Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-11-02

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 6.0)

The table chart presents the data about Britain's five small businesses, which were among the top five, in a "staff survey" conducted by a national newspaper, to list all the organisations best suitable for work.

Overall, Younger staff ratio was much higher as compare to older staff, among all the businesses. Two companies out of five had almost half of their staff in high income bracket.

First and the fifth positioned company had the lowest and highest number of staff working under them, which was 56 and 190, respectively. Furthermore, 4th number company's female workers share was 87%, and Third company had 74% male workers, preeminent of all.

The workers under the age of 35, were topmost in fifth business, 93% of total staff, with no worker above 55. 74% employee in third business were in high income bracket. 5th positioned business had around 33% staff turnover, uppermost of all.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify several relevant features, including the largest and smallest workforces (190 and 56), the fourth company’s female share (87%), and the third company’s high-income figure (74%). The overview also notes the generally young workforce and contrasts this with older employees. However, the overview is not fully accurate: it says two companies had almost half their staff in the high-income bracket, whereas the figures are 34%, 48%, 74%, 5% and 2%, so only the second is close to half. Some important comparisons are also underdeveloped, such as the wide variation in turnover and income levels. To strengthen the response, summarise the clearest extremes and contrasts accurately, and support the overview with more precise comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs of supporting details. Information is generally grouped sensibly, with workforce size and gender in one paragraph and age, income and turnover in the next. Linking expressions such as “Overall” and “Furthermore” help signal relationships. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear, and the final paragraph moves quickly between three different categories without explaining their significance. The phrase “First and the fifth positioned company” also makes the comparison harder to follow. Use clearer topic sentences and organise details around meaningful contrasts—for example, workforce profile first, then turnover and income—to create smoother progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “staff turnover,” “high income bracket,” “female workers share” and “under the age of 35.” Some attempts at less common wording show ambition, but several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “best suitable for work,” “preeminent of all,” and “topmost.” “Table chart” is also redundant, and “businesses” is less precise than “companies” in this context. These choices do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, but they reduce precision and naturalness. Prefer standard reporting language and collocations, such as “ranked first,” “the highest proportion,” and “the most suitable companies to work for.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and the main comparisons are usually understandable. However, some grammatical errors remain, particularly with articles, agreement, and sentence construction. For example, “Younger staff ratio was much higher” needs an article and a clearer comparison, while “First and the fifth positioned company” has an awkward noun phrase. In “The workers under the age of 35, were topmost,” the comma incorrectly separates the subject from the verb. There are also inconsistent capitalisation and punctuation choices. Aim to produce accurate comparative structures, such as “The proportion of employees under 35 was highest at the fifth-ranked company,” and check articles and commas during revision.

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