Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-26

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 shows that formation of a rain-shadow desert. The rain-shadow desert had done through various processes. It travelled thousands of kilometers from sea to rain-shadow desert.

Total formation of rain-shadow desert had went through 7 steps before landed on rain-shadow desert. It had started with winds approch coast from sea in forward diection. Flat started winds slowly pushed upwards. After reached on certain height the process of cooling had started then it converts into the cloud form. After the formation of cloud rain fall had been satrted. From flat sea to cloud forms the formation happened in upper direction.

Over the other side of mountains completly leeward side. In this direction completly ary air continues all over the mountain. Finally dry air had reached the main inland areas and touched to the rain-shadow desert.

The formation of rain-shadow desert was travelled thousands of kilometers. It had started with the flat sea and gradually climbed and carry forward the process. After all this process finally meet to the inland.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the process as a sequence and include several key stages: winds approach from the sea, rise over the mountains, cool, form clouds, produce rain, and continue inland as dry air. This gives the reader a broadly relevant account. However, some important relationships are unclear or inaccurate: “It travelled thousands of kilometers” makes the desert sound as if it moves, whereas the diagram’s scale indicates the distance across the landscape. The overview also does not clearly explain that rain falls on the windward side and the dry conditions beyond the leeward side create the inland rain-shadow desert. Develop this cause-and-effect relationship and describe the stages more precisely to make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has some paragraphing and uses sequence markers such as “After,” “Finally,” and “Over the other side,” so the reader can recognise that you are describing a process. However, progression is weakened by repetition: the distance and the journey from sea to inland are mentioned in both the opening and conclusion. Some links are also unclear, particularly “Flat started winds slowly pushed upwards” and “From flat sea to cloud forms,” which interrupt the sequence. Organise the account once, in the diagram’s order, and use clear links to show cause and result—for example, winds rise, cool, form clouds, and bring rain before dry air crosses the mountains.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “coast,” “mountains,” “leeward side,” “dry air,” and “inland areas,” which helps convey the topic. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations make the description difficult to interpret. “The desert had done through various processes” and “the formation … was travelled” do not express the process naturally; “the desert forms through several stages” would be clearer. There are also spelling errors such as “approch,” “diection,” “satrted,” and “completly.” Use the diagram’s precise terms consistently, especially “windward side,” “leeward side,” and “rain-shadow,” and choose verbs that describe the air and rainfall rather than suggesting the desert itself moves.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, and the sequence is sometimes expressed with subordinate clauses, as in “After reached on certain height the process of cooling had started.” However, many sentences contain errors in verb forms, tense, articles, or sentence construction, and these sometimes make the meaning hard to follow. For example, “Total formation … had went through 7 steps” uses an incorrect verb form, while “After reached” needs a subject and a correctly formed clause. “Finally dry air had reached” also uses an unnecessary past perfect in this process description. Practise clear present-simple process sentences, such as “As the moist air rises, it cools and clouds form,” and check that each clause has a subject and a correctly formed verb.

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