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Recent IELTS exams

Real students tell about their recent IELTS exams: IELTS questions, topics, tasks, answers.

Update from a General IELTS exam, Saudi Arabia

Listening test

It was of an acceptable difficulty.
Section 1. A conversation between two people about finding a resort.
Section 2. A continuation of Section 1 where we had to fill in the blanks.
Section 3. A lecture about fatty acids.
Section 4. Don’t remember.

Reading test

Passage 1. Libraries and Services Events.
Passage 2. Bellingham College (How to apply).
Passage 3. Flax in New Zealand.
Passage 4. Zenda Airways Language Level Test Entry.

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (a letter)

Write a letter to a financial organization that gives money to students who would like to take a part-time course. Mention
– your qualifications and work experience
– details about the course
– how this course will help you

Writing Task 2 (an essay)

Living in the city is uncomfortable, why? What are the reasons and problems? What can be done to solve these problems?

Update from an Academic IELTS exam, Scotland

A student from Scotland shared with us her IELTS experience. Thanks, Eva!

Listening test

Section 1. A primary school teacher booked a trip to sea-life centre (or something similar) (we had the fill in the gap tasks and multiple choice questions)
Section 2. A college lecturer presented information what to ask for on a university open day (we had to answer multiply choice questions and they were quite confusing)
Section 3.A university lecture gave information on water conservation (I think this was the easiest part, filling in the gaps only, you could hear the answers very clearly)
Section 4. Don’t remember.

Reading test

Passage 1. Bigger choice may lead to confusion and depression.
Passage 2. Birds, hatching, nesting, looking after the young (probably the most difficult, but the questions were easy to answer).
Passage 3. Life on Mars (easy to read and understand).
Tasks for all of them: multiple choice questions and true/false/not given

Writing

Writing Task 1 (a report)
We had a chart and a table describing the students working part-time in different age groups, number of hours a week and number of years to complete their course.

Writing Task 2 (an essay)

Should charity organizations provide aid to countries where it is needed, or should they only help their own country?
(I think this was a really silly topic, I had no ideas or vocabulary I could impress with)

Speaking test

Interview

Questions about myself, such as what is my name, do I visit parks, how are they important?

Cue Card

Describe a traditional event in your country. Please say:
– who attends it,
– when and where it happens,
– what people do in this event.

Discussion

– Have you forgotten about some traditions?
– Which ones? (my answer: “Well, if we forgotten the traditions than I cannot remember them, obviously, can I ?!”)
or
– If you believe that losing traditions is a part of evolution, do you think that Christmas will be canceled as well? (My answer: “That’s impossible, as long as Santa Clause lives, they can’t be canceled! [laugh].