Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-18

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 Picture illustrates the step by step process that how a rain-shadow desert forms on the leeward side of the mountain ranges.

Overall, pictures shows seven steps in which air travels thousands of kilometres. Moist air move upward and becomes cool and rain falls on the widward side of mountain ranges. Then dry air continuesly move over mountain and reaches inlad areas.

Initially, winds move from the sea where it has moisture in it. After reaching the mountain ranges winds pushed upwards to the mountain where moist air becomes cool due to the low temperature. This makes clouds which cause the rain falls on the widward side.

After raining on wupward side, air becomes dry and it continues move over the mountain and rached at leeward side of mountain. In the last step, dry winds reaches at inland area by which rain-shadow desert forms. All this process can be done by air moving from thousands of the kilometres from the sea to inland.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response covers the main stages and gives a clear overall account: moist air rises and cools, rain falls on the windward side, and dry air crosses the mountains to create a desert inland. This captures the diagram’s central cause-and-effect sequence, and the opening identifies the leeward location. To make the account more complete and precise, distinguish the stages more clearly: winds first approach from the sea, are forced upwards by the mountains, and clouds form before rainfall. The statement that air travels “thousands of kilometres” is grounded in the diagram’s scale, but it is not itself a process stage. The overview is relevant, though some details are compressed, and the final explanation of how the desert forms could be stated more directly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement, with an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the earlier and later stages. Sequencing expressions such as “Initially,” “After,” and “In the last step” help the reader follow the process. However, some links are mechanical or unclear. For example, “After raining on wupward side” is an awkward transition, and “by which rain-shadow desert forms” does not clearly connect the dry winds to desert formation. The overview also repeats information that is explained again in the body. Use more precise references and transitions, and ensure each paragraph advances the sequence without repeating the same point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses relevant process vocabulary, including “moist air,” “clouds,” “rain falls,” “leeward side,” and “inland areas,” so the topic remains understandable. However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “widward,” “inlad,” “continuesly,” “rached,” and “wupward.” Some combinations are also unnatural, such as “the process that how” and “air moving from thousands of the kilometres.” Aim for accurate spelling of the diagram’s key terms and use more natural process language, such as “is forced upwards,” “continues across the mountains,” and “extends thousands of kilometres.” This would make the description clearer and more appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts to combine ideas using clauses, as in “After reaching the mountain ranges…” and “which cause the rain falls,” but control is inconsistent. Errors include subject–verb agreement in “pictures shows,” “Moist air move,” and “dry winds reaches,” as well as missing or incorrect articles and verb forms in “winds pushed upwards” and “it continues move.” The opening construction “the process that how” is also grammatically faulty. These problems sometimes make relationships between stages harder to follow, although the intended meaning is generally recoverable. Practise accurate present-simple descriptions of processes, checking subject–verb agreement and using forms such as “is pushed,” “continues to move,” and “causes rain to fall.”

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