Category Archives: IELTS Preparation

Best IELTS top ten tips.

info-31185_1280Recently I received an email from one of the readers of this site asking me for a list of my top ten best IELTS tips.

Obviously everyone who sits the IELTS Test wants to maximize their score so I’m going to share with you ten of the tips I have shared with my students over the years.  Please note that these tips are in no particular order.

Best IELTS Tip One

Prepare, prepare, prepare!  The best IELTS preparation is divided into two parts; you need to both improve your English language and understand and know the layout of the test.

These two factors are equally important as obviously it’s your English language ability that’s being tested here but let me tell you, I know many native speakers who would find taking the IELTS Test challenging because they are not aware of how the test operates.

So, my suggestion?  Find yourself a good teacher; either at a language school or online (keep your eye on this site for an online IELTS tutoring course early next year.  Secondly, make sure you do plenty of practice tests and exercises before you sit the test.

Best IELTS Tip Two

Read the instructions to each part of the test.  A lot of candidates think they can save time by skipping reading the instructions but this is a foolish move as the instructions often contain necessary information on how to answer the questions correctly; for example in the Listening Test, the instructions often tell you where the conversation is taking place or in the Reading Test, the instructions may tell you how many words to use in an answer (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS).

Best IELTS Tip Three

In the IELTS Reading Test and the IELTS Writing Test, do NOT take any notice of what the other candidates are doing.  Work at your own pace, follow my tips for writing a plan for your writing; don’t just dive in.  If you’ve done some timed practice tests as I always suggest, you should have an idea of how to manage your time in the hour long test.

Now, I’m about to say the opposite for the IELTS Listening Test!  One of the most common problems that students who’ve taken the IELTS Test report back to me is that they ‘got lost’ in the Listening Test.  It’s not always a question of language here; sometimes you simply lose concentration for a second and ‘Oh know’, you’re lost!  Okay, don’t panic, try and catch up and listen out for what the other students are doing.  If you hear lots of people turning the page, then guess what?  They’re on to the question at the top of the next page.  I actually had a student in this exact situation; he lost concentration during the Listening Test (he wasn’t very good at listening in his native Punjabi either) but he managed to salvage the situation and get back on track when he heard the other candidates turn the page.

Best IELTS Tip Four

One of the most common complaints I hear about the IELTS Reading and Writing Tests is that there isn’t enough time.  Well, the test is what it is so we’ve got to learn techniques to deal with it.

You should read as much as possible and train yourself to pick out the main ideas as quickly as possible.  Some students of mine have had success with books on speed reading techniques (this, of course, depends on how much time you have at your disposal).  In any case, you do need to do plenty of timed IELTS practice reading tests.

I always tell my students to write a quick plan for their IELTS Writing.  Students often feel; ‘I don’t have time to write a plan; it will slow me down’.  In fact the opposite is true; if you’ve laid out a short plan, you know exactly what you’re going to write about and can get right into it.  If your native language does not have the same script (alphabet) as English, it can sometimes be more difficult to write quickly.  I always give my students timed exercises where they have to copy out paragraphs in English.  Remember that in Task 1, for example, you have to write about 150 words in 20 minutes.

You should listen to English as much as possible; you can listen to the radio in English or select the English language option (without subtitles) on a DVD.  If you live in a country where English is the native language, you should try to spend as much time with English speakers to improve both your listening and speaking.  If you are studying in your own country, why not get a group together and organise one evening a week where you speak only English.

Best IELTS Tip Five

Never leave an answer blank in the Reading and Listening Tests.  There are many different question types you may have to answer such as multiple choice and short answer questions.  If you really don’t know the answer, try to make an ‘educated guess’; that is, use logic to work out the answer.  If you leave a blank, you have definitely not scored a point, if you guess well, you will!  Make sure you follow the rules of the question, for example NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS means just that!

Best IELTS Tip Six

Try to eliminate simple grammar mistakes before the test; for example the use of tenses and articles.  You can revise the rules about articles in this post Best IELTS Grammar for Writing and Speaking – Articles.

Best IELTS Tip Seven

In the Speaking Test, if you are asked a question give more than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Be helpful and willing to answer questions. This is your chance to shine!  Don’t waste the opportunity.  The Examiner wants to hear YOU speak, not his/her own voice!  You should aim to be speaking about 75/80% of the time.  Before your test, check out the Speaking Band Descriptors and think about how to be as fluent as possible whilst maintaining good grammar and pronunciation features.

