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IELTS Test Results competition

IELTS Results competition winners in July 2011

It seems that the number of winners in our results competition is growing from month to month. I am very happy to see this trend, because it means that more and more people are getting better scores in IELTS. And since the exam is not getting easier, these people must be doing something right! Which is great news to us, because we get to ask the high scorers for tips and advice, and normally they are happy to share.

In July we had 14 lucky winners – well, “lucky” may not be the right word here. Getting a good score in IELTS is rarely to do with luck. Much more often it requires dedicated work and lots of practice, but then you get the reward – a key to the brighter future, a score that opens doors for you.

Without any further introduction, I give you the winners:

Academic Module – 1st place

  • Viral Upadhyay from India, Band 8.5

Academic Module – 2nd place

  • Afroza Shameen from Bangladesh, Band 8
  • Asad Ejaz Butt from Pakistan, Band 8
  • Vivekananda Kalepu from India, Band 8
  • Thanh Tam Nguyen from Vietnam, Band 8

Academic Module – 3rd place

  • Lalit Donakonda, Band 7.5
  • Nausheen Ashia from India, Band 7.5

General Training Module – 1st place

  • Abdul Rehman from Pakistan, Band 8.5

General Training Module – 2nd place

  • Meerah Hafeez from Pakistan, Band 8
  • Pratik Patel from India, Band 8
  • Priyanka Rama Prasad from India, Band 8
  • Shujaat Ali from Pakistan, Band 8

General Training Module – 3rd place

  • Vijayanand Ramani from India, Band 7.5
  • Shishir Kumar from India, Band 7.5

Congratulations to happy owners of these outstanding results! We are sending the special winners’ certificates to your emails, and your results will be displayed in the IELTS-Blog hall of fame.

But I guess the BIG question on everyone’s mind now is about HOW the winners achieved their scores. All we can say at this stage is that Afroza Shameen and Thanh Tam Nguyen used the book “Target Band 7” in their exam preparation, and that Pratik Patel used our Writing correction service. However, I am sure that the winners will be happy to share their secrets themselves, to help others achieve better results in IELTS.

Everyone, let’s give our winners a round of applause! And please, do join our monthly results competition – click here to find out how.

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!