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

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The given table demonstrates the information about the five small companies in Britain that came top in a suvey of staff conducted by a national newspaper to find out which companies are the good to work for. Evidently, the five compinies to work for find.

Overall, it is clear thatwhile the top-ranked company has the smallest workforce and the highest staff loyalty, the third rankes company stands out offering for having predominatly male staff and offering the highest financial compenstation.

however, the first ranked company is the smallest with only 56 employees, whereas the fifth ranked company is the largest with 190 staff members. female outnumber males in four out of the five companies, with the fourth company showing the most significant gap.

In contrast, the first company enjoys the lowest staffturnover at just five percent. the fifth company struggles the most with retention, experiencing a 33% turnover rate. Finally, the highest proportion of high earners is found in the third company at 74%, while the fifth company provides high salary to a mere 2% of their staff.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers the main features of the visual data well, successfully reporting key details such as workforce sizes, staff turnover rates, and income brackets across the five companies. The overview provided in the second paragraph captures notable contrasts, such as the relationship between workforce size, rank, and financial compensation. Figures cited from the table are accurate, for instance noting that the first company has 56 employees and the fifth has 190. However, there are minor awkward phrasings and slight truncation in the overview sentences ('offering for having predominatly male staff'). Nonetheless, the task is fully addressed with clear comparisons, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The text is logically organised into clear paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, moving to an overview, and following with supporting detail paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'In contrast', and 'Finally' are used to structure the information effectively. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally stumble due to punctuation and mechanical errors, such as missing capitalisation at the start of sentences ('however, the first ranked company...') and run-on phrasing. Paragraphing is present and appropriate, but overall cohesion lacks the flexibility required for a higher band, placing it solidly at Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'workforce', 'retention', 'proportion', and 'financial compensation'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'suvey', 'compinies', 'rankes', 'predominatly', 'compenstation', and 'staffturnover'. Additionally, phrases like 'provides high salary to a mere 2%' show minor collocational awkwardness. While the range is sufficient to convey the meaning, these frequent lexical slips prevent the score from reaching Band 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and subordinate structures ('while the top-ranked company has...'). There is good control of comparative structures. However, grammatical accuracy is compromised by recurring errors, particularly missing capitalisation at the beginning of sentences ('however, the first...', 'female outnumber...'), typographical mistakes, and minor agreement or preposition issues (e.g., 'provides high salary'). Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, allowing the response to achieve a Band 6.0.

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