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IELTS preparation tips from winners

IELTS high achievers share their secrets

IELTS advice from Band 9 achiever – Part 4, Reading tips.

In this post you will find some really good tips that helped Debashis get Band 9 in his IELTS Reading exam. Enjoy!

I carried a red pen with me, which was invaluable.

Key points – Scan the ‘reading sections’ and ‘questions’, and decide the sections you will answer first. After picking a section, read the questions relating to it in detail, then read the section in detail. While reading, underline and annotate them with key words in bold red for easy reference. Quick referencing is vital.

1. We received 4 reading sections. I rapidly scanned through all 4 sections and questions to identify the easier sections, and then tackled them in that order.

2. After selecting a section, I read it’s questions in detail, underlying key words in a red pen, and summarising it in 2-3 words in bold red next to it. For e.g. if the question was “how many times did the explorer Captain Scott return to England after his first trip”, I would write next to it in red “RETURN UK > 1st ?”. This helps in quick referral to the question when studying the main body.

3. I then went back to the reading section, studying it in detail, and annotating it with my red pen. For e.g., if there were ten paragraphs, I would write in bold red what the paragraph related to right next to it. This assists in quickly determining the likely paragraph a question relates to. I further underlined the possible answers, a task made easy as I could rapidly and readily read questions from their red summary in 3.2.

OVERALL – I found this module easy, as though I did not get time to practice, I am accustomed to reading large reports. I finished half-way through, and then proceeded to check my answers, twice. I noted with satisfaction that I did not need to change a single answer on revision. I got grade 9.

IELTS advice from Band 9 achiever – Part 3, Listening tips.

After the general IELTS exam tips in part 1 and part 2, now it’s time we move on to some section-specific advice. Here are Debashis’ preparation tips for the Listening test.

Key points – you must be highly alert for this module. Watch out for questions that involve intentional deviations from the most obvious answer.

1. The key skill to master here is ATTENTIVENESS. You cannot allow your concentration to falter for even a second. I did not find time to practice this, and experienced momentary lapses on two occasions.

Four topics were played out to us, each with about 4 questions. I found that in each topic, I was alert for the first two questions but became distracted by the 3rd one. As soon as I realised this, I would snap into attention for the 4th question. Other students narrated similar tales of woe, so I would recommend being particularly vigilant about the 3rd question.

2. Another exam ploy is DEVIATION FROM THE MOST OBVIOUS ANSWER. For e.g., the CD may play “the new tap was placed on the top shelf”. If the question is “where is the kitchen tap?” with possible answers “kitchen sink, chair, shelf, car”, an inattentive brain may attract you to the obvious but incorrect answer of “kitchen sink”.

OVERALL – This exam is otherwise easy. Questions are read out in order of answers, so you do not need to search up and down. My attention faltered twice, both times on 3rd questions, and I filled these in from imperfect memory. I got grade 9, so I don’t know if I was lucky with those 2 questions, or they award a perfect grade even if you make an error or two.