Reading tips Never read the passage first Never waste your time at reading the passage first.

There
are so many people who read the passage first and they end up answering not more than 5
questions in a paragraph. You have a better chance of finding the answers if you read the questions
first and then read the passage. The reading passage is not going to judge your common sense that
means that you might think that smoking is bad for health, but what if the passage has been written
by a smoker. You will should not rely on your knowledge to answer the questions on the contrary
you should only rely on the reading passage for your answers as it is the place from where you are
supposed to find the answers. Read each question 4 times You should try to read each question 4
times rather than reading each paragraph 4 times. If you can find understand the keywords present
in the question, there is a high probability that you will find the answer quickly and easily. Circle the
nouns and underline the verbs The good thing about the IELTS exam is that you can do all the rough
work on the question as it is the not the paper which is going to be graded. You will have to transfer
your answers to the answer sheet and that is the sheet which is going to be graded. You can circle
the nouns and underline the verbs which are present in the questions. This not necessary to do, but
it will greatly improve your process of finding the keywords. Skimming and scanning I know you guys
might have heard a lot about skimming and scanning and now is the time when you will understand
what it really is. Skimming and scanning is technique by which you find the keywords in the passage
without the actually reading the passage. You will only start reading the passage once you have
found the keywords and you will actually find the answers quite easily. Similar words This is a very
important skill which you need to develop in order to answer the questions correctly. People cannot
find the words because either do not know the meaning of the word or they do not know the similar
word of a certain word. Vocabulary words Some people can find the words easily, but they find great
difficulty in understanding the words. The most difficult task for a person is to understand the
complex words. There is no point of finding the keywords if you cannot understand them. That is the
reasoning I have been stressing on the point that people who have very poor English cannot get
their desired band because they would not even be able to apply the tips and techniques. Nouns and
verbs should agree This sentence means that you should always expect to find the keywords in the
same sentence. You might not find the exact word in the passage, but you will definitely find the
similar words for those keywords. There is a very high change that you would find all the information
in the topic sentence. Topic is sentence is either the first or last sentence of a word. 2 lines above
and below If you have found the keyword, you have done a very good job. Do not give away the
question with a small mistake. Always read the 2 line and above and below the sentence which
contains the keyword, so that you could see whether they are trying to confuse you or not. Suppose
this is a statement in the exam and you are told to tell whether the statement is True, False or Not
Given. I used to drive the car which was of black color, however now I go for public transport. What
do you think would be the answer to this question. True, False and Not Given Original Statement:
The Chinese Government spent $15 billion on health facilities. True Subject Verb Object False
Subject Verb Object (wrong tense) Not Given Subject Verb Object $15 billion was spent
on the health facilities by the Chinese officials. (T) Chinese Government will spend $15 billion on the
health facilities. (F) Chinese semi-government organization has spent $15 billion on health facilities.
(N.G) People of China are not happy with the government for spending so much on the health
facilities. (N.G) Chinese government paid $15 billion for health sector. (T) Chinese government spent
$14 billion for health facilities. (F) Read one novel each week I know what your first response would
be. About 95% of the people reading this line would say that they do not have time, but this is the
only thing which can help you get a good score on the reading section.



