Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-11

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 shows the best top five companies that succumbed after a survey that was done by a national newspaper in order to find the ones that suits an ideal workplace.

The company that took the first position had 56 staff members, they also have more female employees than men thus their male:female ratio is 30:70 respectively.The 5th position has the most stuff members with a record of 190.The 3rd position.broke the record of staff in high income bracket by 74%.All the five companies have a significant lower percentage of workers over the age of 55.

The first position ,second position, forth position employed more female workers in their companies and less male workers.The 4th and 5th recorded very low percentage in staff in high income bracket.The fifth position has the highest staff turnover among them all.

It is noticeable that the first four companies have less number of staff compared to the fifth position.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response identifies some key features, such as staff numbers and gender ratios, but it fails to provide a clear overview of the data. The information is presented in a fragmented way, and some comparisons are inaccurate or confusing, such as the claim that the 3rd position 'broke the record' of high-income earners by 74%, which misinterprets the data. The report lacks a cohesive summary of the trends, and the selection of data points is somewhat random rather than analytical. To improve, you should group related data (e.g., staff size vs. income/turnover) and ensure that comparisons are clearly linked to the provided figures.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is organised into paragraphs, but the progression of ideas is disjointed. The use of cohesive devices is limited and sometimes mechanical, such as the repetitive use of 'The first position', 'The 4th', and 'The fifth position' to start sentences. There is a lack of linking words to connect ideas logically, making the text feel like a list of observations rather than a coherent report. Paragraphing is present but does not effectively group related information, which hinders the overall flow of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is somewhat limited and occasionally inaccurate. For example, the word 'succumbed' is misused in the introduction, as it does not fit the context of a survey. There are also errors in word choice, such as 'stuff members' instead of 'staff members'. While the response uses some relevant terminology like 'staff turnover' and 'high income bracket', the overall range is narrow, and the misuse of vocabulary occasionally makes the intended meaning unclear.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include incorrect punctuation (e.g., 'The first position ,second position, forth position'), subject-verb agreement errors (e.g., 'the ones that suits'), and awkward phrasing. Spelling errors, such as 'forth' instead of 'fourth' and 'stuff' instead of 'staff', are also present. While these errors do not completely prevent understanding, they occur frequently enough to impact the clarity of the report.

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