Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-21

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 5.0)

Here is the data regarding the five best small companies to work for:

The staff numbers in each company:

The company which is on the top of the list has 56 staff members.

and then 79,72,76,190 respectively in each company.If we talk about the male to female ratio in each of the company then these are 30:70 in first company,47:53 in the second one ,74:26 in the third company ,13:87 in fourth company and last but not the least 51:49 in the fifth company.

The most important feature about the company one ill notice is it's staff income.If we compare the high income bracket staff then the third company wons here as it has 74% bracket,on the second number ,second company wons with a staff salary bracket of 48%.Then if we see the which company will be at the third number it is the company on the top of the list with a bracket of 34%.And if we see the data about staff income bracket for fourth and fifth company ,then these come at the end with brackets of 5% and 2% respectively.

For the age factor we have got the data of each one of the company.Again we wll have a comparison for this factor.Company number 2 has only 1% of the staff over 55 and 8% of the staff over 55.Rest of the companies have no staff member over 55.

If we see about the staff members under 35 in each company then company at the end of the list won with a percentage of 93%,company 3rd has 82% ,company first as 77% , ,second one gas 59% and last but not the least fourth company has 26% people under the age of 35.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You report several relevant figures accurately, including the staff totals, gender ratios, income percentages and the under-35 figures. However, the response mainly lists data rather than summarising the table’s main features, and it has no clear overview of the strongest contrasts. There is also a significant factual error: you say Company 2 has 1% of staff over 55 and then say 8% for the same age group; in fact, Company 2 has 1%, while Company 4 has 8%. The opening focuses on staff numbers, but these are not developed into a meaningful comparison. To improve, give an overview first, then select and compare the most notable patterns, such as Company 5’s highest turnover and youngest workforce versus Company 1’s lowest turnover.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has some organisation: it moves from staff numbers and gender to income and then age, so readers can identify the broad topics being discussed. However, there is no clear overall progression from an overview to selected details, and the repeated framing—“if we compare,” “if we see,” and “last but not the least”—makes the report feel like a sequence of loosely connected comments. The age paragraph also repeats “over 55” and gives conflicting figures, weakening the connection between ideas. Use a clear overview paragraph followed by two focused detail paragraphs, grouping related comparisons. More precise linking and reference to companies by rank would make the relationships between figures easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough basic vocabulary to communicate the table’s categories, including “staff numbers,” “male to female ratio,” “high income bracket,” and “under the age of 35.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are repetitive or unsuitable for a formal data report. “Wons here” and “won with a percentage” treat the rankings as a competition, while “staff salary bracket” is not a natural way to describe the table’s income category. Spelling errors such as “wll” and “gas” also reduce accuracy. Aim for concise reporting language and accurate collocations, for example, “ranked highest,” “accounted for,” and “the proportion of employees.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response includes some longer sentences and attempts to compare several figures, but the range of sentence structures is limited and errors occur frequently. For example, “The most important feature about the company one ill notice is it's staff income” has faulty sentence construction and an incorrect possessive form; “company one” also does not fit the intended grammatical pattern. The sentence beginning “Company number 2 has only 1%...” repeats the age category and becomes unclear. There are also inconsistent capitalisation and punctuation, including sentence fragments and missing spaces after commas. Practise forming clear comparison sentences with accurate articles, possessives and punctuation, such as “Company 2 has 1% of employees aged over 55, compared with 8% at Company 4.”

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