Reading tips
Never read the passage first
Never waste your time at reading the passage first. There are so many people who read the
passage first and they end up answering not more than 5 questions in a paragraph. You have a
better chance of finding the answers if you read the questions first and then read the passage. The
reading passage is not going to judge your common sense that means that you might think that
smoking is bad for health, but what if the passage has been written by a smoker. You will should not
rely on your knowledge to answer the questions on the contrary you should only rely on the reading
passage for your answers as it is the place from where you are supposed to find the answers.
Read each question 4 times
You should try to read each question 4 times rather than reading each paragraph 4 times. If you can
find understand the keywords present in the question, there is a high probability that you will find the
answer quickly and easily.
Circle the nouns and underline the verbs
The good thing about the IELTS exam is that you can do all the rough work on the question as it is
the not the paper which is going to be graded. You will have to transfer your answers to the answer
sheet and that is the sheet which is going to be graded. You can circle the nouns and underline the
verbs which are present in the questions. This not necessary to do, but it will greatly improve your
process of finding the keywords.
Skimming and scanning
I know you guys might have heard a lot about skimming and scanning and now is the time when you
will understand what it really is. Skimming and scanning is technique by which you find the keywords
in the passage without the actually reading the passage. You will only start reading the passage
once you have found the keywords and you will actually find the answers quite easily.
Similar words
This is a very important skill which you need to develop in order to answer the questions correctly.
People cannot find the words because either do not know the meaning of the word or they do not
know the similar word of a certain word.
Vocabulary words
Some people can find the words easily, but they find great difficulty in understanding the words. The
most difficult task for a person is to understand the complex words. There is no point of finding the
keywords if you cannot understand them. That is the reasoning I have been stressing on the point
that people who have very poor English cannot get their desired band because they would not even
be able to apply the tips and techniques.
Nouns and verbs should agree
This sentence means that you should always expect to find the keywords in the same sentence. You
might not find the exact word in the passage, but you will definitely find the similar words for those
keywords. There is a very high change that you would find all the information in the topic sentence.
Topic is sentence is either the first or last sentence of a word.
2 lines above and below
If you have found the keyword, you have done a very good job. Do not give away the question with a
small mistake. Always read the 2 line and above and below the sentence which contains the
keyword, so that you could see whether they are trying to confuse you or not.
Suppose this is a statement in the exam and you are told to tell whether the statement is True, False
or Not Given.
I used to drive the car which was of black color, however now I go for public transport.
What do you think would be the answer to this question.
True, False and Not Given
Original Statement: The Chinese Government spent $15 billion on health facilities.
True
Subject Verb Object

False
Subject Verb Object
(wrong tense)

Not Given
Subject Verb Object



$15 billion was spent on the health facilities by the Chinese officials. (T)
Chinese Government will spend $15 billion on the health facilities. (F)
Chinese semi-government organization has spent $15 billion on health facilities. (N.G)
People of China are not happy with the government for spending so much on the health facilities.
(N.G)
Chinese government paid $15 billion for health sector. (T)
Chinese government spent $14 billion for health facilities. (F)

