Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-11-01

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 gives us the information of a survey conducted by a national newspaper on five small companies which are the best to work for.

In the table, we can notice that though the number of staff (1st: 56 and 5th: 190) and their ratio (1st: 30:70 and 5th: 51:49) is more in the company holding the fifth position than the company holding the first position, the turnover rate (1st: 5% and 5th: 33%) and income (1st: 34% and 5th: 2%) is higher in the 1st company.

However, being in the 3rd position, this company shows comparatively better staff turnover (3rd: 8%) and highest income (3rd: 74%) among all the 5 companies.

Overall, we can say that the 1st company is moving forward more with their quality of work and the 5th company is moving forward with a huge manforce but their quality of work ain't like the first position holding company.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the table’s subject and make a relevant comparison between the first- and fifth-ranked companies, including staff numbers, gender ratios, turnover and high-income figures. You also correctly note that the third-ranked company has the highest proportion of high earners and a relatively low turnover. However, the response addresses the task only partially: it gives little account of the second and fourth companies and omits the age data, which shows that most staff are under 35, especially in fifth place. The final claim that the first company is advancing in “quality of work” is not supported by the table, which reports staff characteristics rather than work quality. A clearer overview of the main patterns, followed by accurate comparisons across more of the entries, would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic, understandable structure: an introduction is followed by comparisons and a concluding statement. Linking words such as “However” and “Overall” help signal relationships between ideas. Nevertheless, progression is limited because most of the discussion centres on the first, fifth and third companies, with no clear organisation of the remaining data. The second paragraph also combines several comparisons in one long sentence, making the relationships between staff size, gender balance, turnover and income harder to follow. The conclusion introduces a broad judgement about “quality of work” rather than drawing together the table’s main patterns. Grouping related features—for example, workforce profile and turnover/income—and using clearer references to each company would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough task-related vocabulary to communicate the main comparisons, including “staff,” “ratio,” “turnover rate,” and “income.” Some wording is imprecise or unnatural for a formal data summary: “gives us the information of” is awkward, “manforce” is not the appropriate term, and “ain’t” is too informal for IELTS Academic writing. “Moving forward” and “quality of work” also suggest progress or performance that the table does not measure. There is some repetition of “company” and “position,” and “income” would be more precise as a reference to the proportion of staff in the high-income bracket. Aim for neutral, exact language that describes what the figures show rather than interpreting them beyond the evidence.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of sentence forms, including a contrast clause beginning “though” and a sentence beginning “However.” The main comparisons are generally understandable, but some structures are awkward or inaccurate. In “the number of staff … and their ratio … is more,” the compound subject calls for a plural verb, and “more” does not fit naturally with these measures. The phrase “being in the 3rd position, this company” also has an unclear introductory modifier: the company is not itself “being” in that position in the intended sense. The final sentence joins two claims with “and” but has an unclear comparison and pronoun reference (“their”). More controlled agreement, sentence boundaries and clause construction would make the comparisons easier to read.

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