IELTS Practice Tests

I assume you already know what the IELTS exam is and you've probably even been to an IELTS preparation course or an IELTS seminar.

You're probably wondering how you can get to your target of IELTS band 7 or target of IELTS band 8 quickly and easily. Actually, that's not possible. There's a lot of hard work involved and most of that involves vocabulary building. There are no quick tricks to getting a score of 7 or a score of 8 in every section, or even just an overall band score of 7 or an overall band score of 8.

Here is a video example of an IELTS speaking test. This Youtube IELTS video example test was conducted by the Principal of Adult English School and his Personal Assistant Rae. Rae scored 7 in a recent IELTS exam.
 

In the IELTS speaking test, if you’re aiming for band 5 then your level of vocabulary is probably intermediate. If your target is band 7 then you must have advanced level vocabulary and should expect to use jargon  -  words specific to an industry.

A band 5 speaker might say.

 “Australia has a lot of money at the moment and so everyone can spend more on houses." 

A band 7 speaker might say

 “Australia’s economic position is quite superior, in comparison to other countries' economies. As a result, more of the population is investing in property.”

Can you see the difference?

So even if you could somehow memorise the answers to previous IELTS tests in the hope of getting an IELTS score of 7, you're not going to pass the speaking part if you don't know the vocabulary.

The same is true for writing. If you are planning to do the General IELTS exam, here are a couple of examples:

Here is an example from a letter by an IELTS 5 writer:

"Recently I buy saltanas bag from your shop. It is bad. It has not end date on it"

Here is an example from a General Task 1 letter by an IELTS 7 writer:

"I am writing to complain about the poor treatment I have received from your establishment. Having purchased a bag of sultanas from your store, promoted as being fresh, I had been looking forward to including them in my cereal this morning. Unfortunately, what greeted me when I unsealed the bag was a mouldy sticky mess that could hardly be described as being fresh, let alone edible. To add insult to injury, there was no expiry date on the bag."

If you are planning to do the Academic IELTS exam, here are a couple of examples:

Here is an example from an Academic Task 1 graph description by an IELTS 5 writer. The graph contains statistics of sushi rolls eaten in 2009.

"This graph say that 80,000 people eat salmon sushi rolls at Sydney in January 2009. Also that 50,000 people eat teriyaki chicken rolls at Sydney in January 2009. This says that more people eat fish more than chicken."

Here is an example from an Academic Task 1 graph description by an IELTS 7 writer. The graph contains statistics of sushi rolls eaten in 2009.

"With reference to graph number 1, which displays the statistics of sushi rolls eaten by members of the public in Sydney in January 2009, we can see that 80,000 salmon sushi rolls and 50,000 teriyaki chicken rolls were consumed. This suggests that people in Sydney prefer fish over chicken."

Here is an example of a General Task 2 essay body paragraph excerpt from an IELTS 5 writer for General IELTS writing. The question is on whether children should be encouraged to study more and play less sport.

"Sport is really good and helps make your body better. It is lots of fun and good for kids. The sport is important for thinking too as you can think better if you are feeling good. My brother play sport and I think he is really smart too"

Here is an example of a General Task 2 essay body paragraph excerpt from an IELTS 7 writer for General IELTS writing. The question is on whether children should be encouraged to study more and play less sport.

"Physical activity is necessary to help promote healthy bodily functions. Removing sport from the syllabus would encourage the development of obesity and other problems. Not only does sport improve fitness, it also helps the mind. My brother is a laywer and regularly uses the gym to help improve his thinking processes"

Here is an example of an Academic Task 2 essay body paragraph excerpt from an IELTS 5 writer for Academic IELTS writing. The question is on whether children's involvement in sporting activities will greatly reduce their capacity to compete when they reach an employable age.

"A physical lifestyle is recommended for any child as the negative effects of laziness far outweighs the time that might be spent on keeping fit. It is necessary, though, to make sure that this time is chosen well, and that there is balance between study and sport, so that they are more likely to be able to pass through the interview and get a job."

Here is an example of an Academic Task 2 essay body paragraph excerpt from an IELTS 7 writer for Academic IELTS writing. The question is on whether children's involvement in sporting activities will greatly reduce their capacity to compete when they reach an employable age.

"It is crucial that our young participate enthusiastically in the sporting arena so that they may be imbued with a sense of understanding regarding their vigour and the value of their lymphatic system. Indolence is anathema to progress, and physical fitness would enable them to advance to and reach their goals and aspirations. Nonetheless, it is vital that equilibrium be found between periods spent on learning and those spent on sport so that this happy medium can result in successful career goals in the future."

So, now that you've read these examples and can see for yourself what it is that makes the difference between a band 5 IELTS student and a band 7 IELTS student, what can you do about it now to improve the chance of getting an overall band score of 7, or even a 7 in every section?

1. Read novels
The first thing you can do is start reading many, many novels. It doesn't matter what novels they are as long as you enjoy reading the story. You should be spending a half hour in the morning and a half hour in the evening reading and learning new adjectives and adverbs.

To help you to quickly learn these words you need to use them. Each time you discover a new word, write it in your vocabulary book and create a sentence with it. Then, during the day, try to use it in a sentence when speaking.

You should be learning 10 new words every day. If you believe you're band 5 now it'll take you at least 6 months of daily English study to get to band 7. It has been said that for some students of English that you increase your overall IELTS score by 0.5 point for every 6 months of intensive study. It depends on how quickly you learn, how often you learn and what you're doing while you're learning.

