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IELTS preparation tips from winners

IELTS high achievers share their secrets

Chloe went from Band 7 to 9 in IELTS doing this

We are so very proud to share with you today the success story of Chloe, our VIP Club member from Taiwan. Chloe joined us a few weeks ago and since then has been using the resources available to VIP members – the model answers that we send out every day, IELTS Online Prep platform and writing correction service.

Chloe did amazingly well in her IELTS exam with an Overall Band 8 and two 9’s for Listening and Reading. When she reached out to us, eager to share some killer prep advice, we knew it’d be gold for anyone reading this blog. As a winner of our IELTS Results Competition, Chloe wanted to pay it forward and help fellow test-takers ace the IELTS challenge. Here are her top tips, straight from her own IELTS prep journey:

Chloe said, “I think the most important thing is to do mock exams as much as possible 🙂 I practiced the ones on your website and I went from I believe 7 to 9 in listening and reading.

For listening, I suggest listening to the recording at a normal speed first and then reading the transcript, then listening to the recording again at a slower speed again. Being consistent is the most important. What I did is, after finishing the listening test, I would re-listen to it again at least 2-3 times, to get more familiar with different contexts. For example, If I got 2 questions wrong in Section 2, then I would record the playback on my phone and slow it down to around 0.8x speed whilst reading the dialogue’s transcript and make sure I heard every word clearly. Then I would listen to the listening section again to see if I still misheard anything.

Another thing I did to help myself was actually redo past mock exam papers! If I did a mock test around 1-2 weeks ago, I would redo it again to make sure I fully understood the questions being asked, and to see if I would make new mistakes or make the same old ones.”

Congratulations to Chloe Cheng on achieving an Overall IELTS Band score of 8.0!

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Here is what helped Alan get Band 8 in IELTS

You probably remember Alan as one of the IELTS Results competition winners. We celebrated their success earlier this month, and Alan took the first place in the General Training group.

Alan lives in India and speaks Hindi as his first language. He came across IELTS-Blog.com and subscribed to our daily emails in January this year. When he took the test, he scored Band 8.0, and decided to take part in our monthly IELTS results competition. As a winner, Alan was invited to share his experience, and he wanted to give back and help everyone still studying for the test. Here is what Alan told us about his IELTS preparation, and how you can do well in the test:

“My English proficiency before starting the preparation was at a moderate level, I would say.

With the initial practice assessments I took, I was around Band 7-8 in Listening and Reading, Band 5-6 in Writing, and an estimate of Band 6 in Speaking (based on feedback I received). My weaknesses were writing and speaking, so I concentrated my 2 months of prep on those more than the other sections. I dedicated around an hour a day to preparation.

Some general tips that I found helpful:

– Practice consistently: fix a time in the day (I fixed a time after work to study).

– Book the test in advance when you feel like you are moderately ready. This gives a deadline and a reason to study. Dragging out the preparation might reduce your motivation and confidence.

– Go through the free materials provided when registering for the exam.

– Read the IELTS-blog daily emails

– Focus on your weaknesses

– Do not underestimate the difficulty of the exam. One of my friends (who has better English proficiency than me) ignored the writing letter/essay structure and got Band 6 in the test.

– Take mock tests for Reading and Listening online on websites like IELTS-Blog.com to familiarise yourself with the computer-based interface.

– Keep the IELTS assessment criteria in mind while doing tasks

– Track your Listening and Reading practice scores

I hope you found some of my tips useful.”

Thank you very much, Alan, for sharing your advice, and we wish you only the very best!


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