Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The diagram illustrates the formation of rain shadow deserts.First all winds approaches coastal area from the sea and it pushes the moist air to upward to the mountains.After that moist air rises and becomes cool .It convert into clouds and rainfall occur in the windward side of the mountain.After rainfall the particles of air becomes dry.dry air continues over the mountain on the leeward side the air becomes dry and miostureless and when it touches the ground it becomes rain shadow desert. this all process covers a thousands of kilometers..this cycle is known of formation of rain shadow deserts.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the diagram’s subject and report several central stages: winds arrive from the sea, moist air rises and cools, rain falls on the windward side, and dry air crosses the mountain towards the inland desert. However, the account is brief and does not clearly summarise the overall contrast between the wet windward slope and the dry leeward region. Some details are unclear or inaccurate, especially the claim that the air “touches the ground” and becomes the desert; the desert is an inland area reached by dry winds. The response also falls 51 words short of the required minimum, limiting the opportunity to select and explain the main features. Add a clear overview and describe each stage more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The stages are presented in broadly chronological order, and linking expressions such as “First” and “After that” help the reader follow the process. This gives the response some organisation. However, it is written as one continuous block, and the sequence becomes difficult to track where several stages are joined together, for example: “After rainfall the particles of air becomes dry.dry air continues over the mountain”. The repeated use of “after” and the unclear reference to “it” also weaken the connections between ideas. Separate the response into an introduction, an overview, and a process description, and use clear sentence boundaries and references to show how each stage leads to the next.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “moist air”, “clouds”, “rainfall”, “windward side”, and “leeward side”, so the reader can recognise the main subject and some key features. However, the range is limited and several word choices or forms are inaccurate or repetitive. “The particles of air” is not a natural description of the process, while “miostureless” is misspelled and “rain shadow deserts” is not consistently written as a compound term. “This cycle” is also imprecise because the diagram shows a sequence rather than a repeating cycle. Aim for precise process language, such as “moisture”, “precipitation”, and “dry air”, and check spelling and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts to connect stages in longer sentences, but sentence structures are limited and errors are frequent enough to make parts difficult to read. For example, “First all winds approaches” has a subject–verb agreement error, and “it pushes the moist air to upward” has an incorrect infinitive pattern. There are also problems with articles and verb forms in “It convert into clouds and rainfall occur”. Sentence boundaries and punctuation are often missing, as in “dry.dry air”, and the final sentence is not well formed. Use shorter, complete sentences while practising accurate present-simple forms, for example, “The winds are forced upwards” and “The moist air cools and forms clouds.”

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