IELTS preparation tips from winners

As many of you know, we have a tradition of asking the winners of IELTS Results Competition what helped them score so well. Why do we do that? So that everyone could benefit from their experience – if it worked for them, it might work for you!

Today we are delighted to share what we found out from the two recent winners:

Satinder Singh, Band 8.5 in General Training IELTS

Satinder lives in India. He got IELTS Band 8.5 with an amazing 9 in the Listening test, and won in our IELTS Results Competition in May.

In his winner’s interview Satinder said,

“I am really overwhelmed by accepting your appreciation certificate, and I am happy to share my experience with other IELTS aspirants as well. I would like to share the following points:

• Thorough understanding of public bands descriptors is a must to score well in speaking and writing.
• Those who aspire to get more than Band 7 in the writing module will need to write each sentence with a purpose. Writing just for the sake of filling paper will not fetch the desired score.
• Getting Band 7 in Speaking is easy, if there are minimal gaps in communication or hindrance to your speech, but to score higher than that, the intonation of your voice plays a vital role. Work on your tone and pronunciation.
• To get Band 9 in Listening, students have to use their spare time during the test between the sections to read the upcoming questions for the next section. This will give you an edge over others – but make sure to read the upcoming questions with great concentration.
• Reading results are truly an outcome of practice.

Kundai Nhongo, Band 7.5 in Academic IELTS.

Kundai lives in Zimbabwe. She got Band 7.5 in IELTS, it was her first attempt and she had less than 3 weeks to prepare. Kundai was aiming at Band 8, and she got pretty close! As they say, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”.

Kundai credits her success to the book ‘Target Band 7’ that she used during her exam preparation. She said,

“When I opened the book ‘Target Band 7‘, and read through the first few pages, my confidence was boosted 135%, I tell you. Then the practice exercises were just but excellent, captivating, demanding – but very, very rewarding. I am so happy, I am now working on my registration with Social Work England, and I know that in no time, I will be in the UK.

Your book, your advice, your tips, the skills, your encouragement… Your words… I do not have adequate words to express how grateful I am.

All the tips in ‘Target Band 7’ are soo practical and so true.

Thank you so much. I am telling all my friends about ‘Target Band 7’.”

It is a pleasure to introduce Amanda from Malaysia, one of IELTS results competition winners and a proud owner of IELTS Band 8. Today Amanda is sharing her IELTS preparation tips because there is a very good chance that what worked for her, will work for you.

In her winner’s interview Amanda said,

“It feels amazing to have won the competition. And of course I’d love to share my preparation tips.

When I first registered for IELTS, I had no idea on how this exam would be as it was my first time taking it. I also had a very limited preparation period. While it is important to have a good command of English, it is more important to familiarise yourself with the exam format and points breakdown.

For the Reading and Listening components, I had to work on my short attention span issue. I lengthened my attention span by reading articles daily, slowly increasing the number of paragraphs. When I was happy with my focusing capability, I downloaded some IELTS preparation apps that can be found on the App Store and practiced Listening and Reading mock tests.

As for Speaking, I only did as much as speaking to my reflection to help build confidence and fluency. I also got help on YouTube to watch speaking tests being carried out with remarks by the examiner at the end of the video.

As for Writing, I didn’t do so well in this component but I read a lot of example essays to prepare myself for what to expect and how to structure my essays.

And that’s how I prepared for the IELTS examination.”

Amanda Tan from Malaysia, IELTS Band 8