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IELTS preparation tips from winners

IELTS high achievers share their secrets

The lessons Saroj learnt on his IELTS journey to Band 7.5

You may remember Saroj as one of our IELTS Results competition winners, whose success we celebrated earlier this month. Saroj is a young man from Nepal who recently took an Academic IELTS test and got Band 7.5.

According to our tradition, Saroj was invited to share his experience preparing for the test, and you will find that the lessons he learnt in his preparation for IELTS can be useful to anyone studying for the test. Bonus tip: take note of the things he skipped but wished he had done, because YOU still have time to include them in your preparation sessions!

“I am writing to thank you for this website which has helped me immensely in my preparation for IELTS academic test which I have just completed and haven gotten back the results. Honestly, I used free resources from your website and others, and am genuinely in disbelief still that I did well.

Basically, the way I prepared was to practice the materials available on the website as much as possible. For writing, I would try to actually write an essay before reading the sample answer for that essay question or at least to have brainstormed ideas prior.

For reading, I would read through the questions first before actually reading the passages, in anticipation of the possible matching of the themes of the passage to a question.

I honestly feel I was inadequately prepared for the speaking section as I did not prepare for it much, but speaking out loud my answers prior to looking at the answers would be helpful.

The same strategy for the writing task 1 so generally, practising and testing ourselves prior to looking at the answers as compared to simply looking at the model answers would definitely make a difference. I suppose practising under time constraints would have helped me further in my preparation.”

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


Best IELTS test result September 2022

Innocent shares his best tips for Band 8 in IELTS

Some people feel that learning best comes from one’s own mistakes; however, we at IELTS-Blog.com strongly believe that learning best comes from other people’s experiences.

If you’ve been reading the blog for the past few weeks, you probably remember Innocent from Zimbabwe, who got Band 8.0 in IELTS and won in the monthly results competition. We are fortunate to be able to share his top advice today.

Innocent said,

Band 8 in IELTS“I am elated to have won the July 2022 competition, hats off to all of you who were part of my IELTS journey, especially the people at IELTS-blog.com. It certainly would have been a lot tougher and my score wouldn’t have been as high as 8. Yet, I only utilized a small fraction of what the blog had on offer.

I would like to promptly acknowledge the fact that to most IELTS examination candidates the test represents a formidable hurdle in that dream career path. Understandably, it induces anxiety because of its importance. This is why test takers desperately need reliable educational material and support which you readily provide. Thank you!

My recommendations to other candidates? Practice, practice and more supervised practice. Practice is indispensable in this test. It gives the candidate a sense of preparedness which significantly lowers anxiety and makes the test a little more predictable and enjoyable, as opposed to being feared. This builds a positive mindset and gives one a feeling of being in control which I consider vital for any candidate. We can’t afford to be defeated mentally.

Undeniably, practice is even better when there is feedback, because you get confirmation of your progress and make necessary adjustments. This ultimately raises your band score.

I also implore those preparing for the exam to use a holistic approach. What do I mean? We all know that the test comprises of 4 skills (Speaking, Listening, Writing and Reading). Instead of viewing the four as separate and practicing them individually, I found it incredibly beneficial to use one part of the test to improve my skills in other parts of the test. For example, after a reading exercise I would use it to enrich my vocabulary pool and improve my writing by analyzing and copying the style in the reading text. It saves time and ensures that all the categories of the test are improved simultaneously. Similarly, a listening exercise can be used to further skills in speaking and other areas. Remember, there is a great deal of paraphrasing and the use of synonyms in IELTS.

To conclude, I believe practice, a holistic approach and positivity are the keys to success. You can do it!”
Best IELTS test result July 2022