Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

A survey of staff held by a national media agency where five different firms secured top five position to work at in Britain, and their information is provided in the table.

Overall, the firm who got the first position have the least number of workers, while the 5th position company accounted for the most number of employees. Otherwise, there are no correlation among all the companies in terms of gender ratio, staff income or in age group of professionals.

Turning to details, the company who ranked first in the survey housing minimum number of staff (56) where the male-to-female ratio is 30-to-70, 77% of the workers were under 35 years of age and their turnover is just 5%, while 34% of the workers belong to high income bracket. Moreover, the second and third rank companies reported the staff numbers 79 and 72, men-to-women ratio 47:53 and 74:26, staff turnover 18% and 8%, and workers belong to high income slab 48% and 74%, respectively.

Additionally, the 4th ranked company has 76 employees including 13:87 male-to-female ratio with just 5% workers lie in the high income bracket. Furthermore, just 2%, which is the least number of workers lie in the high income bracket are in 5th rated company with approximately equal boys and girls and 93% of fall under age of 35 years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have successfully identified the main features of the data and provided relevant comparisons. You covered all five companies and included key data points such as staff numbers, gender ratios, and income brackets. However, the overview is slightly weak; while you mention the correlation between rank and staff size, you could have more effectively highlighted the most striking trends, such as the high percentage of younger staff across the board or the significant variation in high-income earners. The report is accurate, but ensure that all data points are clearly linked to the specific companies to avoid any ambiguity in the comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized into clear paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs detailing the specific data. You use cohesive devices such as 'Turning to details', 'Moreover', and 'Additionally' to guide the reader through the information. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as in the second paragraph where the link between the companies and the data could be smoother. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, and the paragraphing is appropriate for an IELTS Task 1 response.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information clearly, using terms like 'turnover', 'bracket', and 'ratio'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'media agency' (the prompt mentions a newspaper) and 'boys and girls' (which is too informal for an academic report; 'males and females' or 'men and women' is preferred). Additionally, phrases like '5th rated company' could be more precisely phrased as 'the company ranked fifth'. While the vocabulary is adequate, incorporating more precise academic collocations would elevate the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'there are no correlation' (should be 'is no correlation'), 'the firm who got' (should be 'the firm that got'), and '93% of fall under' (should be '93% fall under'). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher band score. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of relative clauses. Your punctuation is generally functional, but ensure that lists and comparisons are structured consistently.

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

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