Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The diagram outlines how rain-shadow desert works.Overall, the process is consist of seven major steps, starting from the sea winds approaching to a coast area while being pushed upward and ending as a dry winds which reach toward the inland area over the thousands of kilometres.

At the begining, when the sea winds approach the coast region, the winds is being pushed upward while being converted into the moist air as it cools down. The cool moist air is later modify into clouds which then transforms into the precipitation after reaching the top of the mountain.

After the rain falls, the air becomes dry and getting pushed downward. Once this dry air moves toward the inland area over the thousands of kilometers ,it subsequently transforms into the rain-shadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the process as a sequence and give a broad overview from winds approaching the coast to dry air reaching inland, which captures the diagram’s main direction. You also report several key stages, including uplift, cooling, cloud formation and rainfall. However, the account is incomplete and sometimes unclear: it does not explain that the air rises over the mountains, and it says the dry air “transforms into the rain-shadow desert,” rather than explaining that dry winds reaching the inland area create the conditions for the desert. The overview also describes the process as ending with dry winds, although the diagram labels the resulting inland feature. The response is 21 words below the required minimum, limiting the detail provided. Include all stages and clarify the relationship between dry winds and desert formation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall sequence, moving from an overview to the initial coastal stages and then to rainfall and inland conditions. Paragraphing helps distinguish the overview from the detailed account, and time markers such as “At the beginning” and “After the rain falls” guide the reader. This gives the explanation a coherent arrangement. To make progression more consistently clear, connect each stage more precisely: for example, explain that moist air rises over the mountain, cools, forms clouds and produces rain before continuing as dry air on the leeward side. Some links are currently compressed or unclear, particularly “while being converted into the moist air as it cools down.” More explicit sequencing and clearer references would strengthen cohesion beyond the current level.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a relevant range of process vocabulary, including “moist air,” “precipitation,” “coast,” and “rain-shadow desert,” and the reader can generally understand the stages being described. There are also attempts to vary wording, such as “approach,” “moves toward,” and “reach.” However, some choices are inaccurate or awkward for this diagram: “the desert works” is less suitable than describing how it forms, and “transforms into the rain-shadow desert” misrepresents the relationship between the air and the landform. “Converted into the moist air” and “modify into clouds” are also unnatural collocations. Spelling slips such as “begining” reduce accuracy. Use precise process verbs and check spelling and collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a subordinate clause beginning “when” and a sequence linked with “while.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in verb forms and agreement recur. For example, “the process is consist” should be “the process consists,” and “the winds is being pushed” has a subject–verb agreement problem. The phrase “the air becomes dry and getting pushed downward” also mixes verb forms; parallel forms such as “becomes dry and is pushed downward” would be clearer. Articles and sentence punctuation need attention too, as in “a coast area” and the missing space after “area,”. Aim for accurate, complete clauses before adding more complex structures.

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

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