Skip to content

IELTS Preparation tips

Exam tips for Band 8 from IELTS veteran (Reading and Speaking)

Today we are sharing the rest of the tips by Dimitris Lazos, who achieved Band 8.5 in IELTS.

Reading

Preparation

Reading books and other publications and of course any type of websites or the dialogs in your favourite game is a very efficient way to practice. Try and master the technique of getting the general idea of a text by scanning through it, it’s really helpful and saves time in the test. Again your preparation is only limited by your time; the test covers all sorts of topics so try to read from a variety of sources.

Test Time

While some people disagree, I think it’s always a better idea to quickly read through the passage first and then check the questions, instead of looking at questions and try to answer straight away. You don’t have to understand and pay attention to every detail, so once you have a general idea of what the text is about and what information is given at each part of it, you can then focus on the parts they ask you to.

As in the listening part, the questions are in order. Don’t waste too much time if you get stuck on a question, leave it for the end. Power of deduction is very useful in some questions, so don’t panic if the correct answer is not obvious straight away, just try to cancel out the ones that are clearly wrong. And again pay extra attention to the instructions; it’s a shame to lose marks because you wrote your answer in a wrong way!

Speaking

Preparation

Speaking in IELTS is quite different from speaking with anyone in the real world, since in IELTS you should know what you are expected to do. There are several examples of questions online which are often repeated especially in the first section of the interview. So what you should do is try and practice answering as many sample questions as you can.

It might look difficult at the start, but with experience you should become able to answer straight away even in questions you haven’t given much thought about, and that’s the key to the speaking test, answering without hesitation and making sense. You should try and practice giving long and detailed answers and use as many structures and words as possible. Also recording yourself in a webcam is quite useful while practicing, not only you can listen to how you sound like but also check if you are doing any weird gestures while speaking and correct them.

Test Time

Try to calm down before the test, the examiners are very friendly and will treat you in a professional way. If you have the chance to engage in small talk beforehand, do so it relieves the tension! When the interview starts, try to talk as much as you can, but always in a clear and normal pace – remember it’s not a race, you won’t impress anyone by speaking very fast.

If the interviewer stops you in order to proceed to the next question, it’s a good sign; after all they want to see if you are able to make a long and reasonable conversation. So this is the time to be as talkative and opinionated as you can, don’t hold back! Giving examples in your answers is also a very desirable trait that can earn you extra marks. If you don’t know about something the interviewer asks you, ask politely for a different topic, they want to examine your use of English not your general knowledge. And don’t forget to thank them and smile in the end, being kind and courteous might give you a slight edge!

Exam tips for Band 8 from IELTS veteran (Listening and Writing)

We are happy to share more tips from our IELTS results competition winners. Today Dimitris Lazos, who got 8.5 in IELTS shares his methods of achieving this score.

Dimitris says:

I can be considered an IELTS veteran, since I have taken both the Academic and General Modules and scored quite high bands in both (8 and 8.5 accordingly). Let me share some of my secrets that helped me achieve such good results.

Having a strong background in English might be sufficient to get a band 7 result, but in order to push towards the highest bands you need to understand perfectly the format and requirements of the IELTS test.

Listening

Preparation

Familiarize yourself with the possible types of questions. Usually there is a mix of filling in the missing words, multiple choice questions and completing a form or a map. The best preparation for listening test is of course to listen to English as much as possible.

If you don’t have the chance to converse with native English speakers in real life, then watching your favourite movies and shows without subtitles is the best practice! Many of my friends were asking me why I prefer turning off the subtitles when watching something in English, but do this long enough and you will get familiar with the paces, pronunciations, idioms and accents of English speech.

Test Time

During the test, you don’t have to worry about the quality of the recordings. The invigilators always make a sound test, so if you cannot hear it clearly enough just say so. The quality is also pristine since the recordings are played from a CD.

The questions are split into small sets of 5-10 questions and in between them you have time to quickly read what is expected of you. This is the most critical moment, so try to identify what exactly you should be waiting to listen for. The questions are almost always in order, so this gives you an idea of what to expect next. If you miss one, do not panic – leave it blank or write your guess and then focus to the following ones. Also it is very important to read the instructions of each question carefully!

Writing

Preparation

First of all make sure that you know what your writing test includes depending on the module type. For the general module, you have to write a 150 words letter and a 250 words essay about a social topic, while for the academic module, a 150 words analysis of a figure and a 250 words essay – usually about an academic topic.

Try to learn how to make your writing structured, using introduction, main paragraphs and conclusion. There are many examples in IELTS blog and other sites around the internet that can help you with this. Also memorize some fixed phrases, particularly useful for letters, introduction and conclusion statements. And of course vocabulary is very important, as long as you use it in a correct way. Practice as much as time allows and try to cover a broad range of topics, since anything is fair game in the test.

Test Time

The writing test is the one you can easily slip off time limits. You have to be much focused and work in an efficient manner. Spend about 3-4 minutes to make a quick plan of what to write first, it saves much time later on. Counting the words is not really a luxury you can afford in the time frame given, so what you must do is test on average how many words you can fit on average in a single line beforehand and use that as reference. Counting lines is much faster than counting words! Always try to catch the word limit.

Also don’t waste too much time trying to make your handwriting perfect, as long as it’s legible you get full marks and the examiners know that you have to write fast anyway. Regarding the essays it is safer to take a neutral approach usually, highlighting the features of different sides and balancing the good and bad points out.