Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-26

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 4.5)

The diagram beneath illustrate diffrent types of desert, known as rain-shadow desert.

This deserts consits of seven diffrernt stages , at the first winds approach from sea coast ,secondly winds pushed slightly upwards throuhg the mountains , at third stage we can see moist air rises and cools there more there is also windward side attached with mountains , coming at fourth stage here the formation of clouds are happening then after this clouds are moving upwards , fifth is crucial stage because rain starts falling at this piont on top of mountain, then coming up to six dwinds racally dry

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The student has failed to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, stopping at only 101 words. Consequently, the description of the process is severely truncated and unfinished, cutting off around stage six. While the writer attempts to identify the topic as 'rain-shadow desert' and lists several early stages such as 'winds approach from sea coast' and 'moist air rises and cools', the response lacks a proper overview and fails to report the final stages of the diagram accurately, such as the leeward side and inland dry winds. This results in a partial and underdeveloped response that heavily impacts the task achievement score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The text suffers from a lack of proper paragraphing, presented as a single short block of text. Although the student attempts to sequence the steps using ordinal markers like 'at the first', 'secondly', and 'at third stage', the logical progression breaks down towards the end of the text. Cohesive devices are repetitive and mechanical, and referencing becomes unclear as the sentence structures disintegrate. The overall organization is weak and fails to guide the reader smoothly through the visual process.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is very basic and contains numerous spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'diffrent' instead of different, 'consits' instead of consists, and 'dwinds racally dry' which appears to be a garbled attempt at describing dry winds. While some subject-specific vocabulary is borrowed from the prompt ('rain-shadow desert', 'moist air', 'windward side'), the frequent lexical inaccuracies and limited control over word formation strain the reader's comprehension.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The grammatical range is extremely limited, consisting mostly of poorly constructed simple sentences and failed attempts at complex structures. There are numerous glaring errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('This deserts consits'), missing articles, and run-on sentences with comma splices ('fifth is crucial stage because rain starts falling at this piont on top of mountain, then coming up to six'). Punctuation is largely neglected. These errors are frequent and consistently impede meaning throughout the response.

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

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