Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-14

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 illustrate the formation of one type of desert, named as rain-shadow desert. The steps formed the desert, when the sea winds have approached coast and ends with the dry winds reach inland areas.

Overall, the whole process is consist of seven different steps, where the next step is dependent on previous step result. Sea winds, clouds, rain and mountains helped to form a rain-shadow desert, while the complete process spreads on a thousands of kilometres area.

The process begin when the winds coming from the sea approach coast at first, which pushed upward on hilly area in the second step. Those winds increase the moist in air and cools the temperature, and reached at windward side of a mountain, where the clouds formed at first from this moist air.

Clouds moving on the peaks of mountain and rain falled on these peaks in this step. All the moisturiser from air is removed when forming cloud make the dry air flows over mountain towards leeward side and then those dried winds reached the inland areas surface and fomed the rain-shadow desert below it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response covers the main sequence and gives an overview that the process has seven stages, beginning with sea winds and ending with dry winds reaching inland. It also correctly identifies the windward and leeward sides and links the desert to the final stage. This meets the task well, though some details are less clear or precise: for example, the diagram shows moist air rising and cooling before clouds form, whereas the account says the winds “increase the moist in air” and does not clearly explain the rising air. The claim that the process spreads across “a thousands of kilometres area” is based on the scale label but is awkwardly expressed and may imply a measured area. A clearer, more exact account of the stages would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing the stages in sequence. The progression from the coast to the mountains and then inland is generally easy to follow, and linking phrases such as “Overall,” “when,” and “then” help guide the reader. However, some connections are unclear or repetitive. “At first” is used for both the initial wind movement and cloud formation, and “in this step” does not clearly identify which stage is being described. The long final sentence also combines cloud formation, moisture removal, airflow, and desert formation, making the sequence harder to track. More precise stage transitions and clearer sentence boundaries would make cohesion more flexible and less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses relevant process vocabulary, including “windward side,” “leeward side,” “moist air,” “clouds,” and “dry winds,” so the reader can understand the topic. It also attempts some less common terms, such as “formation” and “dependent.” However, noticeable word-choice, collocation, word-form, and spelling errors limit precision: “increase the moist in air,” “all the moisturiser from air,” “rain falled,” and “fomed” are inaccurate or unsuitable in this context. “Hilly area” is also less precise than the diagram’s mountain. Aim to use standard process collocations and check spelling and word forms; this would make the description more natural and exact without requiring unnecessarily advanced vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There is an attempt to use both simple and complex sentences, including clauses beginning with “when,” “where,” and “which,” and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors occur across the response and sometimes make relationships between stages unclear. Examples include “The diagram illustrate,” “the whole process is consist,” and “The process begin,” where subject–verb agreement or verb construction is faulty. Tense and clause structure are also inconsistent in “winds have approached coast and ends” and “which pushed upward.” Articles and plurals need attention as well, as in “on hilly area” and “peaks of mountain.” Practise accurate present-simple descriptions of processes and build complex sentences around one clear sequence at a time.

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

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