Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-06

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 4.5)

The table below gives information about the five small companies in Britian that came top in survey of staff conducted by a national newspaper to find out which companiesare best to work for.

Overall, this table illustrates the five best small companies to work for. Every company have different numbers of staff included male and female, male and female ratio with their ages, staff turnover, staff in high income bracket.

Firstly, the highest numbers of staff in 5th company with 51 females and 49 males and most of are under 35s. The staff turnover in this company is 33% and their income bracket is only 2%. In 4th company there are 76 members of staff in which 13 are males and 87 are females 26% members are under 35s and 8% are over 55s there staff turnover is 13% and income bracket is 5%.

Moreover, there are almost same number of staff on 2nd and 3rd company but their ratio of male and female staff are different. 3rd company has the highest income bracket. There are only 56 members of staff in 1st company in which 30 are males and 70 are females . 77% members are under 35s and their income brackest is 34%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response attempts to address the task by reporting information from the table about the five small companies, and it meets the minimum length requirement after excluding the copied rubric. However, the coverage of main features is partial and lacks a clear overview. While the writer mentions some specific data points such as staff numbers and percentages, several key comparisons are missed or inaccurate. For instance, the reporting of the 5th company states 'most of are under 35s' without giving the exact 93% figure, and the details regarding the income bracket and staff turnover are mechanically listed rather than synthesised. To move to a higher level, the writer needs to provide a clearer overview of the main trends and select more salient data to compare across the companies rather than describing them one by one in a fragmented manner.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response shows some organisational structure with basic introductory and body paragraphs, but there is no clear overall progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used minimally and sometimes inappropriately, such as using 'Firstly' and 'Moreover' to awkwardly link disconnected data points rather than establishing logical relationships between the figures. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of information is somewhat random, leading to a disjointed reading experience. For example, the second body paragraph abruptly jumps between the 5th and 4th companies without a smooth transitional thread. To improve Coherence and Cohesion, the writer should ensure that ideas are logically sequenced and that cohesive devices are used to build clear comparisons between the categories in the table.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, relying heavily on terms provided directly in the prompt such as 'staff', 'companies', 'male', and 'female'. There are noticeable lexical errors and inappropriate word choices, such as spelling 'Britian' instead of Britain and inventing terms like 'brackest' instead of bracket. The range of vocabulary is limited to what is minimally adequate for the task, and attempts to use less common lexical items are largely absent. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to expand their range of vocabulary by incorporating synonyms and less common functional terms related to data reporting, such as 'proportion', 'percentage', 'majority', and 'remuneration', while ensuring correct spelling and word formation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures, consisting mostly of simple sentences and faulty attempts at complex ones. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('Every company have', 'there staff turnover'), missing articles, and incorrect prepositions or clause structures ('in which 13 are males and 87 are females 26% members are under 35s'). Punctuation is also weak, with run-on sentences lacking proper separation. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and obscure the intended meaning. To improve this criterion, the writer must work on basic grammatical control, ensuring correct verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and proper punctuation when constructing complex sentences.

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