Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-04

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)

Given table illustrate the data about the best five small companies to work in Britain which was conducted by national newspaper and the participants of the survey are employees.

Table shows numbers of the staff members participated in the survey where we can see company 2nd, 3rd and 4th staff participation is between 70 while only 56 participants from the 1st company which is lowest number of participants and the 5th company has highest 190 participants, which are almost three times more than first company.

we can find that most employees are under 35 years of the age while male and female ratio is different in all companies. Although 1st company has lowest only 5% staff turnover they have around 34% staff in higher income bracket while 5th company generates highest 33% turnover and has only 2% staff in high income bracket. While 3rd company has 8% staff turnover and has 74% employees in high income bracket.

In conclusion, the 3rd company is best for work as an employee.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the table, such as staff participation, age demographics, and income brackets. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial. For example, the comparison between the 1st and 5th companies regarding staff turnover and income is noted, but the overall summary lacks a clear, cohesive overview of the data trends. The inclusion of a personal opinion in the conclusion ('the 3rd company is best for work') is inappropriate for an Academic Task 1 report, which requires an objective summary of the data provided rather than a subjective recommendation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organised into paragraphs, but the flow between sentences is often mechanical. The use of cohesive devices is limited, and some transitions are abrupt. For instance, the jump from staff participation numbers to age and gender demographics lacks a clear linking phrase. The paragraphing is present but could be more effectively used to separate the different categories of data (e.g., participation vs. demographics vs. turnover/income). Referencing is sometimes unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow the progression of the comparison.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety expected at higher bands. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'company', 'staff', and 'participants'. While the student attempts to use specific terms like 'income bracket' and 'staff turnover', the overall range is limited. There are minor errors in word choice, such as 'best five small companies to work in Britain' (should be 'to work for'). The language is functional but does not demonstrate a wide range of vocabulary or sophisticated collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include missing articles ('the' before 'national newspaper', 'the' before 'lowest number'), incorrect prepositions ('work in Britain' instead of 'work for'), and subject-verb agreement errors ('Given table illustrate' instead of 'The given table illustrates'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some run-on sentences and missing commas. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to lower the score.

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