Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-12

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 5.0)

The given diagram illutrates the information how a rain-shadow

dessert, is formed.

Overall, the process of rain-shadow dessert consist of several stages. begginning with the winds approach coast and endig with dry wind reach inland areas.

Now turning the details it is obvious that firstly due to sea water movement produce wind approach cost. After winds pushed upwards tothemountains and most winds rises and cool. After this process air rises and cools convert into cloud forms and this clouds reason for the rainfalls approximately at the top of the mountain. After rainfalls dry air produce and continues spread over the mountain. finally the dry winds reach inland area. inland thousands of kilometers are far away from coast.

After passing these processes of nature a normal dessert is convert into rain-shadow dessert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the diagram as a process and give a basic overview, from winds approaching the coast to dry winds reaching inland. You also include several relevant stages, such as air rising and cooling, cloud formation, rainfall on the mountain, and dry air continuing beyond it. However, the account is only partial: the explanation that sea-water movement produces the wind is not shown, and the final claim that a normal desert is converted into a rain-shadow desert misrepresents the process. The overview could more clearly explain that moist air loses its moisture on the windward side, leaving dry air to create a desert inland on the leeward side. The response is also 19 words below the required minimum, limiting the detail provided.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph describing the stages. Sequencing words such as “Overall,” “After this process,” and “finally” help the reader follow the general order. However, progression within the detail paragraph is sometimes difficult to track because several stages are compressed into awkward or unclear sentences, for example, “air rises and cools convert into cloud forms.” Some linking expressions are repetitive, and “After passing these processes of nature” introduces a conclusion that does not follow clearly from the preceding description. Use one sentence per key stage and clearer references to the windward and leeward sides to make the sequence easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “winds,” “rises,” “cools,” “clouds,” “rainfalls,” and “inland,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several word-choice or spelling problems reduce precision: “dessert” is repeatedly used instead of “desert,” “cost” appears for “coast,” and “rainfalls” is less suitable than “rain” or “precipitation” here. Phrases such as “sea water movement produce wind” and “dry air produce” do not express the process accurately or naturally. Aim to use the diagram’s precise terms, including “moist air,” “windward side,” “leeward side,” and “rain-shadow desert,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

There are attempts to connect stages in longer sentences, but the range of sentence structures is limited and these attempts often contain errors that make relationships unclear. For example, “the process … consist of several stages” has subject–verb disagreement, while “beginning with the winds approach coast and endig with dry wind reach inland areas” lacks a clear grammatical structure. In “After winds pushed upwards … and most winds rises and cool,” verb forms and sentence construction are also faulty. Articles, plurals, and punctuation are inconsistent, as seen in “this clouds” and the comma after “dessert.” Practise building accurate simple sentences first, then combine them with clauses such as “As the moist air rises, it cools and forms clouds.”

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