Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-27
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 sketch illustrates the steps followed by the nature in formation of rain-shado desert.
Overall, we can see that there are mainly 7 stages through which the wind passes and the air passes as per the structure of mountains, the wind comes from the sea and following the mountains and end up on the other side of mountain.
Firstly, at stage one the wind from the sea approaches the coast and hit the mountain and second stage begins by pushing wind towards uppar side, which results in rises moist air and get cools and form clouds at windward side which is fourth satge.After that in fifth stage rain falls at the top of mountain were half of the process complet.
Furthermore, while raining the dry air continues over mountain following leeward side at sixth stage and in last and final seventh stage the dry winds reaches the surface and followup by the inland areas which forms rain-shado desert. And the distance of mountains between the sea and rain-shadow desert is thousands of kilometers.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student successfully identifies the main process illustrated in the diagram regarding the formation of rain-shadow deserts. All seven stages from the winds approaching the coast to reaching inland areas are mentioned in sequence. An overview is attempted in the second sentence, outlining the seven stages and the general movement of air across the mountains. However, the expression is somewhat clumsy ('steps followed by the nature'), and key geographical labels such as 'windward side', 'leeward side', and the distinction between sea, coast, and mountains could have been integrated more precisely to fully satisfy the highest bands. Nonetheless, the task is addressed adequately, covering all relevant steps and making appropriate reference to the scale of thousands of kilometres.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is structured into an introduction with an overview and a couple of body sentences. Logical progression is attempted using sequence markers such as 'Firstly', 'second stage', 'After that', 'Furthermore', and 'in last and final seventh stage'. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped, grouping almost the entire response into a single dense block of text following the introductory sentence. Furthermore, referencing and cohesive ties are at times mechanical or repetitive ('the wind comes from the sea and following the mountains and end up on the other side of mountain'), which impedes the natural flow of information.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate to communicate the basic steps of the diagram, attempting some less common or subject-specific terms such as 'moist air', 'precipitation' (implied via raining), and 'rain-shadow desert'. However, there are numerous lexical and spelling errors that detract from precision, including 'rain-shado' (repeated), 'uppar', 'satge', 'were' instead of 'where', and awkward collocations like 'followed by the inland areas'. The range is sufficient for the task, but word choices lack flexibility and contain frequent slips.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though control over grammar is inconsistent. There are several run-on sentences and awkward syntactic structures, such as 'Overall, we can see that there are mainly 7 stages through which the wind passes and the air passes as per the structure of mountains, the wind comes from the sea and following the mountains and end up on the other side of mountain.' Frequent grammatical errors occur, including tense inconsistencies ('end up', 'reaches', 'followup'), missing articles, and preposition errors ('at the top of mountain'). These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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