Read one novel each week
I know what your first response would be. About 95% of the people reading this line would say that
they do not have time, but this is the only thing which can help you get a good score on the reading
section.
Today i am going to teach you 5 reading tips to help you do well in your IELTS reading exam.
1. Write your answers on the answer sheet
Write your answers on the Answer Sheet provided as you do the Reading Test. As you do not
have extra 10 minutes to transfer your answer to the answer sheet like you have in the listening
test. So Keep transferring answers in the mean time.
2. True/False/Not Given
If you dont have time at all and you have to answer True/False/Not Given questions or you are
not good at these questions or you think you going to complete this set of question by guessing.
Then this tip can help you..
All you have to do is put TRUE for all questions, normally they are 6 questions in which 3 out
of 6 are going to be correct. Means 50% is going to be right.
3. Dont leave your answer sheet blank
Never leave any question unanswered. You should guess or somehow complete your answers by
guessing at least. If answers are correct , it will be good but if not , there is no negative marking.
4. Find question key words in the passage
In IELTS reading passages, it is difficult to find answers if you do not have ability to recognize
keywords of the question in the reading passage. As a result students fail to answer questions as
they can not locate where exactly the information is.
You should develop your skills to locate key words in the passage which are not easy and need a
lot of practice.
Try to find key words in the passage , normally they are not the same words as in the question.
They are similar words sometimes completely different words but meaning are nearly same.
For example, question has a word like advantages and the passage has benefits so benefit is
similar pattern But if the word or phrase is it is not that bad. This word is somehow not
matching but it would contain answer.
Learn to find answers with the help of key words by matching them in the passages.Once you
locate similar or unrecognizable key words in the passages, check the information before and
after it.
5. Solve Gap fill summary or matching headings task first
If reading test has question like Gap fill summary or matching headings, Do them first because if
you match headings with the paragraphs, you will know exactly what each paragraph is about or
if you do the Gap fill summary, you will know what is the whole passage about paragraph wise.
It will be easy for you to answer other question like multiple choice, true / false or short answer
etc. When you read any question , you will jump to the paragraph exactly which is mostly like to
have answer , so you wont be wasting time.
How to get band 7 in IELTS reading?
It is quite difficult to get Band 7 on the IELTS reading section. The IELTS reading is considered
the most difficult section in the whole exam. Most of the candidates fail to attempt all the
questions in the IELTS reading part.
We have already mentioned some IELTS reading tips on this website so you can also check. In
this article I am going to discuss the things which are the most important, yet often ignored
during the preparation.
Build your vocabulary
The IELTS examiner expects you to know the meaning of words. These words might be difficult
for you, but the examiner expects you to know the meaning of these words. For instance do you
know the meaning of escalating?
We have provided a list of words which might be tested in the exam. If you do not know the
meaning of these words then you will get most of your questions wrong. The answers to the
questions are often in similar words.
Line in the passage
Jack gave John an opportunity to correct his mistakes.
Please choose the correct answer
Question:
Jack gave John a
Book
Suggestion
Chance
If you know the meaning of opportunity then you easily understand that the answer is chance.
Read a lot
Try to read two articles every day. After reading the articles write summaries for those articles.
Then check whether you understood the main idea of the article or not. You will not be required
to write a summary in the IELTS exam. I am just asking you to do this so that you can improve
your reading score
IELTS Useful Tips: "By failing to prepare, you
are preparing to fail."
You are here most probably because you are preparing for the IELTS exam, and that alone
is commendable.
Your humility will take you to where you want to be. As Benjamin Desraeli puts it, To be
conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge".
Preparing for this test needs time, effort, dedication and support. The last one is the most
important for it is the only one that is beyond you. For someone who has not yet taken the
road to IELTS, material and personal supports are so essential.
This test is not that easy at all. It is not just about a test of your knowledge of English, but
also about your skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
IELTS-Useful-Tips.com is here to answer some of your nagging questions about this test,
and to give you some useful tips on:
IELTS Academic Writing
What are trends that you need to identify in writing task 1?
In task 1, there are specific words to use. What are these words?
Find out how essay writing in task 2 should be written, and how the body should be
structured.
What linkers are and how useful they are in answering task 2.
What are idioms or idiomatic expressions like add insult to injury. How helpful are they in
task 2?
Academic Reading
In answering Multiple Choice (MCQ) and Short Answer questions, you don't need to read the
previous paragraphs to find your answer for the next question. Find out why.
In Sentence Completion task, the question itself may provide you with the answer. How?
You need scanning, skimming and speed reading skills to answer other task types like
Notes/Flowchart/Summary/Table, Labelling diagram, Choosing headings and Identification
of Writer's view. Why?
Contextual clues are good aids in looking for an answer. What are they?
Academic Listening
Why not reading and understanding the instructions will cost you points.
You will find out why knowledge of spelling is so vital in the listening module.
What are homophones? What are some examples of confusing words.
Academic Speaking
Why your knowledge of verb tenses like past tense is one of the keys to getting a good
score in speaking module?
Humor increases your chance to get a better band score in speaking. Why?
What is stage fright and how to conquer it?
Grammar
Punctuations and their uses
Rules on Subject-Verb Agreement
Find out why it is wrong to say "It was me who wrote the essay."
Verb tenses and voice of verb
These are just some of the topics that will be covered here. You will notice that some had
been answered, but some were not just yet.
So if you are planning to study, work or probably immigrate to Australia, U.K, New Zealand,
Canada or the United States, it is important that you bookmark this site.
Please share it, and pass it forward.



MESSAGES
LOG IN
EXPLORE
Community DashboardRandom ArticleAbout UsCategoriesRecent ChangesHELP US
Write an ArticleRequest a New ArticleAnswer a RequestMore Ideas...EDIT
Edit this Article
00895329342679 FORID:10 UTF-8
Search

Home
Categories
Education and Communications
Subjects
English
Article
Edit
Discuss
Edit Article
How to Get 7 in IELTS
126,316 views
14 Editors
Edited
If you want to take the IELTS test make sure you spend enough time increasing
your General English level
Ad
Steps
1.
1
Choose a realistic and achievable goal. To obtain a satisfactory IELTS Band Score, it is necessary
to be realistic. If the goal is to reach a certain level of English proficiency, success can only be
achieved with much practice. It is important to know what an IELTS score in any of the Sub-tests
means before you set yourself a goal.
Ad
2.

