Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-09

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 4.0)

The table provides information about the five small companies in britain that remained in the top in a survey of staff which is conducted by a national newspaper to figure out the convinent companies to work.

overall, 5th company recorded highest figures in four surveys whereas staff in high income accounted for the lowest amount of share.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the table’s subject and attempts an overview, but it does not adequately summarise the main features or make meaningful comparisons. The claim that the fifth company had the highest figures “in four surveys” is inaccurate: it has the most staff and the highest turnover, but not the highest figures across four categories. Its high-income share is indeed the lowest, at 2%, though the overview does not explain the other notable contrasts, such as the third-ranked company having the highest high-income share (74%) or the first-ranked company having the lowest turnover (5%). The response is also far below the required 150 words: it contains 48 words, with nine copied prompt words excluded. Include selected figures and comparisons to develop a complete summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic sequence: an opening sentence introduces the table, followed by a separate overview beginning with “overall.” This gives the response a minimal sense of organisation. However, it stops after these two sentences, so there is no progression through the data and no grouping of related comparisons. The overview’s reference to “four surveys” is also unclear, making it difficult to understand which measures are being compared. To improve, organise the body into logical groups—for example, company size and staff demographics, then turnover and income—and use clear links such as “by contrast” to show relationships between the figures.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some task-related vocabulary, including “staff,” “survey,” “figures,” and “high income,” so the topic is recognisable. However, the range is very limited, and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural: “remained in the top” does not clearly describe the companies’ survey positions, while “the convinent companies to work” is not an appropriate expression for the survey’s purpose. “Share” is also vague when referring to the percentage of employees in an income bracket. Spelling and capitalisation need attention in “britain,” “convinent,” and “overall.” Use precise terms such as “ranked,” “staff turnover,” and “proportion” to report the table more clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response contains two complete sentences, and the opening uses a relative clause (“which is conducted by a national newspaper”), showing an attempt to add information within a sentence. However, the grammatical range is narrow, with no developed comparisons or varied sentence patterns. In “the five small companies in britain that remained in the top,” the past-tense verb does not fit the table’s ranking information well; a present-tense construction would be clearer. The phrase “staff in high income accounted for the lowest amount of share” also has an awkward grammatical structure, making the relationship between staff and the percentage unclear. Practise accurate comparative sentences and clauses that report figures, such as “Company X had a higher proportion … than Company Y.”

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