Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 illustrate how one type of desert became as rain-shadow desert . The water evaporation are going upward by wind and winds push it more high and high. The more air high it becames cools and form a clouds . The clouds high its became heavier and rain falls on the top of mountain. After the rain dry air starts down to mountain leeward side . Dry air moves to inland areas that makes desert rain-shadow. The coast of mountains is thousands of kilometers. This is how rain shadow desert formed. The whole process is too long and natural .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the main sequence: air moves towards the mountains, rises and cools, clouds form, rain falls, and dry air reaches inland to create a desert. However, the account is very brief and only minimally covers the diagram. It inaccurately begins with “water evaporation” rather than winds approaching from the sea, and “The coast of mountains is thousands of kilometers” misrepresents the scale label, which indicates the horizontal distance. The overview is also vague: “too long and natural” does not explain the key contrast between the wet windward side and dry leeward side. The response is 49 words below the required minimum, leaving important stages and relationships underdeveloped. Add a clear overview and describe the full process accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The stages are presented in a broadly understandable order, from rising air to rainfall and then dry winds reaching inland areas. This gives the reader a basic sense of progression. However, the response is written as one compressed block, with no clear separation between an overview and the process details. Connections between stages are often abrupt, and phrases such as “After the rain dry air starts down to mountain leeward side” make the sequence difficult to follow. The final statements, “This is how rain shadow desert formed” and “The whole process is too long and natural,” repeat or add little to the explanation. Use a short overview followed by logically grouped stages, with clear links such as “as a result” and “on the leeward side.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “evaporation,” “clouds,” “rain falls,” “dry air,” and “inland areas,” so the topic is recognisable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or combinations are inaccurate or unclear. “Water evaporation” does not describe the diagram’s first stage, which is winds approaching the coast, while “winds push it more high and high” and “clouds high its became heavier” are not natural ways to describe rising air and precipitation. The repeated use of “air,” “wind,” and “desert” also limits precision. Choose terms that match the labelled stages, such as “moist air,” “windward slope,” “precipitation,” and “leeward side,” and use them in accurate combinations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts to describe a sequence and includes some simple clauses, but grammatical control is weak and the sentence patterns are very limited. Errors in agreement and verb forms appear in “The diagram illustrate,” “The water evaporation are going,” and “it becames cools.” Articles and plurals are also unreliable, as in “form a clouds,” while the sentence “After the rain dry air starts down to mountain leeward side” lacks clear grammatical connections. These errors frequently make the process harder to understand, even though the general sequence can still be inferred. Practise accurate present-simple passive forms for processes—for example, “The air is forced upwards”—and check subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries.

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