We've been teaching this test for a very long time.
We see people make the same mistakes over and over again...
...and that's okay! There's a lot of misinformation out there.
So that's why we wrote this guide.
By implementing these changes, people have seen their band scores improve by up to 1 band score!
Are you making any of these mistakes? Let's see below!
The 3 Biggest Mistakes people make on...
SPEAKING
Just remember: the examiners are looking for natural, everyday language. Your tone should be informal, and you should speak as if you’re talking to a neighbor or friend!
Mistake #1
People sound too formal and academic.
They use words that sound strange and awkward - words that you’d never hear a native speaker use in real life.
Remember, you want to sound natural. And you want your tone to be conversational and friendly!
Mistake #2
People don’t get specific enough.
They'll say general things, like “My mother is a very kind person...she’s smart...she’s nice…” This doesn’t show the examiner that you know specific vocabulary and language!
If you want to say that your mom is kind, give a specific example! Say that she volunteers for the local animal shelter every weekend, for instance.
Mistake #3
People speak too fast.
We get it; you're nervous, and that's totally normal!
Take a deep breath, smile and slow down a little bit.
More Speaking advice
As you're studying for the IELTS exam, you need to do a speaking test EVERY DAY, and you should speak out loud.
Talk to a teacher, a friend, your dog or in front of a mirror!
Make sure you’re practicing answers to different questions and reviewing ones you've already practiced, saying them out loud. This will help your fluency and confidence.
The 3 Biggest Mistakes people make on...
READING
The grading here is pretty straightforward. There are 40 questions, and you need to get as many questions right as you can. A computer or scantron system will grade your Reading section.
Mistake #1
People “skim and scan” the Reading passages, which means they SPEED through the reading.
We get why people do this - they feel like they need to read super fast or else they’ll run out of time!
But what they don’t realize is that this actually wastes more time!
People end up missing the answers altogether because they’re reading too fast; then, they have to read go back and read everything all over again!
Just read at a normal pace - not too fast and not too slowly.
Mistake #2
People start reading the passage right away.
You actually don't want to do this: You should always read the first question first!
After you read the first question, go to the passage and start reading sentence by sentence at a normal pace.
Then, STOP when you find the answer to question 1!
Mark the correct answer.
Now, read question 2!
Then, go back to the passage where you left off, and continue reading sentence by sentence until you find the answer to question 2.
You'll see that the answers are in order for most question types!
Mistake #3
People don’t read the directions.
They go right to the questions and ignore them!
Please, please read the directions.
For instance, if the question type is "complete the note" and they ask you to fill in each blank with one word, only write one word.
More Reading advice
Here's our best advice for the Reading section: take a lot of practice tests!
Reading news articles in English you found online is good, but not enough for a high score! You need to practice with real tests!
You can go to the Cambridge and British Council websites to take a free practice test online. For even more practice tests, you can buy a Cambridge book with four authentic examination papers in it!
The 3 Biggest Mistakes people make on...
WRITING
Basically, examiners are looking to see that you can write clearly in English. That’s it. They’re not looking for fancy words, complicated sentences or a PhD-level dissertation on the topic.
They want to see an essay that MAKES SENSE, answers the question and includes details and examples.
Mistake #1
People make their essays too complicated.
They use big “fancy” words and write really long sentences, thinking it will get them a high score.
This is a huge mistake! If your essay is not easy to read, it’s impossible to get a high score.
Keep your words simple and natural! Shorten those long, clunky sentences!
Mistake #2
People use robotic transitions like “First of all,” “Second of all,” “Third of all” and “On one hand,” “On the other hand.”
Do not use any of these transitions to start any of your paragraphs!
They sound mechanical and robotic, like you memorized transitions to use in every single essay you write!
Your transitions have to sound more natural and specific to the essay topic.
Mistake #3
People's Task 2 essays are too disorganized.
Before you start writing, take a couple of minutes to plan what you'll write for each paragraph.
And make sure your Task 2 essay is 4 paragraphs long:
Introduction
Main Paragraph #1
Main Paragraph #2
Conclusion
Skip a line between each paragraph on the page.
More Writing advice
We can't say this enough: do not use big words that no one ever uses. For example, try to stay away from words like “plethora,” “aspects” and “elements” - these words don't contribute much to what you're trying to say. Your vocabulary score comes from SPECIFIC words about a particular topic - not BIG, FANCY words.
Also, make sure you read sample band-9 answers on the websites we mentioned before, like Cambridge and British Council. You can also look at the essays we've written
here.
And of course, you should write as many essays as you can before test day! Have them corrected by teachers or native speakers.
The 3 Biggest Mistakes people make on...
LISTENING
You'll listen to four audios and answer 40 questions as you listen. They could be multiple choice or fill-in-the blank. There are a lot of different question types you could see.
Mistake #1
People don't read ahead.
Use every free moment to read the questions before the audio starts!
Try to read all of the questions for the specific audio you're about to listen to.
Mistake #2
People lose focus and get lost.
This happens more than you think.
To prevent this from happening, you need to read the questions before the audio starts.
As you're reading the questions, underline key words, or words that stand out to you, for each one.
When you hear one of your key words - get EXCITED! The answer's coming next! And you won't miss it!
Mistake #3
People get too nervous when they miss a question or two.
You're human - you might miss the answer to one of the questions.
MOVE ON!
Don't get hung up on it. Keep moving and pretend it never happened - you can still get the rest of the questions right!
More Listening advice
The people who do the best on the Listening section take the most practice tests.
After you take a practice listening test, go back and take it again and again to make sure you can hear all the right answers this time around. Once you can confidently get a 40 out of 40 on that one listening test, only then move on to the next one.
We hope this helped!
We have easy-to-use strategies, including the write-like-you-speak method, the 13-sentence formula and the think-like-a-14-year-old technique, to raise your IELTS score to a 7 or higher on every section of the exam.
These strategies have helped one of our students go from 6.5 to an 8 in Writing in just one class. Another has gone from a 6 to an 8 in Speaking in just three classes. We corrected one essay for our student, and he went from a 6.5 to a 7.5 with just ONE correction.
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