Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-01

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 the process of forming rain-shadow deserts.

Overall, there are mainly seven steps involve to form a rain-shadow desert particularly besides the leeward side of a mountain. The moist air coming from the sea-side and become cold in the windward side of the mountain and forms cloud which causes rains. The dry air passes over the mountain and turn the inland area into desert.

The winds come from the sea toward coast area and tends to follow upward path when pushed by the mountains. While uprising the wind, near the windward side of mountains the air become cold and be moist. This most and cool air form clouds and causes rain in the sea-side area.

The dry air, on the other hand, continues to flows over the mountain and climb down across the leeward side of the mountain. When the dry winds reach the inland area, which is thousands kilometres alway from the sea, it turns the whole area into a desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by outlining the main stages of rain-shadow desert formation, from moist winds approaching the coast to dry winds reaching inland areas. An overview is successfully attempted in the second paragraph, identifying the seven key steps and the general location of the phenomenon. However, some aspects of the process are under-developed or lack precision. For instance, the description of air movement mentions that winds are pushed upward and form clouds, but the specific sequence of cooling and precipitation lacks detail. To reach a higher band, the response would need to extend and fully support all highlighted stages of the process with greater clarity and precision regarding how the geographical features interact with the weather patterns.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression from the sea-side to the inland desert. The text is divided into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs that follow the chronological flow of the diagram. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. For example, the transitional phrases between paragraphs and sentences feel slightly repetitive or abrupt, such as starting consecutive paragraphs with 'The winds come from...' and 'The dry air, on the other hand,...'. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like 'While uprising the wind', where the cohesive link between clauses is muddled. To improve, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure smoother transitions between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying the basic geographical concepts such as 'moist air', 'windward side', 'leeward side', and 'inland area'. The writer makes some attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are often marred by word choice and word form errors, such as 'become cold and be moist' instead of 'moist and cool' or 'climb down' instead of 'descend'. There are also occasional awkward collocations and lexical slips, such as 'thousands kilometres alway'. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score because the control over less common items remains inconsistent. Expanding the range of precise scientific or geographical verbs and adjectives would help elevate this aspect of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to explain the multi-step diagram. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in verb forms, prepositions, and clause structures. Examples include 'seven steps involve to form' (passive voice error), 'become cold and be moist' (tense/form inconsistency), and 'While uprising the wind' (incorrect participle structure). Prepositional usage is also occasionally inaccurate, such as 'in the sea-side area' rather than 'on the coast'. While these errors rarely impede communication entirely, they persist throughout the text and prevent the grammar from achieving a higher level of fluency and accuracy. More careful control over complex sentence structures and grammatical agreements is needed.

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