Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-08

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 diagram gives the information about how a rain-shadow desert is formed.

The formation of rain-shadow desert consists of sea, mountains and Inland areas.

When the winds approach the coast due to the presence of mountains winds are pushed upwards. As the winds moves up it converts into moist air and cools. As it rises it forms cloud. Cloud creates the rainfall. Dry air continues over mountain and comes down the mountain. Dry winds reach the inland areas and form rain-shadow desert. The distance between the sea and rain-shadow desert will be thousands of kilometers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main sequence: winds approach the coast, rise over the mountains, cool, produce clouds and rain, then continue inland as dry air. This is relevant and broadly matches the diagram. However, the account is very brief and leaves important relationships under-explained: it does not clearly distinguish the windward and leeward sides, or explain that rainfall on the windward side leaves dry winds to reach the inland rain-shadow desert. The statement that the desert forms is present, but the overview is limited, and the final distance detail is not clearly expressed as the diagram’s horizontal scale. The response also falls 55 words short of the required minimum. Develop the overview and describe the stages and locations more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The stages are presented in a generally sensible order, and the reader can follow the movement from the coast to the inland area. Linking phrases such as “When,” “As,” and “Dry air continues” help connect the process. However, the response is a single short paragraph, so the information is not clearly grouped into an overview and a detailed sequence. Several consecutive sentences begin with “As,” creating a repetitive rhythm, while the relationship between rainfall and the formation of the desert could be linked more explicitly. Use a brief overview followed by a logically developed account of the windward and leeward stages, and vary the linking language to make progression clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “winds,” “moist air,” “cloud,” “rainfall,” and “inland areas,” which makes the basic sequence understandable. The range is nevertheless limited, with repeated general terms such as “winds” and “mountain,” and some choices are imprecise or awkward: “converts into moist air” does not describe the process naturally, and “Cloud creates the rainfall” is an unclear collocation. More precise terms from the diagram, such as “windward side,” “leeward side,” “precipitation,” and “rain-shadow,” would help explain the mechanism. Aim to use these accurately and avoid repeating the same basic nouns where a more specific term is available.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes both simple sentences and some attempts at complex structures, for example, “When the winds approach the coast…” and “As the winds moves up…”. The sequence remains understandable, but errors in agreement and articles are noticeable. In “the winds moves,” the plural subject requires “move”; “forms cloud” needs an article or plural form; and “the formation of rain-shadow desert” would normally require “a” before the singular count noun. The sentence patterns are also quite repetitive, relying mainly on short statements and clauses beginning with “As.” Check subject–verb agreement and article use, and practise combining stages into accurate complex sentences to show a wider range.

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