Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-09

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 4.0)

The diagram presents how the formation of rain-shadow desert occurs.

Overall, the process of Rain-shadow desert formation completes in seven distinct stages from winds reaching at sea coast to inland area dry form, covering tens of hundred kilometers distance just over the surface of mountain.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

You identify the topic and give a broad overview that the process has seven stages and ends inland, which is relevant to the diagram. However, the response reports almost none of the stages: it does not explain the winds rising, cooling, cloud formation, rainfall on the windward side, or dry air crossing the mountains to the leeward side. The claim that the process covers “tens of hundred kilometers” is not supported; the diagram indicates a horizontal scale of thousands of kilometres. The response is also substantially below the required 150 words, leaving the task only minimally addressed. To improve, describe the sequence accurately and include the key contrast between rain on the windward side and dry conditions inland.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic, understandable order: it introduces the diagram and then gives an overall statement about the process. The phrase “Overall” signals the summary, and the reference to seven stages gives the reader a simple organising idea. However, there is no developed sequence of stages or paragraphing to guide the reader through the process, largely because the response stops after the overview. The long second sentence also combines the number of stages, starting point, endpoint and distance without clear relationships between them. Add a separate paragraph describing the stages in order, using links such as “as a result,” “then,” and “finally” to make the progression clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “formation,” “winds,” “coast,” “inland,” and “mountain,” so the subject is recognisable. However, the range is very limited, and several phrases are inaccurate or unnatural: “formation of rain-shadow desert,” “winds reaching at sea coast,” and “inland area dry form.” “Tens of hundred kilometers” is also an unsuitable expression and misrepresents the diagram’s scale. These choices make the overview difficult to interpret precisely. Build a wider set of process terms, such as “moist air,” “windward,” “leeward,” “precipitation,” and “dry winds,” and use standard collocations such as “winds approach the coast” and “a desert forms inland.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response contains two sentences, including a simple introductory sentence and a longer sentence beginning with “Overall,” but the grammatical range is narrow and control is uneven. In “the formation of rain-shadow desert occurs,” the article and noun phrase are not formed naturally; “the process of forming a rain-shadow desert” would be clearer. The phrase “from winds reaching at sea coast to inland area dry form” lacks a clear grammatical structure, and “covering tens of hundred kilometers distance” is not integrated correctly into the sentence. These problems make the main summary hard to follow. Practise writing complete process sentences with a clear subject and verb, for example, “Moist air rises over the mountains, cools, and forms clouds.”

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