Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-11-03

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 illustrates the positions of five small companies of Britain that were surveyed by national newspaper in term of advantages of working there.

Overall, all companies has zero percent old staff expect two that are at second and fourth number, while ratio of staff turnover is highest in fifth position company. there is also highest amount staff of fifth country that indicate that there is no space for other employee.

In term of staff numbers, the highest ranking company has lowest amount of employee that are only 56 compare with other which has 79,72,76and 190 respectively. The ratio of men in 5 companies are different in 1st, 2nd and 4th number company has lower ratio of male compare to female at70,53and 87(respectively).

Meanwhile, percentage of young people is more than older people in all companies, furthermore only two companies has old staff that are 1% of 2nd ranked company and 8% of 4th ranked company.

The chance of staff replacement are not enough in first 4 companies that are 5%, 18%, 8%and 13% compare with 5th company that is 33%. The highest amount of staff who enjoy high salary in 3rd company who has 74%, while 4th and 5th company has lowest percentage of these members at 5% and 2%(respectively).

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main categories in the table and give an overview that identifies the fifth-ranked company’s high staff turnover and larger workforce. Several comparisons are accurate, including the staff totals, the older employees at the second- and fourth-ranked companies, and the high-income figures for the third, fourth and fifth companies. However, the overview is partly unclear: “there is no space for other employee” is an unsupported inference from staff numbers. Some important comparisons are also incomplete. For example, you discuss male-to-female ratios only for three companies, and do not report the high-income figures for the first two. Be precise that the fifth company has the highest turnover, while the first-ranked company has the lowest. A clearer overview and more balanced selection of comparisons would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and paragraphs grouping staff numbers, age, turnover and income. This makes the information generally easy to follow. You also use linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Meanwhile” and “while” to signal relationships. However, progression is sometimes weakened by abrupt or unclear connections. The sentence about the fifth company having the most staff is followed by the inference that there is “no space for other employee,” which does not clearly connect to the table’s purpose. Some information is repeated, particularly the age comparison, and the paragraphing could group related comparisons more systematically. Use clearer references to each ranking and link comparisons directly, rather than relying on a sequence of separate facts.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for describing the table, including “staff turnover,” “percentage,” “ratio” and “high salary.” These terms help communicate the main categories, and the reader can usually understand the intended comparisons. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “in term of advantages,” “amount of employee,” “chance of staff replacement” and “high salary” for the table’s income bracket. “Country” is also used where you mean company. These choices sometimes make the meaning less precise, even when the figures are clear. Aim for standard data-reporting phrases and check singular/plural forms in vocabulary, for example “number of employees” and “proportion of staff in the high-income bracket.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons with “while” and “that,” and the overall meaning is generally recoverable. However, errors in agreement, articles, sentence construction and punctuation occur across the response. Examples include “all companies has,” “only two companies has,” and “the highest amount of staff … who has 74%.” The opening also needs articles and a more accurate grammatical structure: “surveyed by national newspaper” is missing an article, while “in term of” is not correctly formed. Several long sentences join clauses awkwardly, and spacing around figures and commas is inconsistent. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and build comparisons in shorter, complete clauses before adding more complex structures.

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