Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-06

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 4.5)

The diagram elucidate the information about the type desert, know as a rain shadow desert is formed. summarise these information by selecting and repoting the main features, make comparison is No one is winds approch coast of water to sea. No.2 is winds pushed the water to upwerd.No.3 Mosit air rises cools the water.No.4 is water changed in clouds form No.5 finaly the rain falls and drybair continues over mountaion at leewaed side. No,7 Dry winds reach inland area . This is the process of rain fall,over the mountains. the process start from wind ware to leeward side.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response sits at a low level because it is significantly under the minimum length requirement, containing only 90 words instead of the required 150 words. Additionally, eight words were copied directly from the prompt. While the student attempts to list the steps in the diagram, such as 'winds approach coast' and 'rain falls', the information is presented in a very fragmented, list-like manner using numbered bullet points ('No.1', 'No.2', etc.) rather than a cohesive report. The main features are only minimally addressed, and comparisons or an overview are largely absent, resulting in a response that responds to the task only minimally.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

Information and ideas are not arranged coherently in this response. The text lacks standard paragraphing and relies on disjointed numbered points instead of flowing sentences and cohesive paragraphs. There is no clear overall progression; instead, the writing jumps abruptly from stage to stage using mechanical and inappropriate numbering ('No.1 is...', 'No.2 is...') rather than linking words or logical transitions. Referencing is unclear, and the overall organization fails to guide the reader smoothly through the stages of the rain-shadow desert formation process depicted in the diagram.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, employing a very limited range appropriate for the task. There are frequent word choice and spelling errors that strain the reader, such as 'elucidate' instead of 'illustrates', 'know' instead of 'known', 'repoting' instead of 'reporting', 'upwerd' instead of 'upward', 'Mosit' instead of 'Moist', 'finaly' instead of 'finally', 'drybair' instead of 'dry air', 'mountaion' instead of 'mountain', 'leewaed' instead of 'leeward', and 'wind ware' instead of 'windward'. These numerous lexical inaccuracies prevent the communication from being clear and restrict the score to a limited band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The grammatical range is very limited, consisting mostly of fragmented, simple statements rather than well-formed complex sentences. Errors are frequent and often distort meaning, such as missing articles ('the type desert'), incorrect verb forms ('the diagram elucidate', 'make comparison is'), and flawed prepositional phrases ('reach inland area'). Punctuation is also poorly handled, with erratic comma splices and periods in the middle of clauses. These persistent grammatical errors cause significant difficulty for the reader and reflect a weak control of basic sentence structures.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.