Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The process illustrates the stages involved in the formation of rain-shadow desert, tracking the process form sea to the final inland.

Overall, it can be seen that there are seven stages involved in the formation of rain-shadow desert. There is the involvement of sea, mountain and mountain's two sides they are: windward and leeward side. The process begin form sea and goes all the way through mountain and finally ends in the inland.

In the initial stage, winds approach coast form sea which pushes upward to the windward side of the mountain while pushing toward the top of mountain moist air rises and cools which after form clouds. Then its begin to rain in the top of the mountain.

In the remaining stages, dry air continues over the mountain on the leeward side of mountain. Lastly that dry winds reach to the inland areas which we called the rain-shadow desert, completing the cycle of rain-shadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully covers all the main stages of the rain-shadow desert formation diagram, from the sea on the left to the inland area on the right. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, outlining the seven sequential stages and geographical features like the windward and leeward sides. However, the explanation of the process lacks depth and relies heavily on mechanical listing of the provided labels rather than fully synthesising the data. Furthermore, there are awkward phrasing choices such as 'tracking the process form sea to the final inland'. Nevertheless, all parts of the visual information are addressed adequately.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response has a clear overall structure, divided into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing the stages. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the initial and remaining steps. Cohesive devices such as 'In the initial stage', 'Then', and 'Lastly' are employed to guide the reader through the sequence. However, referencing is sometimes repetitive ('formation of rain-shadow desert' is repeated multiple times), and the mechanical transitions limit the flow. Logical progression is maintained throughout, but cohesion requires more flexibility and variation to reach a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for describing a process, including terms like 'moist air', 'windward side', 'leeward side', and 'dry winds'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-form errors, such as 'form' instead of 'from', 'begin' instead of 'begins', and grammatical collocation issues like 'to the final inland'. Less common lexical items are attempted, but inaccuracies in word choice and spelling occur frequently throughout the response, which prevents the score from exceeding band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Overall, it can be seen that there are seven stages...' and '...winds approach coast form sea which pushes upward...'. However, grammatical control is weak, with frequent errors including missing articles ('from sea', 'to inland'), tense inconsistencies ('The process begin', 'its begin to rain'), and run-on structures lacking proper punctuation. These errors occasionally disrupt the flow of reading, placing the response firmly in the band 5 range for grammar.

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

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