2. Write every day.
Write in a journal or diary. Write using the new words you've learnt. Write letters and essays. Write about graphs if you're doing the Academic exam. But you must write every day. You should be spending at least an hour of writing every day, preferably two. That's not 5 days with 2 days off. That's every day!!!

These are the two main things you should be doing. If you're not doing these, you're not going to increase your listening, reading, writing or speaking skills. After all, how are you going to answer the questions if you don't know the words???

3. Find an English tutor.
You will need to practice your IELTS writing and speaking skills. What you need is an IELTS preparation tutor. We have two available at Adult English School in Sydney. Elizabeth can help you by correcting your writing and speaking. You can find out more about Elizabeth here. Elizabeth can also help you with other parts of the IELTS exam, no matter whether you're a general or academic student. Private English Teachers

If you're in Brisbane then we recommend Helen: English tutor Brisbane
If you're in Melbourne then we recommend Raveen: English tutor Melbourne

4. Stop speaking in your native language
This is probably the most important. There is no point flying to an English speaking country if you then spend most of your time with your friends speaking your native language. It could take you 10 tries to pass IELTS test, maybe more. If you want to get IELTS 7 quickly you have to stop speaking your native language. That means avoiding your friends for a year, getting a part time job only in an English speaking company and only talking with your family in English.

I hope this article helps you to reach your goal of IELTS band 7 or IELTS band 8. 

Kind regards
 

James Hogan
Principal and Teacher
Adult English School

P.S. Some comments by past tutors
1. A student came to me who had done the IELTS exam 10 times and was distraught. She had started at 5.5 and over a year had managed to increase her level to about 6.5 but kept failing the writing. We helped her to get 7 in writing but she would then have a bad day during the exam and fail some other part of it so she was getting 7s and 8s in everything but never at the same time. Eventually, after the 12th exam she passed, just before they made her particular application requirement 7.5. The IELTS exam is one of the toughest in the world and I can see a lot of problems happening when the new band 8 requirement comes in.

2. It takes about 6 months of regular study to increase a band score by 0.5. Preparation for the exam is important and writing the answers the way the examiners expect is crucial but a lack of grammar knowledge and vocabulary will cause students to get a low mark. Apart from learning the structure and what is expected, without knowing grammar and without understanding a wide range of vocabulary, it is impossible for students to get lucky and pass. That's the point of the exam. Unless students are reading thick novels every day and understanding every word, I really can't see how they're going to get an 8 in the IELTS exam. Getting an 8 is even difficult for native English speakers!

Order your IELTS 8 book online from the UK

Order your Cambridge University Press IELTS 8 book, online from the US

Order your Cambridge University Press IELTS 7
book, online from the US

Order your IELTS 7 book
online from the UK

English Test News

November 2010
From July 2011 a new points proposal is likely to be accepted which increases the IELTS immigration application amount for Australia to 20 points to band 8 for skilled migration. So, from 2011, start aiming for band 8, just in case you need those 20 points!

May 2010
A new Skilled Occupations List has been released which comes into effect on the 1st July 2010. This effectively wipes out almost any occupation that doesn't require a degree. So if you're a chef or a hairdresser, for example, you won't be able to use your skills to get PR anymore. This effectively removes a number of people from the IELTS list as they have to return to their country and so you'll find, if you need to do the IELTS exam, that the waiting time is no longer 3 months!

You can download a copy of the list from the Australian immigration website here

January 2010
It's now past January 1st 2010 and the new immigration system in Australia requires a minimum of 6 in IELTS. No more 5.5s. And you have to get the mark BEFORE you apply to immigration, so no more bridging visas. This is likely to be the last major change until at least 2011 so this is the final entry for the IELTS news page for awhile.

September 2009
The Australian Government has changed the Permanent Residency Rules. From September, waiting times for applications to be processed for Permanent Residency will increase from within 6 months to within 12 months for people with required skills. It will also increase from within 2 years to within 3 years for general permanent residency applications. So, some applications submitted today could take until the end of 2012 to be processed! You still have to have your IELTS score before you submit your application. Read the details in a pdf at the Australian Immigration site here

August 2009
Business news! In an attempt to replace IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, EAP and other tests of English proficiency, the Pearson group has embarked on a worldwide promotion of their PTE English tests, available in Academic, General and 'Young Learners'. The tests were previously known as London Tests of English. At this stage IELTS is still the best test for Permanent Residency.

July 2009
IELTS is slowly but surely gaining a foothold in the US. Over 60 centres have now joined the IELTS network and more are on board. Eventually IELTS will overtake TOEFL as the number one test for English in the USA.

June 2009. After two years a new Cambridge University Press IELTS book is now available to order online. Called IELTS 7, the book features 4 authentic Academic tests and 2 General reading and writing tests from previous exams. Released in the UK and the USA in June 2009, it should be available worldwide by September 2009. USA | UK

May 2009. The Australian Government has increased the IELTS minimum result for visa trade applications from an average of 5.5 to an average of 6. Effective as of 1st June 2009 for overseas applications and 1st January 2010 for applications made in Australia. Applicants will also need to pass a new 'Job Ready Test' which is currently in development. More information here.

Aus Migrate have more information on particular Visas and what IELTS score you need here: IELTS for PR

April 2009. The Australian Government has increased the IELTS minimum result from 4.5 to 5 for applications for Employer Sponsored Workers.

Visit the immigration department website to find out more. Direct link here.

March 2009. If your student visa expires on 15th March and you need to apply for a new one, you will need to take another IELTS test. Emergency tests available. More information here.

February 2009. Most trades will be removed from the work sponsorship visa and the IELTS score for remaining trade sponsorship visa results will be increased.