Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-16

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 illustrates the main features to the five best small companies to work for in britain, according to a survey conducted by a national newspaper.

Overall, the first company ranked highest in the survey while the fifth company had the largest number of employees and the highest staff turnover. The companies also different in terms of gender ratio and age group and the percentage of high income staff.

The first company employeed 56 people, while a male to female ratio of 30:70. It had the lowest staff turnover at just 5% and 34% of its employees were in the high income bracket. The second company had 79 employees and its gender ratio was almost equal at 47:53, Its staff turnover was 18%, While 48% of workers earned high income.

The third company employed 72 people and had the highest proportion of high income staff at 74%. Meanwhile, the forth company had 76 employees and the lowest percentage of high income staff at only 5%.

Finally, the fifth company had 190 employees and the highest income turnover at 33%. It also had the largest proportion of workers under 33% and 2%

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You provide a relevant overview, identifying the first-ranked company and noting that the fifth had the most employees and highest turnover. Several comparisons are also accurate, including the first company’s 5% turnover and the third company’s 74% share of high-income staff. However, coverage is incomplete and some key details are misreported or left unfinished. The fifth company’s 33% is its staff turnover, not “income turnover”; its under-35 figure is 93%, not “under 33%,” and the final “and 2%” does not explain that 2% were in the high-income bracket. The fourth company’s high proportion of women and older staff, and the age figures overall, are not meaningfully reported. Select and compare the main patterns more fully, checking each figure against the table.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall shape: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the companies in sequence. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Meanwhile,” and “Finally” help the reader follow this progression, and the first three companies are generally easy to distinguish. However, the final paragraph breaks off after “and 2%,” leaving the information incomplete and weakening the ending. Some connections between details are also mechanical, and the overview lists broad categories without explaining the most notable patterns. Grouping companies by meaningful similarities or contrasts—for example, turnover or income levels—would create stronger progression. Check punctuation around sentence boundaries as well, since the second-company sentence joins separate clauses with a comma.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a suitable range of task-related terms, including “ranked highest,” “gender ratio,” “staff turnover,” and “high income bracket,” so the topic is generally clear. However, several inaccurate or awkward choices reduce precision: “main features to” should be “main features of,” “highest income turnover” confuses income with staff turnover, and “proportion of workers under 33%” does not express the age category correctly. “Employeed” and “forth” are also spelling errors. These issues are especially noticeable in the final paragraph, where the intended data becomes difficult to interpret. Aim for precise table vocabulary and proofread spelling; use “employees aged under 35” and keep “turnover” distinct from income.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, and the overview sentence beginning “Overall” communicates a broad comparison. However, grammatical control is uneven, with errors in verb forms, sentence construction, and punctuation. For example, “The companies also different” is missing a verb, while “The first company employeed 56 people, while a male to female ratio…” leaves the second clause without a subject and finite verb. In “Its staff turnover was 18%, While 48%…,” the comma splice and capitalisation after the comma disrupt the sentence. The final sentence is also incomplete. Practise building complete clauses—such as “It had 56 employees and a male-to-female ratio of 30:70”—and check agreement, articles, and sentence endings.

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