Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-30
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 5.5)
The table provides data on five small british companies that are best to work for according to the staff survey conducted by a national newspaper. Overall, the five companies varied considerably in terms of their staff numbers, gender distribution, age groups, staff turnover and the proportion of employees in the high-income bracket. The fifth- ranked company had by far the largest workforce and the lowest turnover, while the third-ranked company had the biggest proportion of employees in the high income-bracket.
By far, the first-ranked company had the smallest staff turnover of 5%, with the highest proportion of under 35 years old employees and about 34% staff in high income bracket, while the second-ranked company had 79 staff members, with slightly higher female employee ratio and substantial staff turnover and proportion of staff in high income bracket as compared to first-ranked company with 18% and 48%, respectively. The fifth-ranked company had the largest workforce, with about 93% under 35 years as compared to 26% of fourth-ranked company. The fifth-ranked company had the lowest turnover of 2% as compared to 74% in third-ranked company. Among the third, fouth and fifth company
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The student attempts to address the task by summarizing the main features of the table regarding five British companies. An overview is successfully provided in the introduction. However, there are significant data inaccuracies and confusion in the body paragraphs. For example, the student states that 'the fifth-ranked company had the lowest turnover of 2%', whereas the table shows its turnover is actually 33% and the first-ranked company has 5% (and the third-ranked company 8%). Furthermore, the response is incomplete, cutting off abruptly at the end with the fragment 'Among the third, fouth and fifth company'. These omissions and factual errors pull the score down to Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The response shows some basic organizational structure with an introduction and body paragraphs. However, because the essay cuts off mid-sentence at the end, overall progression is disrupted. Cohesive devices such as 'while', 'as compared to', and 'respectively' are attempted, but referencing becomes tangled due to the data confusion, making it difficult to follow comparisons between the companies. Paragraphing is also disrupted by the incomplete ending. These factors reflect a performance characteristic of Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary relevant to the task, including terms such as 'workforce', 'gender distribution', 'staff turnover', and 'high-income bracket'. There are attempts at less common phrasing like 'proportion of employees'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and misreadings of the data, such as confusing turnover rates with percentages of young staff. While communication is not severely hindered throughout most of the text, the vocabulary remains somewhat limited and repetitive in places, fitting a Band 6.0 level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and comparative forms (e.g., 'The fifth-ranked company had by far the largest workforce and the lowest turnover'). There are some grammatical errors, particularly in preposition usage and sentence completeness, culminating in an unfinished sentence at the end of the text. Despite these issues, the majority of the earlier sentences are constructed with reasonable grammatical control, supporting a Band 6.0 score.
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