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The IELTS test taker from Sydney, Australia (thank you P!) shared the following questions and topics:

Listening test

Section 1. A woman was filling out a form for volunteering to do community work.

Section 2. A professor and a student were discussing her dissertation and how to do it better.

Section 3. A talk on how to do a good report.

Section 4. A talk about market research for a certain product and how to improve sales.

Reading test

Passage 1. A description of various tour options.
Questions: matching headings to paragraphs.

Passage 2. A description of conditions and time for night shift workers.
Questions: filling in blanks, True/False/Not Given.

Passage 3. About tree houses.
Questions: filling in blanks, information matching (titles to authors).

Passage 4. Car hire facilities in the UK.
Questions: True/False/Not Given.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a letter)

Write a letter of complaint to the manager of an online shopping site about a few products that you bought and aren’t happy with. In your letter

- Give details of your order.
- Explain about the problem with the products.
- Say what you want the manager to do about it.

Writing Task 2 (an essay)

In many countries school-age children are spending their free time in doing homework. Is it a good or bad thing? What is your own opinion? Give examples to support your view.

Speaking test

Interview

- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- Do you live in a house or an apartment?
- Do you like your home?
- What will your future house look like?
- What public transport do you usually use?
- Why do you use it?
- Do you think people should use public transport more?
- What would you do to improve Sydney’s public transport?
- Do you think public transportation is expensive in your city?
- What time of the day do you like the most? Why?
- What you do in that time?
- How is your day’s structure different now compared to the past?

Cue Card

Describe an advertisement which made you buy a certain product. Please say

- What was the product?
- What was shown in that advertisement?
- What did you like about the advertisement/product? Why?
- Why was the product important to you?

Discussion

- Do you think advertisements influence people’s choice for products?
- Who is showing advertisements in your country?
- Other than food and clothing, what products are advertised there?
- What do you think about showing or mentioning children in advertisements?
- Is it a negative thing?
- What are the other means of advertisement in your country?
- What is the most effective media in your view?
- Do you think a lot of advertising is harmful?

The 1st place winners of our IELTS Results competition, Felix and Sandra, who scored band 8.5 and 8 in the IELTS exam asked to share their tips for success with everyone. Enjoy!

Felix said:

“I guess it helped that I had some colleagues in the language school I used to work in help me before I took the test. I will say that there’s no shortcut to achieving a good band score in IELTS. It takes hard work and perseverance. Kind of ‘old school’ – but that’s that. Grab reputable Cambridge materials and STUDY!

I spent 2-3 hours a day for a month preparing for the test (except Saturdays and sometimes Sundays when my Aussie friends would pull me out for a few beers!) The IELTS exam requires strategy and a good tutor can help you through your preparation stage. Most important: relax! Being nervous has never helped anyone in anything and that’s what I tell all my students.”

Sandra said:

“Well, first off I’ve been studying English for a while now and what helped me most was reading I guess.

I read a lot of English novels, and when I see a word I don’t understand I stop and check in a dictionary and then check its usage in the book. I also try to put these new words into my everyday speech so I won’t forget them, slowly building up my vocabulary. I also read a lot of grammar books written for younger kids, there’s one in particular that really helped me , ‘Brighter Grammar’.

I also watch American movies, it might be hard to follow at first for a new English speaker but after a few months or weeks depending on the person, it usually gets easier. Also if someone is Indian for instance, and there are Indian movies with subtitles in English, that would also help.

Speak, speak, speak. If you don’t practice a language you’ll lose it. Try as much as possible to speak English for at least 2 hours a day if you can’t speak it all day.

I guess that’s it. Nothing truer than the saying “Practice makes perfect” when it comes to learning the English language.”