Band 8.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 8.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-23

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 8.5)

The table provides a data breakdown for the top five small British companies to work for, ranked from 1st to 5th based on a national newspaper's staff survey.

Overall, the workforce among these top-rated companies is overwhelmingly comprised of younger staff members under 35, while employees over 55 represent a negligible fraction. Additionally, higher-ranked companies generally display significantly better employee retention and higher compensation packages than those at the bottom of the list.

In terms of workforce size and stability, the 5th-ranked company is an outlier with 190 employees, whereas the top four companies maintain a smaller, tight range between 56 and 79 staff members. This largest company experiences the poorest retention with a 33% staff turnover rate. In contrast, the 1st-ranked company demonstrates the highest employee loyalty, recording a minimal 5% turnover.

Demographically, age distribution heavily favors youth. The 5th-ranked company leads this trend with 93% of staff under 35, while the 1st, 3rd, and 5th companies employ 0% of staff over 55. The 4th-ranked company is the sole exception, where only 26% of employees are under 35 and 8% are over 55. Gender ratios vary wildly; the 4th-ranked firm is heavily female-dominated at 13:87, while the 3rd-ranked firm leans heavily male at 74:26.

Finally, high-income positions are heavily concentrated in the middle rankings. The 3rd-ranked company boasts the largest proportion of high earners at 74%, followed by the 2nd-ranked firm at 48%. Conversely, high earners are virtually non-existent at the bottom, accounting for just 5% in the 4th company and 2% in the 5th.

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1. Highlight the key vocabulary and transition words used to boost your lexical score.

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AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 8.5

The response fully addresses all parts of the task by selecting, reporting, and comparing the main features of the table regarding the top five small British companies. An effective overview is provided right at the beginning, noting the dominance of younger staff and the correlation between higher rankings and better retention and compensation. Key features, such as the outlier status of the 5th-ranked company in staff numbers and turnover, age distributions, gender ratios, and income brackets, are accurately cited and contrasted using precise figures from the data. All reported facts align accurately with the provided source table, demonstrating a thorough understanding of the visual information.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 8.5

The response is exceptionally well-organized, with a clear, logical progression throughout. It opens with an introductory summary before smoothly transitioning into well-defined body paragraphs covering workforce size and stability, demographic age and gender distributions, and income levels. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Additionally', 'In contrast', 'Demographically', and 'Conversely' are used naturally and with high flexibility without appearing mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to group related ideas, ensuring the information flows seamlessly from one point to the next.

Lexical Resource: Band 8.5

The student displays a wide and fluent lexical range with skilful use of uncommon and precise vocabulary well-suited to an Academic Task 1 response. Excellent lexical choices include 'overwhelmingly comprised', 'negligible fraction', 'tight range', 'outlier', 'retention', 'heavily female-dominated', and 'virtually non-existent'. Word choice and collocations are used with a high degree of precision, and there are no spelling or word-formation errors throughout the text, allowing for effortless reading.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 8.5

A wide variety of complex sentence structures is deployed with full flexibility and complete accuracy. The student effortlessly handles complex clauses and comparative structures, as seen in sentences like 'the 5th-ranked company is an outlier with 190 employees, whereas the top four companies maintain a smaller, tight range...' and 'the 4th-ranked company is the sole exception, where only 26% of employees are under 35 and 8% are over 55.' Grammar and punctuation are flawless, yielding entirely error-free sentences throughout the response.

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