Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The provided diagram illustrates that how a beautiful desert is formed known as a rain -shadow desert.

Overall, The process of formation of rain-shadow desert consist of seven stages. Beginning with the wind approach coast in sea and ended with the dry wind reached in inland areas.

Turning to details, Sea winds approaches to coast and winds travel upwards . when winds pushed upward to windward side then the air moist rises and cooler and changed into a cloud form. when wind converted into cloud form then rain falling is started.

In remaining stages, Dry air travel downward to Leeward side. At the end, dry winds is successful to reach inland areas, The distance between rain-shadow desert Thousands of kilometres.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the diagram as a process and give its overall sequence, noting that it has seven stages and ends with dry winds reaching inland areas. You also mention the key transition from moist air to clouds and rain. However, several details are unclear or inaccurate: the winds approach from the sea, rise over the mountains, and rain falls on the windward side; the response does not clearly explain that the air becomes dry as it crosses to the leeward side. The final sentence misuses “Thousands of kilometres,” which labels the diagram’s horizontal scale rather than the distance to the desert. The response is also 30 words below the required minimum, limiting the detail provided. Develop the stages more fully and describe the desert’s inland location accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure: an introduction, an overview, and two detail sections. This gives the reader some sense of the process, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In remaining stages” signal movement through it. However, progression is not consistently clear because several stages are compressed into long, loosely connected sentences, and the repeated “when” constructions make the middle section feel mechanical. The final sentence also joins the desert’s location and the scale label without a clear relationship. Use one or two sentences for each group of stages, and connect them with precise sequencing language such as “as a result,” “after crossing the peak,” and “finally.” Clearer paragraph development would make the process easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “windward side,” “Leeward side,” “moist,” and “inland areas,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, such as “beautiful desert,” “wind converted into cloud form,” and “dry winds is successful to reach.” These expressions make parts of the process difficult to interpret precisely. “Rain-shadow desert” is also inconsistently spaced and hyphenated. Aim for standard process language and accurate combinations, for example, “moist air rises and cools,” “clouds form,” and “dry air descends on the leeward side.” Avoid evaluative adjectives such as “beautiful,” which are not supported by the diagram.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts some longer sentences, but control is uneven, and errors occur frequently enough to make several stages difficult to read. Examples include “The process … consist,” where the subject and verb do not agree, and “the air moist rises and cooler,” which lacks a clear grammatical structure and consistent verb forms. “Sea winds approaches” and “dry winds is” also show agreement problems. Sentence boundaries and capitalisation are inconsistent, particularly in “. when” and the comma splice before “The distance.” Use a reliable pattern for each stage, such as “The moist air rises and cools, causing clouds to form.” Practising subject–verb agreement, articles, and complete sentence construction will improve clarity.

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