Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-13

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 illustrates the procedure of formation of a rain-shadow desert. Overall, the winds from the sea moves upward forming the rain clouds. The dry air after rain fall move towards the other side of mountains and reaches the inland areas resulting in rain-shadow deserts.

Initially, the wind from the sea apporach the coast and blowed in the upward direction due to the rise of coastal land upto the mountains peek. The air becomes cool and moist while reaching the mountain top. After that, the could are formed through the winds. These could causes rain fall when reached at the peek.

Preceeding the rain fall, the dry air blows downward to apporach inland areas. The inland area covered by the dry air is considered as rain-shadow desert. During this procedure the winds travel the distance of thousan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main process: moist winds arrive from the sea, rain falls on the mountain’s windward side, and drier air reaches inland to create a rain-shadow desert. This gives the reader a relevant overall account, but several stages are unclear or inaccurately described. For example, the diagram shows air rising and cooling before clouds form; your wording says the air cools “while reaching the mountain top” and that clouds form “through the winds,” without clearly explaining this sequence. The final sentence is also unfinished, and the response contains 137 words, below the required 150. This limits how fully you can report the stages and the diagram’s horizontal scale. Add a complete ending and clarify the process in sequence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure: an overview followed by descriptions of the early and later stages. Sequencing expressions such as “Initially,” “After that,” and “Preceeding” help show that the diagram is a process. However, progression is weakened by unclear links between stages, particularly “These could causes rain fall when reached at the peek,” where the subject and sequence are difficult to follow. The final sentence stops at “thousan,” leaving the account incomplete and disrupting the ending. Some transitions also feel mechanical rather than guiding the reader through a fully connected explanation. Use one paragraph for the overview and one or two for the stages, and connect each step explicitly—for example, explain that rising air cools, clouds form, and precipitation follows.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “coast,” “mountains,” “dry air,” “inland areas,” and “rain-shadow desert,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “apporach,” “blowed,” “peek,” “could,” and “Preceeding.” Some combinations are also unnatural, such as “the procedure of formation” and “the inland area covered by the dry air.” Choose accurate terms for the diagram’s stages and use them consistently: “process,” “approach,” “peak,” “clouds,” and “precipitation” would be more suitable. The repeated use of “air,” “wind,” and “rain” also makes the description less varied. A few precise alternatives can improve clarity without making the account unnecessarily complicated.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including “The inland area covered by the dry air is considered as rain-shadow desert.” However, errors occur frequently and sometimes make relationships between events difficult to understand. In the overview, “the winds from the sea moves” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “the dry air … move” has the same problem. Past-tense forms are also faulty in “blowed” and “These could causes.” Articles and sentence construction need attention in phrases such as “forming the rain clouds” and “is considered as rain-shadow desert.” The final sentence is incomplete, so it cannot communicate its intended grammatical relationship. Practise accurate present-simple descriptions of processes, checking agreement and complete clauses, and use a mix of shorter sentences and controlled subordinate clauses.

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