Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-19

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 6.5)

The table shows data about five small organizations in Britain that were the winners of a study of employee executed by a national newspaper to figuire out which companies have the best work culture.

Overall, all the companies had a very low number of employee and employee that leaves the company. Meanwhile, most of the companies had reletively higher young employees and income bracket.

Looking first at employee numbers, the first four companies have under 100 staffs while the fifth company, being the exception, have 190 employees. Turning to the rate of employees leaving the company, the first four company had under 20% turnover rate, while the fifth company had a higher turnover rate of 33%, again being the exception. The first and the third company had exceptionally low rate of turnover, 5% and 8% respectively.

While the male and female ratio had no consistent pattern for the five companies, the demographics of the five companies had a clear pattern. Almost all the companies had a high number of young employees and low to none older staffs. The 1st, 3rd, and 5th company had respectively 77%, 82%, and 93% of employees that are under the age of 35, while the 4th company had a higher older population (8%) and lower younger population (26%). As for income levels, the first three companies paid most of their staffs well, as 34%, 48%, and 74% of their employees were in the high income bracket respectively. In contrast, the last two companies only paid well to 5% and 2% of their employees respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You select several important features and support them with accurate figures: the fifth-ranked company has the largest workforce and highest turnover, while the first four have fewer than 100 employees and turnover below 20%. The comparisons of age and income also capture clear contrasts, especially the high-income shares of the first three companies versus the last two. Your overview is relevant, but “all the companies had a very low number of employee” is too broad: the fifth employs 190 people, and the first four are not all especially small relative to one another. The overview could also identify the striking variation in gender balance. You omit some useful details, such as the second company’s age figures and the older-worker percentages for most companies; selecting these selectively would make the summary more complete and precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs grouped around workforce size and turnover, then demographics and income. Signposting such as “Looking first,” “Turning to,” and “As for” helps the reader follow the comparisons, and the information generally progresses logically. This is a coherent arrangement, with some flexibility in how you connect related data. However, the repeated use of “the first,” “the fifth,” and “the companies” makes references slightly mechanical, and “Meanwhile” does not express a particularly clear contrast in the overview. The age and income paragraph also contains several comparisons in quick succession. Use more precise references to survey positions and vary the linking of related figures to make cohesion smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “staff turnover,” “high income bracket,” “demographics,” and “exceptionally low,” which allows you to describe the table and make comparisons. Some less common choices are attempted, but several are inaccurate or unnatural: “employee executed” does not convey a survey of employees, “employee that leaves the company” is an awkward way to describe turnover, and “paid most of their staffs well” overstates what the income-bracket figures show. There are also spelling errors in “figuire” and “reletively.” Aim for precise collocations and avoid interpreting the high-income category as a direct measure of how well a company pays its staff. For example, use “employee survey,” “staff turnover,” and “employees in the high-income bracket.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex structures, including contrast clauses such as “while the fifth company…” and the introductory phrase “Looking first at employee numbers.” Meaning remains clear throughout. Some grammatical errors occur, particularly with agreement, plurals, and articles: “a very low number of employee,” “under 100 staffs,” and “the first four company had” should use appropriate plural forms and matching verbs. In “the fifth company … have 190 employees,” the singular subject requires “has.” The phrase “the 1st, 3rd, and 5th company” also needs a plural noun, and “employees that are under the age” could be expressed more smoothly with a consistent tense. Check subject–verb agreement and countable nouns, while continuing to use varied sentence structures.

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