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Anil and Rajinder’s journey to Band 7.5 in IELTS

Anil and Rajinder’s journey to Band 7.5 in IELTS

We met Anil and Rajinder through IELTS-Blog when they enrolled in our monthly results competition. They both come from India, and have achieved the same band score, 7.5 Overall, but each in a different way. Today we would like to share their stories.

Anil’s first language is Hindi. Here is what he did to get Band 7.5 in IELTS:

Band 7.5 in IELTS“Lots of practice with right techniques is my key to success. Every morning I devoted 2 hours to IELTS preparation, because in mornings you are fresh and more receptive. I got a significant help from the book Target Band 7 regarding techniques and 10 practice tests of Listening and Reading really helped me to sharpen my skills further.

In my view every part of the exam should be given equal importance and focus, be it Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking. Test questions on IELTS blog are of great help in understanding the type of questions asked in recently held IELTS exams.

Practice speaking with a partner/friend and record every session to review your strengths and shortcomings.

In my view the IELTS test is all about time management, you really have to race against time during the actual test. So practicing mock tests regularly will boost your confidence many folds.

My suggestion is to relax on the day prior to the exam and eat a proper breakfast on the test day. Nothing can stop you from getting a good band score if you have practiced well.”

Rajinder’s first language is Punjabi. She had a low IELTS score in her first attempt, but wasn’t discouraged by that and managed to go from 6.5 to 7.5:

Band 7.5 in IELTS“I would like to say that practice makes perfect. In my first attempt taking the IELTS I got 6.5 and then I kept practicing with Cambridge IELTS materials.

Moreover, I started reading English newspapers without using dictionary. I had been marking tough words while reading so that I can check their exact meanings and add them to my vocabulary list. But I preferred rolling over the tough words while reading because I knew that dictionary won’t be accessible in the real IELTS exam. So I developed my ability to read and understand without knowing the meaning of some words because I tried to understand their meaning in the sense of the rest of the sentence.

For listening, I practiced with IELTS-blog listening sample papers. I know I need more and more practice in speaking and writing.”

IELTS test in Australia and Iran – February 2016 (Academic Module)

Here are the Writing and Speaking questions that two test takers from Australia and Iran remembered (their exams were apparently identical):

Writing testIELTS test in Australia

Writing task 1 (a report)

We were given a vertical bar graph showing the amount of money spent on developing countries by four different organisations. We had to summarise and explain the graph.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Some cities do not restrict how stylish and unique can be houses and offices that people construct. Do you think the advantages of this approach outweigh the disadvantages?

Speaking test

Interview

– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Where are you from?
– Do you work or study?
– Do you like to visit museums?
– Do you go out with your friends?
– When does it usually happen?
– How often do you go out?
– Do you like watching movies?
– What kind of movies do you like the most?
– How often do you go to the cinema?
– Do you think children nowadays watch different movies compared to the past?

Cue Card

Describe a hand craft that you made at school. Please say

– What was it?
– Why did you like it?
– Were you good at it?

Discussion

– What hand-made items do people give as gifts to each other?
– Are there advantages to giving a hand-made gift?
– Do many people give handmade gifts nowadays? Why?