Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-17

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 represents the information about five different small companies survey reports in Britain in various sectors such as, number of workers, men and women ration, age range, stuff turnover and staff in high salary. Overall what stands out from the table is that, fifth number company has highest staffs where same company has less staff with high payments.

From the table it can seen that, in first company only 56 staffs are working. Nevertheless, another three companies workers are in almost similar in number according to 79, 72 and 76. Where last company has highest number of staff 190 which is more than double comparing to other four company. Male and female ratio are very different among this companies. Where highest male and lowest female staffs works in third company that is 74:26. And lowest male and highest female worker in fourth company their ratio is 13:87. Likewise, all the companies almost workers are younger under 35s. Where first , third and fifth companies only have young staffs no older people work in this companies and another two companies have small number of elder employee.

Furthermore, staff turnover are highest at 33% in fifth company and lowest at 5% in first one. Other three companies turnover are almost in similar position. Third company pay high salary 74% among their staffs where compare to other fourth and fifth company pay less high salary only 5% and 2%. And second one pay 48% hogh salary and 34% staffs gets high salary in first company.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main categories in the table and make several accurate comparisons, including the largest workforce at the fifth-ranked company, the gender extremes at the third and fourth companies, and the highest and lowest turnover figures. Your overview also identifies the fifth company’s large staff and low share of high earners. However, the overview is limited and does not bring together other key contrasts, such as the third company having the highest proportion of high-income staff and the fifth having the lowest. Some details are unclear: “another three companies” does not specify which figures are being compared, and the claim that the other turnover rates are similar is rather general. A more selective overview and clearer comparisons would develop the response more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction and overview are followed by paragraphs comparing workforce and demographic data, then turnover and income. This makes the information broadly easy to follow. You also use linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Furthermore,” and “Likewise.” However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or unclear, particularly through repeated sentence openings with “Where” and “And.” For example, “Where highest male and lowest female staffs works…” is not clearly connected to the preceding sentence. The final paragraph also moves quickly between turnover and income without a clear transition. Use complete comparison sentences and organise related figures more deliberately to make progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant vocabulary for describing the table, including “staff turnover,” “ratio,” “highest,” “lowest,” and “high salary,” so the reader can generally understand the comparisons. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling errors reduce precision. Examples include “men and women ration,” “high payments,” “staffs,” and “hogh salary”; “workers” or “employees,” “gender ratio,” and “high-income bracket” would be more appropriate. Some phrases are also unnatural, such as “almost in similar position” and “pay high salary.” Aim for accurate, conventional table-description language and check spelling and word forms, especially when repeating key terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including comparisons with “where” and clauses beginning “which is more than double.” The main ideas remain understandable, but grammatical control is inconsistent. For example, “it can seen” is missing “be,” while “highest male and lowest female staffs works” has problems with articles and subject–verb agreement. Plural and agreement errors also appear in “another three companies workers are” and “staff turnover are highest.” Several sentences are fragments, including those beginning “Where” after a full stop. Practise forming complete sentences with accurate subjects and verbs, and use articles and plural forms consistently; this will make your comparisons clearer.

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