Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-30

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 4.0)

The line graph compares the numbers of international tourists who visited island nations between the years 2000 to 2020.

Overall, the graph follows upward trend with notable decline in 2012 and 2020. The numbers of tourists declined slightly in 2012 but aced in 2016 with the highest difference between two consecutive entries.

The graph begins with few tourists in 2000 and surges significantly in year 2004 and 2008 by 300 and 450 respectively. The number of tourists doubled in year 2008 compared to year 2000, furthermore the number of tourists declined significantly from 450 thousand to 380 thousand in year 2012.

The number of tourists dramatically increased from year 2012 to 2016 by 230 thousand tourists which is highest among all other consecutive years. Further, the number of tourists notably declined in 2020 with 540 thousand tourists which is still the second highest in the graph. Overall, the graph consistently follows the upward trend with a sight interruption in year 2012 and 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 1.0

The response is completely off-topic. The student has written about a line graph comparing international tourists in island nations between 2000 and 2020, whereas the actual task is an Academic Task 1 process diagram showing the formation of rain-shadow deserts. Because the student describes data, trends, and years that do not exist in the source image, Task Achievement cannot be credited for answering the prompt. In accordance with IELTS assessment guidelines, when a response is completely irrelevant to the visual data provided, it must receive a low band score for task completion. The writer failed to report the main features of the diagram, such as moist air rising, clouds forming, rain falling on the windward side, and dry air creating a desert on the leeward side.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

Despite being off-topic, the text itself exhibits a clear organizational structure with paragraphing (an introduction, body paragraphs, and an overall summary) and appropriate transitional markers such as 'Overall', 'The graph begins with', and 'Further'. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas together logically within the context of the essay topic chosen by the student. Paragraphs are reasonably distinct and logical progression is maintained throughout the student's imagined data set, reflecting the writing skills of a higher band even though the content is completely misaligned with the visual prompt.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for discussing data trends, employing words and phrases such as 'upward trend', 'notable decline', 'surges significantly', and 'consistently follows'. There are some awkward phrasings like 'aced in 2016' (likely a typo for 'peaked') and minor inaccuracies, but overall the lexical choices are functional for trend analysis. However, because the vocabulary describes a line graph rather than the geographical process diagram required by the prompt, it cannot score higher for task-specific appropriateness.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses ('which is highest among all other consecutive years') and prepositional phrases. There are several grammatical errors and awkward constructions, such as 'The graph follows upward trend' (missing article), 'begins with few tourists', and 'with a sight interruption' (sight instead of slight). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent minor slips and awkward phrasings prevent the grammar from reaching a higher band level.

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

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