Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-04

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 below shows how one type of desert, known as a rain-shadow desert, is formed.

The formation of rain-shadow desert is very interesting. There's a coastal area along with sea nearby, the wind comes from sea side and moves upward in the direction of coastal area. When the wind pushed itself in upward direction the moist air rises gradually and cool down. In the result clouds are formed and these clouds eventually become the reason of rainfall. When the rainfalls, the water is absorbed by the mountain area and rest temd to go back to sea in the form of lakes coming from the mountain. This all happen in the Windward side.

Then comes another part that is Leeward side. In this the dry air continues to flow over the mountain and ultimately move towards inland areas. When this wind moves it carries some particles of with itself that tend to make rain-shadow deserts.

That's why we all called this rain-shadow desert because it's actually formed because of rain.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You describe the main sequence from sea winds rising over the mountains to dry air reaching inland, and you identify the windward and leeward sides. However, the account only partially reports the diagram: there is no clear overview of the process as a whole, and some details are inaccurate or invented. For example, the diagram shows rain falling on the windward side, but it does not say that water is absorbed by the mountains, returns to the sea, or forms lakes. The claim that wind carries particles to create the desert is also unsupported. Focus on the key cause-and-effect stages shown: moist air cools, clouds form, rain falls, and the remaining dry air crosses the mountains to the inland rain-shadow desert.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a generally understandable order: it first explains the windward side and then moves to the leeward side. The paragraph break helps signal this change, and linking expressions such as “Then” and “ultimately” guide the reader through the sequence. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or unclear. “This all happen in the Windward side” and “In this” do not refer to the stages precisely, while “That's why” introduces a conclusion that does not logically follow from the preceding explanation. Organise the response into a brief overview followed by the stages in sequence, and use clearer references such as “After rainfall, the remaining dry air…” to make the relationships between steps explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “moist air,” “coastal area,” “Windward side,” “Leeward side,” and “inland areas,” which helps communicate the topic. There is also some attempt to vary wording with phrases such as “moves upward” and “continues to flow.” However, word choice and collocation are often imprecise, and a few errors make the meaning harder to follow: “the wind comes from sea side,” “the water is absorbed by the mountain area,” and “particles of with itself.” “Rainfalls” is also not the natural noun form here. Use precise terms from the diagram, such as “winds approach the coast,” “precipitation falls,” and “dry air reaches inland areas,” rather than adding unsupported descriptions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of sentence forms, including longer cause-and-effect sentences with “When” and “because,” and the overall sequence can usually be understood. However, control is inconsistent, particularly in verb forms, agreement, and sentence construction. For example, “When the wind pushed itself” shifts tense and uses an awkward reflexive construction; “the moist air rises gradually and cool down” has a subject–verb agreement error; and “This all happen” also needs agreement. The sentence beginning “When the rainfalls” is difficult to follow because its clauses are not clearly connected. Practise describing processes consistently in the present simple, and check that each subject has the correct verb form and that longer sentences express one clear relationship.

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