Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The table compares information about the five small British companies in a survey of staff held by a national newspaper to find out which companies are the best.

Overall, it is clear that the number of staff members are more in 5th while 5th copmany make up the smallest share of staff in high income bracket. The staff over 55s make up smallest portion in all these five countries.

Initially, the staff members in 1st company are 56 while 79 in the 2nd company. However, the male:female ratio in 1st company is 30:70 while in the 2nd comapny the ratio is 47:53. In 1st company, the staff under 35s are 77% and in 2nd company it is 59%. Whereas, the members over 55s are 0% and 1% respectively. The staff turnover is 5% and 18% respectively and staff in high income bracket is 34% and 48%.

Moreover, the staff members in the remaining comapnies are 72, 76 and 190. Whereas the male:female ratio is 74:26, 13:87, 51:49 in 3rd, 4th and 5th companies. The members over 55s are 0% in 3rd and 5th company while 8% in 4th company, the staff under 35s is 82%, 26% and 93%. Therefore, the staff turnover is 8%, 13% and 33% and the staff in high income is 74% in 3rd company while 5% and 2% in 4th and 5th company.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You cover all five companies and report most of the table’s categories, including staff numbers, age groups, turnover and income. The overview identifies the fifth-ranked company as having the most employees and the smallest high-income share, and notes that over-55s form a small group. However, the overview is limited and the comparison that the fifth company has the smallest high-income share is not quite accurate: the fourth company is lower, at 5%, compared with 2% for fifth? In fact, fifth is the lowest at 2%, so this comparison is correct. Some important contrasts are left implicit, such as the third company’s highest high-income proportion (74%) and the fifth company’s highest turnover (33%). Develop the overview around these standout patterns and make the comparisons more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction and overview are followed by one paragraph on the first two companies and another on the remaining three. This makes the information easy to locate, and linking expressions such as “However,” “Moreover” and “Therefore” help signal relationships. At times, though, the organisation becomes a sequence of figures rather than a comparison, and “Whereas” is used as a sentence opener without a complete contrast structure. The repeated “in 1st company” and “in 2nd company” phrasing also makes the account mechanical. Group companies by meaningful similarities or contrasts—for example, compare the third and fifth companies’ age and income figures—and use clearer references to avoid repeating labels.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a table, including “staff turnover,” “male:female ratio,” “share” and “portion,” so the main information is generally understandable. However, the range is somewhat repetitive, particularly with repeated uses of “staff members,” “company” and “make up.” There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “copmany” and “comapny,” and some imprecise or unnatural expressions such as “staff in high income” and “the number of staff members are more.” Use more precise reporting language and check spelling carefully. For example, “employee headcount,” “accounted for” and “the proportion of employees in the high-income bracket” would help you describe the data more naturally and accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “while” and “whereas,” and most figures remain understandable. Some grammatical errors recur, however. In the overview, “the number of staff members are more” has subject–verb agreement and sentence-construction problems; use “the fifth-ranked company has the most employees.” In “the staff under 35s are 77%,” the noun phrase and verb pattern are not well formed; write “77% of staff are under 35.” There are also incomplete contrast sentences, such as “Whereas, the members over 55s are 0% and 1% respectively,” and inconsistent singular/plural forms. Build complete sentences around the comparisons and check agreement, articles and punctuation.

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