Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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 picture represents how a rain-shadow desert is formed in total 7 steps.

The process starts with winds approching coastlines from the sea. Afterwards, these winds are moved up the hill, where air become moist and its temperature also reduces. Due to this process, at the stage four, process of cloud formation begins, where first clouds are produced and later changed to water-bearing clouds. All of these stages take place at the Windward side of the mountain.

Onces the rainfall occured, air moves towards the other side of mountain, known as Leeward side. At the leeward side, final 2 stages of the formation of rain-shadow desert happened. Air starts moving in the downward direction and it becomes dry. Finally, dry winds reach inland areas and rain-shadow deserts are formed.

This whole process takes place aound thousands of kilometers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response falls short of the required 150-word minimum, containing only 138 words. While the candidate attempts to cover the whole process from the winds approaching the coast to the formation of the rain-shadow desert, some parts of the task are only partially addressed. The overview of the process is somewhat basic and the details regarding specific transitional stages lack full development. For instance, the transition from cloud formation to precipitation is stated simply without fully elaborating on the mechanics shown in the diagram. Addressing all parts more fully and meeting the word count requirement would significantly lift the score for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression through the stages of the diagram. The text is divided into appropriate paragraphs that separate the introduction, the windward side processes, the leeward side processes, and the concluding scale. However, cohesion can feel slightly mechanical in places, with repetitive transitional phrases like 'at the leeward side' and 'at the stage four'. Referencing is mostly clear, though some cohesive devices are used a bit rigidly. To reach a higher band, the candidate would need to demonstrate more flexible and seamless use of cohesive devices and improved referencing across sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying the general meaning of the process diagram with terms like 'coastlines', 'moist', 'temperature', 'precipitation', and 'inland areas'. The candidate makes some attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'windward side', 'leeward side', and 'rain-shadow desert', but there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'approching' instead of approaching, 'onces' instead of once, 'occured' instead of occurred, and 'aound' instead of around. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they reflect a limitation in lexical control that keeps the score at this level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The candidate demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses such as 'where air become moist' and 'known as Leeward side'. However, there are frequent errors in grammar, verb forms, and articles, such as 'air become moist' instead of the air becomes moist, 'temperature also reduces', and 'process of cloud formation begins, where first clouds are produced'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical inaccuracies such as tense consistency issues ('happened' instead of happen) and missing articles persist throughout the text, meaning errors can occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader.

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

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