Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-16

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 diagram illustrates the formation of rain-shadow deserts. How winds moist air and form clouds and then it rains and then dry air cross the mountain and shift to dry wind, to reach inland areas.

Overall, mountains width is thousands of kilometres. The coast side of the mountain is the sea and in the right side inland areas is the rain-shadow desert. At sea level winds moves toward coast and pushed upwards to approach windward side and to moist air and rises toward to cool and form dark clouds, which starts raining. The dry air come over the mountains toward leeward side.

Dry air converts to dry winds and reach to inland areas and form rain-shadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the process and include its main direction: moist air rises over the mountains, rain falls on the windward side, and dry air continues inland to form a rain-shadow desert. However, the account is brief and only partially develops the stages. The opening sentence is unclear, and the overview that “mountains width is thousands of kilometres” misreads the scale: the diagram indicates the horizontal distance covered, not the width of the mountains. Some details are also imprecise, such as saying the winds “shift to dry wind” without explaining that the air loses moisture through rainfall. The response is 33 words below the required minimum, which limits the detail available. Describe the sequence more fully and clarify the windward-to-leeward contrast.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic overall order: an introduction, a general description of the setting, and a final sentence about dry winds reaching inland. This gives the reader some sense of the process. However, the progression is weakened by the unclear opening (“How winds moist air and form clouds”) and by placing many stages in one long sentence beginning “At sea level”. The repeated use of “and then” also makes the sequence sound like a list rather than a clearly connected explanation. Paragraphing is present, but the stages are not separated or linked consistently. Organise the response into a concise overview and a step-by-step account, using clear sequence markers such as “first”, “as a result”, and “finally”, and ensure each sentence has a clear focus.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “windward side”, “leeward side”, “inland areas”, “dry air” and “rain-shadow desert”, which helps identify the key features. The range is nevertheless limited, and some word choices or combinations are inaccurate or awkward: “mountains width” does not express the diagram’s horizontal scale, while “shift to dry wind” and “form dark clouds” are not precise descriptions of the process. Repetition of “dry” and “reach” also restricts variety. Aim for more exact process language and natural collocations, for example describing air as “losing moisture” and winds as “continuing inland”. This would make the explanation clearer without requiring unnecessarily advanced vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts to describe a sequence using connected clauses, but sentence structures are limited and errors occur frequently enough to make parts difficult to follow. The opening, “How winds moist air and form clouds,” is not a complete, well-formed sentence. There are also problems with subject–verb agreement and verb forms in “winds moves,” “the dry air come,” and “which starts raining”. Articles and prepositions are sometimes missing or awkward, as in “toward to cool”. The long sentence beginning “At sea level” combines several stages without clear grammatical control. Use shorter sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement and tense—for example, “The winds move towards the coast” and “The air rises, cools and forms clouds.”

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