From seven to eight

[laura]

Hi, I recently took my IELTS exam, and I didn't achieve the results i wanted. I got 8.5 in listening, 9 in reading, 7 in writing and 7 in speaking; overall 8. I need to get an 8 in each module, so I'm planning on taking the exam again.

The thing is I am not quite sure how to turn those sevens into eights. For my previous exam I practiced writing essays and speaking for two minutes on different topics. Even though I know I could use a lot more practice on this, I was thinking on trying a different approach, I just not sure how.

Since I don't have too much time to study, the only things I did besides practicing specific IELTS exercises, was reading novels in English, and listening to TED talks. I was hoping someone could give me more ideas on how to use my time in a more productive way.

Thank you, Laura

[OnlineEnglishTeacher]

Hi, I recently took my IELTS exam, and I didn't achieve the results i wanted. I got 8.5 in listening, 9 in reading, 7 in writing and 7 in speaking; overall 8. I need to get an 8 in each module, so I'm planning on taking the exam again.

The thing is I am not quite sure how to turn those sevens into eights. For my previous exam I practiced writing essays and speaking for two minutes on different topics. Even though I know I could use a lot more practice on this, I was thinking on trying a different approach, I just not sure how.

Since I don't have too much time to study, the only things I did besides practicing specific IELTS exercises, was reading novels in English, and listening to TED talks. I was hoping someone could give me more ideas on how to use my time in a more productive way.

Thank you, Laura

How is your handwriting? One of my Skype IELTS students got 6 for writing from studying with an offline tutor and then studied by Skype me with and got an 8 after about 10-20 classes only during which I advised them on their handwriting. You can upload a scan of your writing below for me to review. Also did you upload your speaking for analysis already on this site?

[laura]

Hi! Thank you for your answer. Yes, my handwriting is not too good, i should probably work on that. I don't think that was my problem during the test since I was kind of stucked so I wasn't writing too fast, but I'll look at that. I didn't know you could upload your speaking here, I'll do that soon. Thank you!

[academic]

Congratulations Laura!!
Even if you aim at a higher score, this score is still quite high!
My advice will be try to be relaxed, probably you were getting anxious when you realized that you are not writing fast enough!
It is obvious that you have the what it takes to 'conquer' IELTS!
Keep on doing what you did before the exam.
Cheers

[Chi]

How is your handwriting? One of my Skype IELTS students got 6 for writing from studying with an offline tutor and then studied by Skype me with and got an 8 after about 10-20 classes only during which I advised them on their handwriting. You can upload a scan of your writing below for me to review. Also did you upload your speaking for analysis already on this site?

One of my friends got really high in writing, 8 or 8.5 in academic IELTS. His handwriting is so bad (trust me, even with his best effort to write clearly, it is really hard to read, and this is not only my opinion) I don't now how the examiners could read what he wrote, but apparently they could! I guess most examiners are familiar with all kind of scribbles. Of course it's always in your favour to try making your writing readable

[OnlineEnglishTeacher]

How is your handwriting? One of my Skype IELTS students got 6 for writing from studying with an offline tutor and then studied by Skype me with and got an 8 after about 10-20 classes only during which I advised them on their handwriting. You can upload a scan of your writing below for me to review. Also did you upload your speaking for analysis already on this site?

One of my friends got really high in writing, 8 or 8.5 in academic IELTS. His handwriting is so bad (trust me, even with his best effort to write clearly, it is really hard to read, and this is not only my opinion) I don't now how the examiners could read what he wrote, but apparently they could! I guess most examiners are familiar with all kind of scribbles. Of course it's always in your favour to try making your writing readable

Due to the price and importance of the IELTS, I recommend my Skype IELTS students to write their essays on paper and then copy to a computer after for analysis, as the exam is by hand for writing and most adults may have minimal recent speed/accuracy practice.

[Chi]

Due to the price and importance of the IELTS, I recommend my Skype IELTS students to write their essays on paper and then copy to a computer after for analysis, as the exam is by hand for writing and most adults may have minimal recent speed/accuracy practice.

That is totally true. I didn't dismiss your advice to actually practice on paper at all. I found myself making a lot of spelling mistakes when I first started preparing for Ielts since I had not done much hand-writing for so long. Nowadays we rely too much on the computers and our fingers are more used to the keyboard, it feels really awkward when you have to write properly by hand.

[laura]

Congratulations Laura!!
Even if you aim at a higher score, this score is still quite high!
My advice will be try to be relaxed, probably you were getting anxious when you realized that you are not writing fast enough!
It is obvious that you have the what it takes to 'conquer' IELTS!
Keep on doing what you did before the exam.
Cheers

Thank you! Yes, I've been evaluating what went wrong on each part of the test, and it is true that I was very nervous before the speaking, it was my first time in over five years taking any test, and I was also not concentrated on my writing, maybe I was already tired, so I'm planning on work on that while I keep on practicing IELTS excercises.

[Ryan]

How is your handwriting? One of my Skype IELTS students got 6 for writing from studying with an offline tutor and then studied by Skype me with and got an 8 after about 10-20 classes only during which I advised them on their handwriting. You can upload a scan of your writing below for me to review. Also did you upload your speaking for analysis already on this site?

One of my friends got really high in writing, 8 or 8.5 in academic IELTS. His handwriting is so bad (trust me, even with his best effort to write clearly, it is really hard to read, and this is not only my opinion) I don't now how the examiners could read what he wrote, but apparently they could! I guess most examiners are familiar with all kind of scribbles. Of course it's always in your favour to try making your writing readable

Thanks for sharing this experience. I imagine most examiners have years and years of teaching under their belts, so making out bad handwriting is likely a skill they've honed.

Laura, those look like some terrific scores. Well done. Getting band 8 in writing requires you write with almost flawless grammatical accuracy. You should be fulfilling the task completely and using a solid structure to do so. If you haven't already, familiarize yourself with the public version of the band descriptors charts (I'm attached both Task 1 and 2 charts to this message). I'd suggest getting your work assessed periodically by an IELTS instructor to help point out weaknesses and where you need to improve.

Good luck,
Ryan