Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-18

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

THE FIVE BEST SMALL COMPANIES TO WORK FOR

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The given table illustrates information about the top five small companies for working in Britain and the survey was done by a national newspaper.

Overall, it can be seen that the number of staff members and turnover are lower in the 1st position holding company comapred to 5th one. However, the high income bracket is higher in 3rd posiotion company and the lower figure was recorded in the 5th position company.

In the position survey, the company which belongs from 1st position has recorded about only 56 staff members and it is the lowest number compared to others. The highest staff member was recored in 5th numbered company which was 190 members. The rest of three middle companies have staff members ranging from 72-79. In terms of male and female ratio, more males are seen in 3rd positioned company while more female are seen in the 4th one and the ratio are 74:26 and 13:87 respectively. Moreover, no over 55 aged people were recorded in 1st, 3rd and 5th position holding companies while in the 4th numbered company the percentage was 8.

Coming to the part of staff turnover, it was recoored least staff turnover in 1st company which was only 5% while 33% recored from 5th one which was the highest. Furthermore, high income bracket was seen in 3rd comapny and lower figure was from 4th one.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student covers the main features of the table well, highlighting key data such as staff numbers, staff turnover, and the high income bracket across the five companies. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, contrasting the 1st and 5th positions. However, there are minor inaccuracies in the details; for example, the student states that the high income bracket recorded a lower figure in the 4th position company (5%), whereas the 5th position company actually had an even lower figure (2%). Despite this slight oversight in comparison, the overall response successfully addresses all parts of the task and presents relevant comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized logically into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs that discuss specific metrics from the table. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader, such as "Overall," "In the position survey," and "Coming to the part of staff turnover." However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, and referencing can be clunky, as seen in phrases like "the company which belongs from 1st position." Paragraphing is appropriate, and there is a clear overall progression of ideas throughout the essay.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a Task 1 response, utilizing terms like "turnover," "ratio," "percentage," and "bracket." However, there are several lexical errors, awkward collocations, and spelling mistakes throughout the text, such as "comapred," "posiotion," "belongs from" instead of "belongs to," and "recoored" or "recored." Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success, which places this response firmly in the Band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as "while more female are seen in the 4th one and the ratio are 74:26 and 13:87 respectively." There are noticeable grammatical and punctuation errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ("the ratio are" instead of "is", "more female" instead of "females"), awkward preposition use ("in the position survey" instead of "regarding the survey position"), and spelling-related slips. Nevertheless, these errors do not impede overall communication.

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