Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-29
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 how a rain-shadow desert is formed.
Overall, the diagram depicts a natural process from which a rain-shadow desert is formed. There is a distance of thousands of killometers between the sea and the land. The water of the sea had to travel seven different stages through the wind to reached the land. As a result, rain-shadow desert is formed.
At the first stage, the winds containing water approached the coast and pushed upward to the windward side of the mountains. After that, the moist air rises and cools at this stage and was turned into clouds. This leads to rain fall, in result the air becomes dried and continue to flow over the mountain on leeward side.
Meanwhile, the dry air goes through the slopy side of the mountain and reached the inland. After going through various stages the rain-shadow desert is formed naturally. However, the sea coast is far away from the land.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The student covers all key features of the process diagram, successfully outlining the stages from the sea across the mountains to the inland rain-shadow desert. An overview is present, noting the geographical layout and the natural sequence of events, though it contains some slight inaccuracies regarding the distance ('thousands of killometers'). The seven distinct stages shown in the prompt are integrated into the body paragraphs, explaining how moist air rises, cools, forms clouds, and precipitates on the windward side, leaving dry air to descend on the leeward side. While the information is generally well-reported, the phrasing 'The water of the sea had to travel seven different stages through the wind to reached the land' misinterprets the stages as water travelling rather than wind patterns. However, the main components of the diagram are properly identified and compared.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response is organized into three paragraphs: an introduction, a body paragraph covering the first part of the process, and a concluding paragraph handling the final stages. Cohesive devices such as 'At the first stage', 'After that', and 'Meanwhile' are used to sequence the steps logically. However, paragraphing is somewhat basic and the final paragraph feels a bit disjointed due to repetition of ideas already stated. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'at this stage' being used loosely when referring to the air rising and cooling. Overall, the essay maintains a coherent progression from left to right across the diagram, though the logical flow could be smoother and more tightly managed.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms like 'coast', 'windward side', 'leeward side', 'moist air', and 'rain-shadow desert'. However, there are notable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'killometers', 'reached' instead of 'reach', and 'slopy' instead of 'sloping'. The student also uses somewhat repetitive phrasing ('at this stage', 'after that'). While less common lexical items are attempted, inaccuracies in spelling and collocation prevent the score from reaching a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The diagram illustrates how a rain-shadow desert is formed' and 'As a result, rain-shadow desert is formed.' There are several grammatical errors and awkward tense shifts throughout the text, including 'had to travel... to reached', 'rain fall, in result the air becomes dried and continue', and 'dry air goes through... and reached'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical slips in verb forms and agreement occur frequently enough to cause occasional distraction for the reader, fitting the Band 5.5 to 6.0 profile.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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