeward side show of the mountain and seas and inland are also mention.The rain shadow desert is the last stage of the formation of the rain shadow desert.

overall, every steps of theformation are sjow cearly on how its formed from sea to rain sadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to describe the process of rain-shadow desert formation, identifying key stages such as winds approaching the coast, rising over mountains, cooling, cloud formation, precipitation, and dry air descending on the leeward side. However, the text suffers from several significant shortcomings. Crucially, the length requirement of at least 150 words is not met, as the response contains only 137 words, which incurs a penalty. Furthermore, while the main features are touched upon, the description lacks clarity in places and fails to provide a fully developed overview. The mechanical referencing of labels ('windward side nad leeward side show') replaces proper synthesis of the visual data. Therefore, the task is only partially addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into short paragraphs, but the overall organization and logical progression are weak. Sentences are frequently strung together with basic or repetitive conjunctions, such as 'At first', 'while', and 'And', which results in mechanical cohesion. Referencing is unclear in places, such as in the sentence 'moist the air rises and cools it self's', making it difficult for the reader to follow the exact progression of the stages. Paragraphing is rudimentary, with several very brief paragraphs that do not allow ideas to develop cohesively. Overall, the arrangement lacks smooth transitions between the different geographical features and sequential steps shown in the diagram.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive, frequently lifting terms directly from the prompt, such as 'desert', 'rain shadow', 'wind', and 'coast'. There are numerous lexical and spelling errors throughout the text, including 'know' instead of 'known', 'its' instead of 'it is', 'moist' used as a verb instead of 'moisten', 'it self's' instead of 'itself', and 'dryic' or 'drys' instead of 'dries'. Terms are also misspelled, such as 'nad' for 'and' and 'sjow cearly' for 'show clearly'. The range of vocabulary is limited and minimally adequate, with noticeable errors that occasionally impede understanding.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. The text relies heavily on simple sentence structures, and attempts at more complex sentences result in frequent structural and punctuation errors. For example, 'This diagram illustrates about one type of desert know as a rain shadow desert,how its formed' contains incorrect preposition usage ('illustrates about'), a missing auxiliary verb, and comma splices. Other errors include subject-verb agreement issues ('wind approach') and non-standard verb forms ('winds pushed upwards', 'the wind drys'). Punctuation is frequently neglected or misused, and capitalisation is inconsistent. These frequent errors cause difficulty for the reader.

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

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