Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-17

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 compares five small companies in Britain that were ranked as the best places to work in a survey. It provides information about the number of employees.

By looking first at the number of employees, companies 2, 3 and 4 had relatively similar figures, with 79, 72 and 76 workers respectively. In comparison, company 5 employed 190 people. The highest proportion of female workers was recorded in company 4, at 87% to 190.

Finally, company 3 stood out because around 74% of its employees were in the high-income bracket. This was considerably higher than the figures for the other companies.

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 response is only 101 words, it is underdeveloped and fails to report on all key features of the data. For instance, the table contains information about five companies, but the response omits significant data regarding the percentage of female employees for most companies and fails to provide a comprehensive overview or summary of the trends. The analysis is fragmented and lacks the necessary depth to fully address the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is organized into short, disjointed paragraphs. While there is a basic attempt at logical progression, the lack of sufficient content makes the overall structure feel incomplete. Cohesive devices are used sparingly (e.g., 'By looking first at', 'In comparison', 'Finally'), but they feel somewhat mechanical due to the brevity of the text. The referencing is generally clear, but the lack of a cohesive summary or a well-developed overview prevents the response from achieving a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is functional but limited. The student relies on basic terms such as 'figures', 'workers', and 'employed'. There is little attempt to use a wider range of vocabulary to describe trends or comparisons (e.g., 'proportion', 'bracket', 'recorded'). While the word choice is generally accurate and does not impede communication, the range is insufficient to demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands. To improve, the student should incorporate more precise academic vocabulary related to data reporting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and compound sentences. There are no major grammatical errors that impede meaning, and the sentence structures are generally clear. However, the range of structures is limited; there is a lack of complex sentence forms or varied grammatical patterns. The punctuation is accurate, and the writing is easy to follow, but the lack of complexity in the sentence construction restricts the score. Increasing the variety of sentence types would help demonstrate better control.

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

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