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 figure illustrates the formation process of a rain-shadow desert.

Overall, the process shows how air plays a significant role in the formation of a rain-shadow desert, with the contribution of mountains.

Initially, the process starts with winds above the sea aproaching the coastal part of mountains. The coastal side of mountains resists the winds and pushes it to upper direction. The air which is moist keeps rising and becomes cold behind the windward side of the mountains. Then clouds are formed which ultimately cause rain falls. However, the air which is dry keeps forwarding and it crosses almost thousands of kilometres area over the mountains.

Crossing the mountain, the dry air heads towards the ground and reach inland areas of the globe. Eventually, the inland area which contains the dry winds coming from the peak of the mountains, are transformed in a rain-shadow desert. Thus, sea winds and mountains play a crucial duty for the creation of a rain-shadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all main parts of the process diagram illustrating the formation of a rain-shadow desert, fulfilling the core requirements of the task. An overview is provided, though it is somewhat general and simplistic ("Overall, the process shows how air plays a significant role..."). The student correctly identifies key stages such as winds approaching the coast, moist air rising, clouds forming, rain falling, and dry air crossing the mountains to create the desert on the leeward side. However, some parts are more fully developed than others; for instance, the description of the air cooling and cloud formation lacks finer mechanical detail, and the explanation of the scale ("thousands of kilometres") is tacked on rather than smoothly integrated. To reach a higher level, the overview should be more precise, and all key features of the geographical progression should be extended and supported with greater clarity and precision.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The text maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a chronological sequence that mirrors the stages of the diagram. Progression is generally logical, moving from the sea and coast across the mountains to the inland area. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader through the steps, such as "Initially," "Then," "However," and "Eventually." However, some referencing is slightly clunky or mechanical ("the process starts with winds... The coastal side of mountains resists the winds and pushes it"), and paragraphing is underdeveloped, as the entire body of the report is clumped into two overly brief blocks. To achieve a higher score, the response would benefit from more varied and natural cohesive links, alongside a clearer, more traditional essay structure with distinct paragraphs for the introduction, overview, and detailed body stages.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the main features of the process. The student attempts less common vocabulary items related to the topic, such as "approaching," "precipitation alternatives like rain falls," and "transformed." However, there are noticeable lexical and spelling inaccuracies that prevent a higher score, including spelling errors like "aproaching," awkward word choices such as "upper direction" instead of "upward direction," "keeps forwarding" instead of continuing forward, and an unnatural collocation in "play a crucial duty" instead of "play a crucial role." While these errors do not impede overall communication, they demonstrate a limited control of less common lexical items and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use relative clauses and participial phrases (e.g., "the inland area which contains the dry winds..."). There are some grammar and punctuation errors, but they rarely impede communication. Examples of errors include pronoun-antecedent agreement issues ("pushes it" referring to plural "winds"), missing or incorrect articles ("the coastal part of mountains", "crosses almost thousands of kilometres area"), and prepositional slips ("reach inland areas" instead of "reaching"). The range of grammatical structures is somewhat limited, and complex sentences often contain minor errors in syntax or agreement. To move higher, the student needs to demonstrate better control over complex sentence structures and eliminate recurring basic errors in articles and subject-verb agreement.

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

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