Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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

Student answer (Band 5.0)

The given table gives us information about the five small companies in Britain that came top in a survey of staff conducted by a national newspaper to find out the five best small companies are the best to work for.

By looking at the table, it clearly illustrates that the 3rd company had staff of high income bracket at its peak. Moreover, It was 74%. Whereas, it was very low in 5th company only 2%. Apart from this, the staff turnover increased abruptly in 5th company. However, it was dropped significantly in 1st company. Besides, the age of staff members under 33s was rose in 5th company and over 55s was grew in 4th company.

Futher looking at the graph, it can be said that the difference in male and female ratio was climbed gradually in the 3rd company. Moreover, the staff number was increased in 5th company about 190 members.

After analysing the graph it can be noticed that the rising trend was shown in staff number and fluctuation was seen in other content.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to cover parts of the table, such as mentioning high-income brackets for the 3rd and 5th companies, staff numbers for the 5th company, and staff turnover. However, the selection of features is somewhat random and lacks a fully developed overview. There are also inaccuracies and misreadings of the data, such as claiming the age of staff 'under 33s' rose in the 5th company (the table shows 93% under 35s) and stating the male-female ratio climbed gradually in the 3rd company, which misinterprets a static demographic percentage as a trend over time. To reach a higher band, the response needs to select more significant features, group them logically, and avoid treating static data as dynamic trends.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response uses some basic cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Whereas', and 'Apart from this' to link sentences. However, paragraphing is somewhat fragmented, with several short, disconnected paragraphs that impede smooth logical progression. The overall structure feels disjointed, moving abruptly between different categories of the table without clear thematic grouping. Additionally, referencing is occasionally repetitive, and the progression of ideas is not always clear, which places the response firmly in the band 5 category for cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, with frequent reliance on simple verbs like 'increased', 'dropped', and 'rose'. There are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'staff of high income bracket at its peak' instead of 'the highest proportion of staff in the high income bracket', and 'other content' instead of 'other categories' or 'metrics'. Less common lexical items are attempted but often misused, which sometimes causes strain for the reader. To improve, the student should incorporate more precise, topic-specific vocabulary related to data reporting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but attempts at complex structures frequently contain grammatical errors. Examples of errors include awkward phrasing and tense confusion, such as 'the age of staff members under 33s was rose' and 'the difference in male and female ratio was climbed gradually'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent grammatical inaccuracies in passive and active voice constructions cause difficulty for the reader and prevent the score from rising higher.

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