International English Language Testing System

I E L T S

How to prepare for IELTS test

Collected and prepared by: Farough Motasemi

International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

Academic Version
to enroll in universities and other institutions of higher education

Listening

Speaking

IELTS

Reading

to gain work experience, or for immigration purposes

General Training Version

Writing

Speaking (S)
This part of IELTS test is divided into three different sections including an introductory (part A) , a monologue (part B), and a dialogue/discussion (part C).

Speaking (S)

Part A
Part B

Introduction Monologue Discussion

Part C

Speaking (S)
In the actual IELTS Speaking Test, the interview lasts for about 11-14 minutes.
Part A: in the first part of IELTS speaking module the interviewer will be asking questions about general topics such as your name, hobbies, family, native city etc. (4 to 5 minutes)

Speaking module

Part B (monologue): in the second part of the IELTS speaking module you will be given about 60 seconds to prepare a two-minute talk on a given topic. (2 to 3 minutes plus 1 minute for preparation)

Part C (dialogue or discussion): this part includes an advanced discussion, analysis, prediction, description, evaluation, opinion, cause and effect, possibilities (4 to 5 minutes)

Speaking (S)
Speaking module improvement:
There are few ways to improve the speaking module in IELTS test which are highlighted in this section:
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Listen to VOA, BBC, 60 minutes, 6 minutes, or any other podcast and audio files to be familiar with the accent and improve your knowledge on the general topics such as travel, movie, education, flower, fashion, etc. (The best time for this activity is in the bus, taxi, and any other free/dead time.) Listen to the previous speaking sample tests with high band score (7.0 above). Watch the available speaking test video samples in youtube or any other website to be familiar with the exam condition, type of questions, and improve your answers. Use the Cambridge IELTS exam books (1 to 7) and try to took at least one test per day during the preparation period. Speak as much as you can in English.

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All the aforementioned ways to improve speaking module are available in the IELTS package.

Listening (L)
The Listening module of the IELTS consists of a total of 40 questions (10 per section)with total time of 25 to 35 min.

Listening (L)

Part 1

Part 2
Part 3 Part 4

The listening module comprises four sections. Each section begins with a short introduction telling the candidates about the situation and the speakers. Then they have some time to look through the questions. The first three sections have a break in the middle allowing candidates to look at the remaining questions but the last section does not have any break. Each section is heard only once.

Listening (L)
Listening module improvement and details:
This module is the first section in the exam day. It is one of the sections that can be improved so much in a short time. In the listening module, students should answer 40 question in four different sections. Each section includes 10 questions. There are many ways to improve this section score but here we are suggesting a few of them which are effective.
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Listen to VOA, BBC, 60 minutes, 6 minutes, or any other podcast and audio files to be familiar with the accent and improve your knowledge on the general topics such as travel, movie, education, flower, fashion, etc. (The best time for this activity is in the bus, taxi, and any other free/dead time.) [speaking and listening improvement both together] Watching the series, movies, documentaries, or any other materials everyday on schedule (i.e. each night watch one documentary named how do they do it (20 min), one episode of how I met your mother (20 min), and a movie (90 min). It will help you in the long term.) Use the Cambridge IELTS exam books (1 to 7) and try to took at least one book (4 tests) per week during the preparation period. Try to write down some of the files which you have the related text (like VOA). It will improve your skill of spelling as well. (BEST ONE!)

Reading (R)
In the academic module the reading test comprises three sections, with 3 texts normally followed by 13 or 14 questions for a total of 40 questions overall. The General test also has 3 sections. However the texts are shorter, so there can be up to 5 texts to read.

There are seven main formats of IELTS reading questions:

Reading (R)

1. Heading

Passage 1
Passage 2 Passage 3

Easy

2. Summary 3. True / False / Not Given OR Yes / No/ Not Given

Med.

4. Completing sentence / table 5. Open question 6. Multiple choice 7. Matching

Hard

Reading (R)
Reading module improvement and details:
This module is the second section in the exam day. It is a section that can not be improved easily and needs time and exercise. In the reading module, students should answer 40 question in three passages (academic module). Each passage includes 13-14 questions. There are many ways to improve this section score but here we are suggesting a few of them which are effective.
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1st of all, READ AS MUCH AS you can! News paper, story books, online news. My very 1st suggestion is the BBC website (www.bbc.co.uk) which has the update news in the 1st page. Read some topics on social, politic, sport, travel, technology, art, environment, etc. Use the Cambridge IELTS exam books (1 to 7) and try to took at least one book (4 tests) per week during the preparation period.

Reading & Listening

This table can be used for the Listening & Reading tests to convert raw scores to band scores. This chart is a guide only, because sometimes the scores adjust slightly depending on how difficult the exam is.
Conversion Table Band Score 9.0 8.5 8.0 7.5 7.0 6.5 6.0 Raw Score 39-40 37-38 35-36 32-34 30-31 26-29 23-25 Band Score 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 Raw Score 18-22 16-17 13-15 10-12 8-9 6-7 4-5

Writing (W)
In the Academic module, there are two tasks: in Task 1 candidates describe a diagram, graph, process or chart, and in Task 2 they respond to an argument. In the General Training module, there are also two tasks: in Task 1 candidates write a letter or explain a situation, and in Task 2 they write an essay. IELTS Writing Task 1 In the first part, you are given a task based on some graphic or pictorial information. You are expected to write a descriptive report of at least 150 words on the information provided.

Reading (R)

Task 1

20%

Task 2

80%

IELTS tests your ability to produce two quite different pieces of writing in a fairly short period of time. The test is divided into two parts and you are allowed one hour to complete both parts.

IELTS Writing Task 2 The second task is more demanding. You are expected to produce a written argument on a given topic and to organize your answer clearly, given some examples to support your points. You will have to write at least 250 words and, as Task 2 is longer than Task 1, you are advised to spend approximately 40 minutes on this task and 20 minutes on the first task.

Writing (W)
Writing module improvement:
There are few ways to improve the writing module in IELTS test which are highlighted in this section:
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Reading and analyzing the past high band score IELTS sample writings which are provided in the package (Writing sample IELTS task 1 (54 samples) & 2 (18 samples)). Answer to all TOEFL essay questions is a file provided by TOEFL examination center. For each topic they provide few samples. So my recommendation is to ONLY read the samples to memorize the sentence structures, connecting words, new vocabulary for improving the writing level, etc. Write everyday on one general topic (task 2) which is the most important part for the writing module. Try to check it with another person to figure out your progress and weaknesses. Use the available websites to get the latest writing samples on both tasks but my recommendation is to focus on official materials like TOEFL essay questions. Use the Cambridge IELTS exam books (1 to 7) and try to took at least one test per day during the preparation period. READ and WRITE as much as you can!

Vocabulary
Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the largest challenges in learning a English as the second language
Importance of vocabulary for IELTS test An extensive vocabulary aids expressions and communication (Listening and Speaking sections). Vocabulary size has been directly linked to reading comprehension. Having a larger vocabulary helps to write more comprehensive passages in the test.

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Thank you & Wish you all the best!