2
Follow a regular study plan. Set aside the maximum number of hours you can spare each day to
practise English for all four Subtests. Do not concentrate only on your weakest areas. Be regular
in your practice, and give yourself a rest between tasks. Take at least one day out of your week
to rest and forget the test completely.The secret of success is to work towards your goal slowly,
steadily and regularly.Take every opportunity to listen to English whenever and wherever you
can. Watch TV programmes and films, listen to radio programmes and English language tapes -
even songs in English on tape.Have as many conversations with native English speakers as you
can, and practise in English as often as possible with your non-native English-speaking
friends.Try to read texts in English at least once every day. You should always be in the process
of reading a book in English - a page or two each night before bedtime is an excellent plan. Read
newspapers,magazines, and novels written for your English level (available from good language
bookshops). Academic Module candidates should obtain academic articles, if possible. Always
carry English texts with you, so you can read when you have spare time that would otherwise be
wasted.Do not worry about understanding every word. Read some articles in detail and some
for speed.
3.
3
Increase your personal speed. In the IELTS test, time is your enemy. Candidates who have taken
the test and did not perform as well as they had hoped often complain that they were unable to
give all the answers in the Listening Test because the tape was too fast, and that they ran out of
time in the Reading Test. To begin with, do not worry if you do not finish the tests. Remember,
the test is designed to measure candidates over a range of scores from 0 to 9 (0 indicates the
test was not attempted). Candidates whose English is near perfect can expect to score 9, but
even native English-speaking people would be unlikely to complete every Listening Test answer
perfectly or finish the Reading Test a long time before the examination ends. Remember, the
test is meant to be challenging. The IELTS test measures many aspects of your English ability
including the speed at which you listen, read, write, speak, and think in English. Your personal
speed is not something which changes a great deal from day-to-day, but does change
considerably over a longer period of time, as a direct result of practice in working with the
English language.Your personal speed and ability in the 5 areas previously mentioned is pretty
well fixed at any given time. The official IELTS Band Scores you receive are extremely accurate,
since each test is trialled extensively to achieve standardised results for candidates at all English
levels. Nonetheless, there are certainly many things you can do, before and on the day of the
test, to help maximise the use of your time and give yourself the best chance of success.
Consider the following situation: although a racing car cannot go faster than its maximum speed,
the race can still be won, and its maximum speed maintained for longer, if an expert driver is at
the wheel.The Listening, Reading, and Writing Tests are given in that order, and are usually held
on a single morning. The combined length of those three tests is 2 hours and 30 minutes. (The
Speaking Test is conducted at an appointed time in the afternoon.) Only one short break is given
between the Reading and Writing Tests, so you need to be at your best for a long period of time,
which is why you must sleep and eat well before the test. The hints and guidelines in this book
should help you achieve your "maximum speed". The more effort you put in, the faster your
personal speed will be on the day.
4.
4
Increase your sentence-reading speed. The faster and more accurately you read, the more
questions you will be able to answer. In all the tests, the instructions, the example, and the
questions themselves need to be read quickly, and must be well understood in order for you to
have more time to find the answers. It pays to increase your overall reading speed
5.
5
Develop a memory for English. In the Reading Test, it pays to remember as much as you can of
what you have just read, but at least the words can be read again. However, in the Listening Test
you cannot go back, and the tape is only played once. If the answer comes before the
keyword/phrase, your memory of what you have just heard is even more important.
Nevertheless, the answer usually follows the keywords/phrases that you hear, and is close in
time to the main keyword/phrase you are listening for.
6.
6
Manage your time carefully: The Listening Sub-test. The tape is heard once only, and the
questions are answered as you listen. Time is, therefore,managed for you, but you have a short
period of time after each passage is heard to check your work.Do not use this time to transfer
your answers to the Answer Sheet because you are given 10 minutes at the end of the test in
which to do this. The Reading Sub-test. An advised period of time is usually given in which to
complete each of the three sections of the test. Keep an eye on the time as you progress
through the Reading Sub-test, and as you complete each question group. Make sure that you
stop answering questions when the advised time is up. Move on to the next group of questions
even if you have not finished those questions. If you do not, you will probably not complete as
many questions as you could. Remember that you are in charge of managing your time in the
Reading Sub-test.
7.
7
The Golden Rule of IELTS: The Golden Rule is "Always give the monkey exactly what he wants".
If a monkey asks for a banana, you must give him a banana and not an apple. In other
words,your answer to a question must be exactly what is required. You must be quite sure of
