Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The diagram illustrates the process that how rain-shadow desert is formed.

Overall, the process involves seven steps, starting from moist winds from the sea that are forced to rise over mountain, where they cool, converted into clouds forms, consequently resulting into rain fall on windward side. Then dry air continues over the mountain on leeward side and at the end reached to the inland areas.

Initially, moist wind blow towards coast from the sea and are then pushed upwards to the mountain’s windward side. As the air rises to the high altitude, it cools down, causing water vapour to condense and ultimately resulting into formation of clouds on windward side. After that, rain falls on the mountain and provide plenty of moisture to this side.

As the air loses its moisture through precipitation, the dry air continues to come downward to leeward side and reaches to inland areas of the desert. Over the area of thousands of kilometers, these dry winds contribute to the development of rain shadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by outlining the main features of the rain-shadow desert formation process, covering all seven sequential steps from moist winds approaching the coast to the creation of the desert over thousands of kilometres. An appropriate overall summary is provided in the second sentence, capturing the core stages. The key geographical features—such as the sea, coast, windward side, mountains, leeward side, and inland desert—are accurately identified and reported in logical sequence. The progression of ideas is clear and well-grounded in the provided diagram. While some minor descriptive details are slightly condensed, the response fully satisfies the requirements for Task Achievement at this level, demonstrating a clear overview and accurate feature selection.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organised and easy to follow, displaying a clear progression from the introduction of the process through the windward side events to the final rain-shadow desert. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overall summary, the initial wind and cloud formation stages, and the final descent of dry air. Cohesive devices such as 'Initially', 'As the air rises', 'After that', and 'As the air loses its moisture' are used effectively to signal the sequence of events, though occasional mechanical transitions appear. Referencing is generally clear, allowing the reader to track the movement of air masses across the diagram without difficulty.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate and generally appropriate range of vocabulary for describing a geographical process, employing terms such as 'condensation', 'precipitation', 'moisture', and 'precipitation'. However, there are several lexical and grammatical word-choice errors, such as writing 'the process that how' instead of 'how', 'converted into clouds forms' instead of 'forming clouds', and 'reached to the inland areas' instead of 'reaching the inland areas'. Less common items are attempted with varying degrees of success, and minor errors in collocation slightly restrict precision, placing the response firmly within the Band 6 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses like 'As the air rises to the high altitude' and 'where they cool'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb forms and preposition use, such as 'converted into clouds forms, consequently resulting into rain fall' (awkward passive/active mix and preposition error) and 'reached to inland areas' (unnecessary preposition). Punctuation and article usage also show occasional lapses. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the text from achieving a higher band due to a lack of consistent control over complex structures.

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

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