Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-11-12

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The table below gives information about the five small companies in Britain that came top in a survey of staff conducted by a national newspaper to find out which companies are the best to work for.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

THE FIVE BEST SMALL COMPANIES TO WORK FOR

Student answer (Band 4.5)

The given picture gives information about five best small companies to work for.

in this image l see the position in survey 1ST, 2ND, 3RD, 4th, 5th,

In this image i see the staff number in 1st is 56, 2nd is 79, 3rd is 72, 4th is 76, and 5th is190.male or female ratio 1st is 30:70 2nd is 47:53, 3rd is 74:26, 4th is 13:87 and 5th is 51:49. under 35s / over 55s is 1st position is 77% / 0%, 2nd is 59% / 1%, 3rd is 82% / 0% 4th is 26% / 8% and 5th is 93% / 0%. staff turnover in 1st position is 5%, 2nd is 18% 3rd is 8% 4th is 13% and 5th is 33%. staff in high income bracket in 1st position is 34% 2nd is 48% 3rd is 74% 4th is 5% and 5th is 2%. Overall, the image is very informative for me.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You include figures from all five rows of the table, and the values you report are generally accurate, including staff numbers, age groups, turnover and high-income percentages. However, the response mainly lists data rather than summarising the main features or making meaningful comparisons. The opening repeats the task, while “Overall, the image is very informative for me” does not identify a key pattern. For example, you could highlight that the fifth-ranked company has the most staff and highest turnover, whereas the top-ranked company has the lowest turnover; the third-ranked company has the largest high-income share. Selecting and comparing such features would make the report more purposeful and fully responsive to the task.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The information follows the table’s categories and survey positions, so a reader can locate many of the figures. However, the response is essentially one long block, with little paragraphing or progression from an overview to supporting details. Repeated openings such as “In this image I see” make the writing sound like a running inventory, and the final sentence does not connect the data into a conclusion. Group related comparisons into paragraphs—for instance, staff size and gender balance, followed by age, turnover and income—and use clear links such as “By contrast” or “Meanwhile.” This would give the information a more coherent arrangement rather than simply reproducing the table row by row.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is sufficient to name the table’s main categories, including “staff turnover,” “male or female ratio,” and “high income bracket,” and the reader can generally understand what you mean. However, the range is limited and repetitive: “image” and “I see” recur, while most of the response relies on basic labels and the word “position.” Some expressions are not natural for a formal data report, such as “the image is very informative for me.” Use more precise reporting language and comparison vocabulary to describe the data, rather than repeatedly announcing what is visible. This would make the account more concise and appropriate to IELTS Academic Task 1.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response communicates many figures through simple sentence patterns, but grammatical control is uneven and the range is very limited. Several statements are fragments or lack a clear reporting structure, such as “male or female ratio 1st is 30:70” and “under 35s / over 55s is 1st position is 77% / 0%.” Sentence boundaries and punctuation are also inconsistent, particularly where figures run together: “5th is190.male.” Capitalisation of “I” and sentence openings is not controlled. Practise complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, for example, “The first-ranked company employs 56 people, 70% of whom are women.” Combining accurate simple sentences with a few controlled comparisons would improve clarity.

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