Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-20

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 process diagram illustrates how winds are transformed into rain shadow desert in a step wise format .We can see that at the very beginning , winds approach

towards the coast from sea and then pushed upwards towards the mountains.

In the third step , the moist air rises and cools down alongside the windward side . Then the clouds form from the moist air . The clouds then starts to store rain inside it and finally the rain fall at top of the hill from the clouds. The after the fall of the rain the dry air continues to move downward over mountains .

In the sixth step , we can understand that the dry air continues over mountains which moves downward towards the leeward side and finally dry wind reach inland areas towards the desert forming rain shadows.

Finally we can see that there are seven steps in transformation process from wind to dry wind in the rain shadow deserts .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the diagram as a process and report several central stages, including winds approaching from the sea, air rising and cooling, rainfall, and dry winds reaching inland. However, the account is only partly complete: it does not clearly explain that the mountains force the moist air upwards, and the overall result—the formation of a rain-shadow desert on the leeward side—is not stated clearly as an overview. Some details are also inaccurate or unsupported, such as saying clouds “store rain inside” and that the air moves downward after rainfall. To strengthen the response, summarise the cause-and-effect pattern accurately: moist air rises and rains on the windward side, while dry air crosses the mountains and creates arid conditions inland.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The stages are presented broadly in sequence, and phrases such as “at the very beginning,” “In the third step,” and “finally” help the reader follow the process. However, the response has no clear paragraph structure or distinct overview, so the main outcome is mixed into the stage-by-stage account. Some linking is repetitive and mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “then” and “finally,” while “The after the fall of the rain” interrupts the progression and makes the connection between stages unclear. Group the process into a brief overview and a logically ordered description, and use precise links such as “as a result” or “once the air crosses the mountain” to show cause and sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of process vocabulary, including “moist air,” “windward side,” “leeward side,” and “inland areas,” which helps convey the diagram’s subject. Some less common terms are attempted, but several choices are inaccurate or awkward: “transformed into rain shadow desert” suggests the winds become a desert, and “store rain inside it” does not describe cloud formation or precipitation precisely. There is also repetition of “dry air” and “rain.” Aim for accurate process collocations and vary repeated terms where appropriate. For example, describe air as “rising,” “cooling,” and “descending,” and refer to “precipitation” or “rainfall” when reporting the stage shown.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response includes both simple sentences and attempts at longer sequences, but control is uneven, and errors sometimes make the process difficult to follow. For example, “the clouds then starts” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “the rain fall” and “dry wind reach” need plural or correctly inflected verb forms. The sentence beginning “The after the fall of the rain” is structurally faulty, and several sentences join stages without clear punctuation. Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention. Practise writing one complete sentence for each cause-and-effect link, checking subject–verb agreement and verb forms, and use full stops to separate stages rather than joining too many actions together.

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

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