Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-31

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 6.0)

The table depict details of survey conducted by national newspaper that relay information on top five small companies to work for according to their staff.

The topmost company has least number of people employed, whereas other four companies have more than 70 staff members in which 5th rank has 190 staffs. The first and the fourth rank were the only workplace where female staff were more than male staff, 70 and 87 percent respectively.

Additionally, all the companies had majority of it workforce under the age of 35, except 4th rank which only constitutes of 26 percent in this age category. Moreover, staff turnover turns out to be less than 35 percent for each of the companies, with the least turnover was by the top company. The top three companies had more than 30 percent of its staff in high income bracket, while the last two company just had below 5 percent in this market.

Overall, the top company had least staff turnover with majority of its workforce employed female, whereas the last position had most number of staff members

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main features of the table, including comparisons of staff numbers, gender distribution, age, turnover, and income. However, the overview is somewhat weak and lacks a clear summary of the most significant trends. While the data is generally accurate, some comparisons are slightly imprecise, such as the description of the 4th rank company's age demographic. To improve, ensure that the overview highlights the most striking differences or similarities across the five companies rather than just repeating specific data points. The response addresses all parts of the prompt, but the analysis could be more insightful by grouping the companies more effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'Moreover', and 'Overall' are used to link sentences and paragraphs. However, some referencing is slightly unclear, such as 'the last two company' (should be plural) and 'the last position' (referring to the 5th company). The use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring consistent referencing would help elevate the score in this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the reader to understand the data presented. There are some instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'only constitutes of' and 'in this market', which are not entirely accurate in this context. The student uses some topic-specific vocabulary like 'staff turnover' and 'income bracket', which is positive. However, there are minor errors in word choice and collocation that prevent a higher score. Expanding the range of vocabulary to include more precise descriptors for trends and comparisons would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('The table depict', 'last two company'), missing articles ('the' before 'national newspaper'), and incorrect pluralization ('190 staffs'). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they are frequent enough to affect the flow. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy, particularly with plural forms and article usage, and try to incorporate a wider variety of complex sentence structures with greater precision.

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