Best IELTS Tip Eight

Keep up to date with current affairs; read a newspaper in English every day if possible.  Not only will this improve your English, it will also help you to answer questions in a more interesting way in the Writing and Speaking Tests.  In my opinion, only by reading widely can you improve your vocabulary which will help in all four parts of the test.

Best IELTS Tip Nine

Make sure you follow the guidelines in the IELTS Writing Test; 20 minutes and 150 words for Task 1 and 40 minutes and 250 words for Task 2.  Task 2 carries two-thirds of the marks so do not cut into your Task 2 time, by writing pages and pages on Task 1!

As a general rule, I usually recommend that my students write between 150 and 180 words for task 1 and 250 and 300 words for task 2.  The ideal would be to write just a little more than the minimum number of words required for each task.

Best IELTS Tip Ten

Make sure you are in ‘peak condition’ for your test; get a good night’s sleep the night before, eat a good breakfast on the day (and make sure you take your lunch if your Speaking Test is in the afternoon).  Plan your trip to the IELTS Test Centre so that you arrive in plenty of time.

You also need to learn to relax as much as possible (easy to say I know!); I know that the IELTS Test is very important to you but as my late grandfather used to say to me; ‘it’s only an exam’.  You need to enter the test in a calm frame of mind; ‘OK, this is only a test; I’m going to do the best I can, hopefully get the band score I want but if not, I’ll learn from the experience’.

Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!

Best IELTS Grammar for Writing and Speaking – Articles.

depositphotos_7932028-Quill-pen-and-ink-well-with-paper-scrolldepositphotos_12630060-Two-businessmen-standing-and-talking-with-speech-bubbles-on-white-backgroundIn order to get the best IELTS score you can, it is important to concentrate on all areas of your English Language learning; Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

If you look at the IELTS Writing and Speaking Band Descriptors in the links section in the bottom right hand corner, you will see that one of the criteria the Examiner focuses on is grammar.

In the light of this, I’ve decided to dedicate today’s post to an area of grammar that almost all my students (past and present) find troublesome; articles.

I’m going to divide this post into three sections; the indefinite article, the definite article, no article.

The Indefinite Article.

A and An are called the indefinite article.

  • We use a when the word begins with a consonant sound and an when the word begins with a vowel sound.

e.g.  a cat, an elephant

a university (the word begins with the  consonant sound /j/.

an hour (the word begins with a vowel sound /aʊ/.

The difficulty with words beginning with ‘h’ is that in British English, the ‘h’ is sometimes pronounced as a consonant sound (/h/) and is sometimes silent so is pronounced as a vowel sound.

The following words are pronounced with a silent ‘h’ in British English; hour, honest, honour


  • We use a / an when we are talking about something for the first time.

She is wearing a red dress and a black jacket.
They have a dog.

  • We use a / an to say what kind of person or thing someone or something is (often with an adjective, or to say it belongs to a particular group.

They have an enormous house.

An Aston Martin is a very expensive car.

A shark is a fish, a whale is a mammal.

A bicycle  is a vehicle.

  • We use a / an to talk about someone’s job.

My wife is an actress.
He works as a real estate agent.

The Definite Article.

The is called the definite article.

  • We use the when we are talking about something that has already been mentioned.

She is wearing a red dress and a black jacket.  The dress is very stylish.
They have a dog. The dog is black and white.

  • We use the when we are talking about a specific person or thing, or if there is only one, or if it is clear which one we are talking about.

He chose a book and started to read. — one of many books
He chose the book that his sister had recommended. — a specific book
He took the newspaper and started to read. — there is only one newspaper.
Can you turn on the computer? — it’s clear we are talking about the computer in this room
She has to see the doctor on Friday. — it’s clear we are talking about her usual doctor
She needs to see a doctor. — not any specific doctor
Icarus flew too close to the sun — there is only one sun
The best city I’ve ever visited is Rome. — there can only be one best city.

  • With school, university, prison, hospital, church, bed, work and home we use the when we are talking about a particular one, and no article when we are talking about the idea of school, university…

The church on our street is very modern.  — a particular church
I go to church every Sunday — the idea of church, not a particular building
My husband works at the hospital outside the city centre.
She had to go to hospital.
He hasn’t finished the work I asked him to do yet..
I wasn’t feeling well yesterday so I didn’t go to work.
The home where I grew up is bigger than the one we live in now..
I had to work late and didn’t get home until 8pm.

