Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The flow chart illustrates the formation of rain-shadow desert from sea and mountains.

Overall, it is clear from the image that it is a natural linear process, which consists of seven distinct stages, beginning with the sea winds approaching to the coast and ending with the dry winds reaching inland areas.

The process commence with sea winds approaching coastal area before winds being pushed upwards due to available mountains. At this stage mountains push winds upward on the windward side. Gradually, moist air rises and cools after reaching windward side of the mountains. Once the moist air reaches the top of the mountain, it turned into clouds. After this stage, formed clouds become heaby and falls rain on the windward side of the mountains.

Meanwhile, dry air continues to pass through over the mountain from the windward side to the leeward side. Having completed all these steps, dry winds reaching inland areas, which leads to formation of the rain shadow desert.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response gives a clear overview of the process as a seven-stage sequence, identifying the movement from winds approaching the coast to dry winds reaching inland areas. It also reports the key causal stages: air is forced upwards, cools, clouds form, rain falls on the windward side, and dry air crosses the mountain towards the leeward side. These details match the diagram and address the main features. The explanation that the desert forms inland as a result of the dry winds is also relevant. To make the account more fully developed, describe the sea-to-inland setting and the contrast between the rainy windward side and the dry leeward side more explicitly, rather than mainly repeating the sequence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The information is arranged in a sensible order, with an overview followed by the early stages and then the movement of dry air inland. Connectors such as “Overall,” “Once,” “After this stage,” and “Meanwhile” help signal progression, and the final sentence gives the outcome. This provides a coherent account, while the paragraphing is appropriate. However, some linking is mechanical or imprecise: “At this stage” repeats the preceding point about winds being pushed upwards, and “Having completed all these steps” is an awkward transition to the final stage. The sequence would flow more smoothly if each sentence introduced a distinct stage and references such as “this” clearly identified the preceding event.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The response uses relevant process vocabulary, including “moist air,” “windward side,” “leeward side,” “coastal,” and “formation,” showing an adequate range for describing the diagram. It also varies some wording with “approaching,” “rises,” “continues,” and “reaching.” However, several choices or forms are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “heaby” and “formed clouds become,” while “available mountains” does not clearly express the intended cause. “Rain-shadow desert” is used appropriately, but the description could be more precise by using standard process collocations such as air being forced upwards and precipitation falling. Greater accuracy in word forms and collocation would make the account more fluent and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts a mixture of simple and complex structures, including clauses beginning “before,” “after,” “Once,” and “which leads to.” The overall meaning is generally understandable, but errors occur across verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “The process commence” should use a singular verb, while “it turned into clouds” shifts tense and has an unclear subject. “Formed clouds become heaby and falls rain” contains problems with agreement and clause structure, and “dry winds reaching inland areas” lacks a finite verb in its clause. These errors make some sentences difficult to read, despite the clear sequence. Practise accurate present-simple descriptions of processes and check that each clause has a correctly formed verb.

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

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