Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-07

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 given diagram demonstrate how one type of desert, known as a rain-shadow desert, is formed. It's complete after the total seven stages. Additionally, this process is natural.

Overall, it is clear that the process start by the appropriate winds which leads a rain and after several steps its create a rain-shadow desert. It also time consuming process.

Looking at the details, initially from sea winds approach coast and then it helps to pushed winds in upward sides. Thereafter, air become more moist and cools in the windward side. Fourthly, moist air form clouds and in the top of mountain rain falls.

Moving on to the six step, dry air continues over mountain in the leeward side. Lastly, dry winds reach at Inland areas and finally its form a rain-shadow desert. However, the distance between coast and Inland is approximately thousands of kilometres. In all, the formation of rain-shadow desert contain two side windward and leeward which play an integral role in it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main sequence from winds approaching the coast to dry winds reaching inland, and you identify the windward and leeward sides and the thousands-of-kilometres scale. The overview also recognises that the process produces a rain-shadow desert. However, some stages are not reported accurately: the diagram shows moist air rising and cooling, whereas “air become more moist” reverses or obscures this change. The claim that the process is “time consuming” is unsupported; the diagram indicates distance, not duration. The explanation of how rain and dry air lead to desert formation is also brief, so some relevant features are less fully developed than others. Focus the overview on the movement of moisture and the contrast between the two mountain sides.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction and overview are followed by the earlier and later stages in separate paragraphs. Sequencing expressions such as “initially,” “Thereafter,” “Fourthly,” and “Lastly” help the reader follow the process. However, the transitions sometimes feel mechanical, and the link between stages is not always expressed clearly. For example, “it helps to pushed winds in upward sides” makes the relationship between the approaching winds and their upward movement difficult to follow. “Moving on to the six step” is also an awkward transition, while “In all” introduces a concluding point that largely repeats earlier information. Use fewer numbered transitions and connect each stage through clear cause-and-effect relationships.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “windward,” “leeward,” “moist,” “dry winds,” and “rain-shadow desert,” which helps communicate the diagram’s subject. There is also some attempt to vary wording with phrases such as “play an integral role.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “appropriate winds,” “in upward sides,” and “its form a rain-shadow desert.” “Time consuming” is not supported by the visual and is not a precise description of the process. These choices sometimes make the intended meaning less clear. Aim for accurate, natural process language, such as “prevailing winds,” “are forced upwards,” and “eventually leads to the formation of.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a relative clause in “one type of desert, known as a rain-shadow desert,” and a sequence of linked stages. However, grammatical errors occur in several sentences and sometimes obscure the process. Examples include “The given diagram demonstrate” and “the process start,” where subject–verb agreement is missing, and “it helps to pushed winds,” where the verb pattern is incorrect. In “air become more moist and cools,” the verb forms do not agree, and “its create” has an incorrect subject and verb form. Articles and sentence construction also need attention. Practise checking agreement, verb forms after “to,” and complete sentence structure while retaining your attempts at complex sentences.

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