  • We use the with singular countable nouns to talk about a type of thing.

The crocodile is very dangerous. — this type of animal
The crocodile in the river is very big. — a particular one
She plays the guitar. — not a particular guitar but this type of instrument
She bought the guitar she is playing in Spain. — a particular one

  • We use the + adjective to talk about a group of people (including nationalities).

I always give money to the poor.
The unemployed receive money from the government.
The Brazilians play excellent football. .

  • We use no article with continents, countries, regions, cities, streets, mountains, lakes and parks.

Asia, Germany, Texas, Sydney, Main St., Mount Everest, Lake Geneva, Hyde Park
— we use the if the country contains Kingdom, Republic, State, Union

the United Kingdom, the People’s Republic of China

  • We use the with plural names of people and places.

The Wilsons, The Netherlands, The United States, The Virgin Islands, The Alps

  • We use the with oceans, seas, rivers and canals.

The Pacific Ocean, The Mediterranean Sea, The Nile, The Suez Canal

  • We use the with north, south, east and west to talk about the location of a place within another place, but no article to compare the location of two places.

Sweden is in the north of Europe.
France is north of Spain.
— we use no article with northern, southern, eastern and western:
Greece is in southern Europe

No Article.

  • We use no article when we are talking about people or things in general.

Avocados are very good for you. — avocados in general
The avocados growing on the tree in my garden are almost ready to eat. — specific avocados.
Italian women are very stylish. – Italian women in general
The Italian women at the party after the fashion show were very nice. — specific Italian women.

  • With school, university, prison, hospital, church, bed, work and home we use the when we are talking about a particular one, and no article when we are talking about the idea of school, university…

The church on our street is very modern.  — a particular church
I go to church every Sunday — the idea of church, not a particular building
My husband works at the hospital outside the city centre.
She had to go to hospital.
He hasn’t finished the work I asked him to do yet..
I wasn’t feeling well yesterday so I didn’t go to work.
The home where I grew up is bigger than the one we live in now..
I had to work late and didn’t get home until 8pm.

  • We use no article with continents, countries, regions, cities, streets, mountains, lakes and parks.

Asia, Germany, Texas, Sydney, Main St., Mount Everest, Lake Geneva, Hyde Park
— we use the if the country contains Kingdom, Republic, State, Union

the United Kingdom, the People’s Republic of China

Reminding yourself of these rules and implementing them will help improve your grammar for the IELTS Writing Test and the IELTS Speaking Test.

Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!

Best IELTS Writing Plan for Academic Task 1

Power of WordsI always encourage my students to adopt a systematic approach to their IELTS Writing.  I believe that this is necessary in order to get the best IELTS score possible.

Here’s the ‘Academic IELTS Writing Task 1 plan’ I give my students:

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Academic IELTS Writing Task 1 plan

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1.  Look at the task.  What is the topic?  What do you have to do?

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2.  Decide what the time period is (look at the axis).  Is it

  • finished?
  • not finished?
  • future (projected figures)?

Think about the verb tenses you will use.

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3.  What is the topic?  Write a sentence to introduce the information.

e.g.  The graph shows………………..

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4.  Write a general sentence to show the trend. e.g.

Generally,…………

In general,………..

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5.  Give a more in-depth description.  Give the details.

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6.  Write a sentence to conclude your writing.  e.g.

To sum up,……………………..

To summarise,…………………

In conclusion,………………….

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7.  Check your writing.

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Print off these guidelines and follow them when doing practice tests until they become habit.

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Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!

A best IELTS sample Academic essay question.

Power of WordsHere’s a sample Academic Writing Task 2 essay question.

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write an essay for a university lecturer on the following topic.

People in all modern societies use drugs, but today’s youth are experimenting with both legal and illegal drugs, and at an increasingly early age.  Some sociologists claim that parents and other members of society often set a bad example.

Discuss the causes and some effects of widespread drug-use by young people in modern day society.  Make any recommendations your feel are necessary to help fight youth drug abuse.

You are required to support your arguments with relevant information and examples based on your own ideas, knowledge and experience.

Write at least 250 words

Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!