Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-07-27

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)

This table shows the information of five small companies in Britain that came top in a survey of staff conducted by a national newspaper for the best work.The table represent the position of five companies. The staff members of five companies are 1st company has 56 staff,2nd company has 79,3rd company has 72,4th company has 76,5th company has 190.Next column shows the male: female ratio of five companies like(30:70,47:53,74:26,13:87,51:49). The another column is age that shows under 35/over 55.There are 77% under 35 age and 0% over 55 in 1st company, 59%under 35 and 1%over 55 in 2nd company,82% under 35 and 0%over 55 in 3rd company, 26% under 35 and 8% over 55 in 4th company,93% under 35 and 0% over 55 in 5th company.The staff turnover of five companies are (5%,18%,8%,13%,33%).The last column of table shows the staff in high income bracket like 34%,48%,74%,5%,2% are given in the table

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all the data points provided in the table, but it fails to 'summarise' the information. Instead of identifying key trends or making meaningful comparisons, the response simply lists the data column by column in a mechanical fashion. For example, stating '1st company has 56 staff, 2nd company has 79...' is a repetitive listing rather than a synthesis of the main features. To reach a higher band, you must group data, identify the highest and lowest values, and highlight significant patterns, such as the correlation between company size and staff turnover or income brackets.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response lacks paragraphing, which makes it difficult to follow. The text is presented as a single block, and the progression of ideas is purely based on the order of the table columns rather than a logical grouping of information. While there are some attempts at cohesive devices like 'Next column' and 'The another column', these are mechanical and repetitive. The lack of clear transitions between sentences and the absence of an introductory overview or a concluding summary significantly hinder the flow of the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is quite limited and repetitive. You rely heavily on basic terms such as 'column', 'table', and 'company'. There is little attempt to use a range of vocabulary to describe trends or data points, such as 'proportion', 'percentage', 'majority', or 'fluctuation'. The phrasing 'information of five small companies' and 'for the best work' is slightly unnatural. To improve, try to incorporate more precise terminology related to data reporting and avoid repeating the same sentence structures throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The grammar is basic and contains several errors. There are issues with article usage ('The another column'), subject-verb agreement ('The table represent'), and punctuation (missing spaces after commas, such as '79,3rd'). The sentence structures are mostly simple, consisting of lists or basic statements. There is a lack of complex sentence structures, which are necessary for higher band scores. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequent minor errors and the lack of grammatical variety limit the score in this criterion.

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