Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-28

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 diagram illustrates how one type of desert, known as rain-shadow desert is formed.

Overall, it can be seen that the process of developing the rain-shadow desert starts from the sea, travel to the mountain completing its 7 steps process and ends with Inland. The moutain has overall thousand kilometerss width starting from coast ending with Inland.

At the start of the period, winds approches the coast from the sea towards the mountain and pushed its self upwards. Then, moist air rises and gets cool towards the windward side of the mountain. After that, it forms clouds and those clouds brust into a rain or ice. Moving forward, the dry air continues over the mountain by a leeward side and at last dry winds reach inland areas.

During this porcess, the winds starts from sea, goes up to the summit and travel down in the form of dry winds to inland,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student successfully identifies the main features and stages of the rain-shadow desert formation process shown in the diagram. The overview captures the overall spatial progression from the sea across the mountains to inland areas, noting the approximate horizontal scale of thousands of kilometres. The seven distinct stages are covered adequately, tracking the transition from coastal winds and cloud formation on the windward side to precipitation, dry air crossing the leeward side, and finally reaching inland areas. While the summary is somewhat brief and relies on simple language, it addresses all parts of the visual data without significant omissions or inaccuracies. This performance aligns well with Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement, moving logically from an introductory sentence and overview into the detailed chronological steps of the process. Cohesive devices and sequence markers such as "At the start of the period", "Then", "After that", and "Moving forward" are employed to guide the reader through the stages. Paragraphing is attempted, though the final concluding sentence is left isolated as a single line, which disrupts paragraph cohesion. Referencing is generally clear, but mechanical linking patterns limit higher-level flow. These features place the response firmly in Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully utilizing topic-specific terminology directly from the diagram such as "windward side", "leeward side", "moist air", and "dry winds". However, there are several word-choice errors and typos, such as "rain-shadow desert" missing an article, "travel" instead of "travels", "approches" instead of "approaches", "pushed its self", "brust" instead of "burst", and "porcess". Despite these slips, communication is not impeded, and the vocabulary is sufficient to describe the process. This corresponds to a Band 6 score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as subordinate clauses ("how one type of desert... is formed") and participial phrases. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several subject-verb agreement errors ("winds approches", "the winds starts"), spelling errors in verb forms ("brust"), and awkward phrasing like "pushed its self upwards". Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors are noticeable, they rarely impede overall comprehension. This balance of structures and error frequency warrants a Band 6.

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