Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-27

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 table reveals data regarding five small companies in Britain that came top in a survey of employees.

Overall,it is noticeable that the fifth company had the maximum number of employee roughly in every position,and the other companies had slightly lower.

To begin with,the company which was in the first place had 56 staff members where 30% was male and the other 70% was female . In addition, all of them was below 35s and the turnover ratio was 5%.

On the other hand,the company which were in the 2nd and 3rd place had 79 and 72 staff members where the ratio of male and female employee was 47:53 and 74:26 . And, approximately all of them was below 35s but 1% was over 55s in the 2nd company and the turnover ratio was 18% and 8%.

However, the company which were in the 4th and 5th place had 76 and 190 staff members where the ratio of male and female employee was 13:87 and 51:49 . And, approximately all of them was below 35s but 8% was over 55s in the 4th company and the turnover ratio was 13% and 33%.

Looking at the details, high income ratio was maximum in the 3rd company with 74% and 2nd and 3rd was and 4th and 5th was 4th and 5th company

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The candidate attempts to cover the main features of the table, noting key details such as staff numbers, gender ratios, age brackets, turnover, and income levels. However, the overview is weak and inaccurate, incorrectly stating that the fifth company had the 'maximum number of employee roughly in every position'. Furthermore, the response tails off and cuts off abruptly at the end ('2nd and 3rd was and 4th and 5th was 4th and 5th company'), failing to complete the final sentence and fully integrate all data comparisons. This places the response firmly in Band 5, as it addresses the task only partially with under-developed and incomplete final descriptions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response is organised into paragraphs, starting with an introduction and using transition phrases such as 'To begin with', 'On the other hand', and 'However'. However, paragraphing is somewhat mechanical and cohesion is frequently flawed. Punctuation spacing issues are rampant throughout the text (e.g., missing spaces after commas, as in 'Overall,it is noticeable' and 'To begin with,the company'). Additionally, referencing is unclear in places, and the abrupt, broken-off ending severely disrupts the logical progression and overall coherence of the text, supporting a Band 5 score.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, relying on terms like 'company', 'staff members', 'ratio', and 'turnover'. There are noticeable lexical and collocation limitations, such as 'high income ratio' instead of 'proportion of staff in the high income bracket'. Word choice is frequently simplistic, and spelling and word formation errors, though understandable, reflect a limited and minimally adequate range. These factors align the response with Band 5 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts some complex sentence structures using relative clauses ('the company which was in the first place', 'the company which were in the 2nd and 3rd place'), but these structures contain frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('the company which were') and pronoun/number mismatches ('all of them was'). Punctuation errors are also widespread, particularly missing spaces after punctuation marks. While the meaning remains mostly clear despite the errors, the frequency of grammatical slips limits the response to Band 5.

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