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)

This picture shows us the gormation of a dry area beside mountains known as rain shadow desert.

Theres a mountain covering thousands of kilometer area on one side there is a sea from where wind approaches to coast and starts leveling up to the mountain . Wind is pushing upward . and moist air rises and cools at windward side. That cool air forms clouds.As the clouds move to the top , the peek of the mountain ,it bursts and rain fall begins . Then the dry air contibues over mountain , it starts going downward from the leeward side of mountain .Going further down the dry air reaches inland area and forms rain shadow desert.

In conclusion ,water when evaporates from clouds with rhe help of cool air and when rain falls the dry air reaches the land area forming the rain shadow desert . That's how rain shadow in formed .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main sequence from winds approaching the coast to dry air reaching inland and creating the desert, and you identify the windward and leeward sides. This gives the reader a generally accurate account of the process. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: “the clouds move to the top” and “it bursts” do not clearly describe cloud formation and rainfall, while the conclusion incorrectly says water evaporates “from clouds.” The diagram’s key overall contrast—that moist air rises and rains on the windward side, leaving dry air to descend on the leeward side—is present but not clearly summarised as an overview. Make this contrast explicit and describe each stage more precisely to develop the account more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The stages are presented in a broadly logical order, and linking expressions such as “Then” and “Going further down” help show the movement of air across the mountain. The response also has an opening and a concluding sentence. However, most of the explanation is compressed into one paragraph, and the conclusion repeats the process rather than drawing together its main pattern. Some connections are awkward or unclear, particularly “As the clouds move to the top … it bursts,” where the reference of “it” is uncertain. Organise the response into a brief introduction, a clear overview, and a sequenced description of the stages. Use linking words selectively and make pronoun references explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use several relevant terms, including “windward side,” “leeward side,” “moist air,” and “inland area,” which help communicate the diagram’s subject. However, the range is limited and some word choices or collocations make the process difficult to picture accurately. For example, “starts leveling up” is not a natural way to describe air rising, and “it bursts” is imprecise for rainfall. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “gormation,” “peek,” and “contibues,” which reduce the clarity and control of the vocabulary. Aim for precise process language and check spelling carefully. For example, use “is forced upwards,” “mountain peak,” and “precipitation begins.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and more extended sentence forms, including the sequence beginning “As the clouds move to the top” and the sentence describing dry air continuing over the mountain. The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in sentence boundaries, punctuation, and grammatical construction are noticeable. For instance, “Wind is pushing upward . and moist air rises” is incorrectly joined and punctuated, while “water when evaporates from clouds” has an incomplete, awkward clause structure. Articles and sentence openings are also inconsistent. Improve control by separating stages into complete sentences and checking that each clause has a clear subject and verb. A model structure is: “As moist air rises, it cools and forms clouds.”

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