english-learners-test-prep-tips

[english-learners-test-prep-tips]

How to keep track of your progress for Listening and Reading

IELTS Liz (disclaimer: not sponsored + I don't actually know the person who runs the blog) has put together a really nice page that summarizes how the test is scored.

For the Listening test, you can:

Do full practice tests (the Cambridge collection of Authentic Examination Papers) and check your score against the table on the IELTS Liz page.

Take your target score and look at the number of correct answers required to get that band score. For example, to get a 6.5, you need around 26-29 correct answers, which means you need an average of 7 correct answers per part. Aim to be able to do that. If you can get more for parts that are easier (e.g. many candidates feel that Part 1 is easier), great!

For the Reading test, you can:

Take your target score and look at the number of correct answers required to get that band score. For example, to get a 6.5 in the academic test, you need around 27-29 correct answers, which means you need an average of 7 correct answers per passage. This works because I personally feel that the reading passages are all approximately the same difficulty, and a lot of candidates feel like the subject of the passage affects that as well. You also want to make sure that you can get about the same number of correct answers per passage with different types of questions.

[english-learners-test-prep-tips]

Time Management for IELTS

A lot of IELTS candidates actually already have the necessary language skills to get the score they need to get to university (usually somewhere between a Band 6 and a Band 7), but do not manage to get the best score they can due to timing issues! Here's one way you can effectively manage your timing during the test:

Listening:

In the listening test, the audio has all the instructions you need. Follow them the best you can.

In the preparation time you have before each part actually starts, make sure that you quickly skim the questions and use strategies that can help you focus better on the audio (e.g. predicting the answer type etc)

In the 30 seconds time that you have at the end of each part, make sure to check all of your answers. This includes spelling, plural/tense markers (-s/-d) as well as making sure that you've followed the instructions for each question type.

Reading:

These tips are mainly for the academic module, but you can also adapt this for the general training test.

The reading test is 60 minutes long and consists of 3 passages. For every passage (aka 20 minutes), you should try to:

Read the passage very quickly for about 3 minutes to make sure that 1) you know what the text is about and 2) you know what is at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the text.

Spend one minute on each question, making sure to underline/highlight the part of the passage that supports your answer. This will add up to about 14 minutes per passage. If you cannot answer a question within the minute, put a(n educated) guess and move on. Come back to it later.

This should leave you with about 10 minutes of time at the end. The reading test is the best time to use the toilet if you need to tbh so that's one thing you can use this time for. Otherwise, you should go back to answer the questions you couldn't, or check your answers again.

Writing:

The writing test consists of two tasks. You should try to finish Task 1 in 20 minutes and Task 2 in 40 minutes. Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1. Do what you will with this information. Some people prefer to get T1 out of the way, and then move on to T2. Other people want to make sure that they've finished the task that carries the more weight (T2) first. Whatever approach you take shouldn't matter as long as you stick to the 20'/40' timing as closely as you can. What does matter, though, is making sure that you feel secure about what you do.

Timing suggestion for Task 1:

3 minutes to analyze the task and write an outline

15 minutes to write (in an ideal scenario)

2 minutes to check for errors/edit (in an ideal scenario)

Timing suggestion for Task 2:

5 minutes to analyze the task, brainstorm ideas, and write an outline

32 minutes to write (in an ideal scenario)

3 minutes to check for errors/edit (in an ideal scenario)

Speaking:

Your examiner will be in control of the timing, so don't worry too much. At the same time, you want to make sure that you're giving just enough information - not too much, but also not too little.

Part-specific tips:

Part 1: Avoid one-word answers. Give 1-2 sentences of extra explanation.

Part 2: Speak for the entire two minutes until the examiner stops you.

Part 3: Give a direct answer to the question, making sure to support your answer with a couple of reasons and examples. At the same time, this is not a Part 2, so you should elaborate, but not speak for too long.

Tips for practicing time management:

Make sure that you do lots of practice before your test day! You want to be used to the rhythm, and not struggle to remember what to do next while you're already stressed out during the test.