Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-12

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 5.0)

The table illustrates the five best small companies to work for in Britain, surveyed from various staff which was conducted by a national newspaper.

Overall, the small company that landed in the fifth position has the highest number of staff while the company that is in the first position gained the lowest number of staff.

The 5th position in survey of best small company has the highest number of staff resulting to 190. While the 1st position in the survey only have 56 staffs and also the lowest staff turnover which is 5%.

Thestaff under 35s

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the score. Because the text is incomplete and ends abruptly, the task is only partially addressed. While you have identified some main features, such as the staff numbers for the first and fifth positions, the analysis is underdeveloped. You have not provided a comprehensive overview or compared all the data points effectively. To improve, ensure you cover all categories provided in the table and provide a full, structured report that meets the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is too short to demonstrate a clear logical progression or effective paragraphing. While there is a basic attempt at an introduction and an overview, the lack of a complete body paragraph makes it difficult to assess your ability to organize information. You have used some basic cohesive devices like 'while', but the overall structure is fragmented. To improve, ensure you group related information into distinct paragraphs and use a wider range of linking words to connect your ideas logically.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive. You have used 'staff' and 'number' multiple times, which limits the range of your writing. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'resulting to 190' (should be 'amounting to' or 'reaching') and 'staffs' (staff is an uncountable noun in this context). To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise terminology related to data reporting, such as 'figures', 'statistics', 'proportion', or 'percentage'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains several grammatical errors that hinder clarity. For example, 'surveyed from various staff which was conducted' is grammatically incorrect and confusing. There are also issues with subject-verb agreement, such as 'the 1st position... only have 56 staffs'. The sentence structure is very simple, and the unfinished sentence at the end demonstrates a lack of control. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence structures and ensuring subject-verb agreement before attempting more complex grammatical forms.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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