the type of information you are asked to give as an answer, and what you must do with that
information to give an accurate answer. You might think that this advice is too simple to be
worth remembering. It might seem obvious that you have to do what the test asks you to do
and give the answers the test asks you to give. Yet failure to remember and apply the Golden
Rule is one of the main reasons why candidates do not score as well in the test as they believe
they should. Read the questions very carefully. Know the type of information the test asks you
to give: Is the answer a method of transport? ... a person? ... a place? ... a number?If you know,
you have a better chance of giving the correct answer. Know what you have to do with the
information:Do you have to complete a sentence, or fill in the missing words in a sentence? If
so, your answers must, therefore, be grammatically correct within that sentence.Do you have to
provide an answer with no more than a maximum number of words?If so, your answer must not
contain more than that maximum number of words.Do you have to name two items that you
must hear on the tape, or find in a reading passage? If so, your answer must contain two items
only; three items would be incorrect. Always know exactly what type of information you need to
give and what you have to do with it.
8.
8
Read the instructions carefully: Candidates who do not read or listen to the instructions
carefully may believe they are saving time,but the instructions contain vital information which
must be understood in order to answer correctly. The instructions may contain information
about the passage topic which helps to predict what you may hear or read. The instructions tell
you what to do, what kind of answer to give, and, in the case of the Listening Test instructions,
they tell you when to answer. It is important to read the instructions quickly and accurately. You
might not have time to complete the test if you are too slow at reading the explanatory
information.
9.
9
Always look at the example:The example is given to you for a number of very good reasons. It is
important to read and/or listen to the example carefully. Some candidates believe they can save
time by not looking at the example. This is a mistake. If you do not know how to give the
answer, you are very likely to give an incorrect answer or a correct answer in the wrong
form.The example tells us 3 very important pieces of information about the task:1. The example
tells you how to give the answer to questions.2.The example gives you information about the
listening or reading passage.3.The example tells you when to start listening, or where to start
reading to find the answers.
10.
10
Use question keywords to find the answer: The keywords or key phrases in the questions help
you in your search for the answers. This is true for both the Listening and Reading Sub-tests.
First, you must choose which word or phrase to listen for on the tape, or search for in the
reading passages. There may be more than one keyword or keyword phrase in a question, and
they can be placed before or after the answer.
11.
11
Check before the end of the test.
12.
12
Do not forget to make logical guesses: In the Reading Sub-test, if you are having trouble
completing the questions to a particular passage,you should leave a minute or so at the end of
each advised time period for that passage (usually 20 minutes) to guess those questions that can
be guessed. In the Listening Sub-test, you are given a minute of silence after each section has
finished. Candidates who forget to give a logical guess to questions they cannot otherwise
answer, do not give themselves any chance at all to get a mark!
13.
13
Are your answers grammatically correct? While it is true that not all words and phrases given as
answers to questions in the Listening and Reading Tests need to be grammatically correct, it is
often possible to work out the correct answer by using your knowledge of grammar. Always
consider whether your choice of answer is grammatically acceptable before making your final
decision. This is especially true of the following types of tasks: short-answer question tasksall
table/chart/diagram/note completion tasks sentence completion tasks gap fill tasks.Verb
forms, plural forms and other grammatical forms can be important when you give Listening and
Reading Test answers. A good rule is to always try to give the answer in correct grammatical
form.
14.
14
Give one answer only: Give just one answer to a question, unless you are specifically requested
to give more than one answer. Even if one of the multiple answers you give is correct, you might
score zero if too many of the other answers are incorrect. Surprisingly, candidates sometimes
give more answers than necessary! If you are asked to name just three items that you hear or
read about in a passage, it makes no sense to give four items as your answer. You will score
zero, even if all four items are correct. Remember the Golden Rule.Note that with short-answer
questions, especially in the Listening Test, there is sometimes a variety of words or phrases that
can give the correct answer. However, you waste valuable time if you give more than one of the
correct answers to short-answer questions. Alternative answers are given to various questions
in the Answer Keys for the Listening and Reading Tests contained in this book.
15.
15
Check your spelling: In the Listening and Reading Tests exact spelling is not always essential. It is
only necessary in the Listening Test if a word answer is spelt out for you on the tape.Other
correct answers in the Listening and Reading Tests can be incorrectly spelt and still count
towards your Band Score, but they must be sufficiently well spelt to indicate the correct
answer.Copy answers from the passages accurately in the Reading Test. In the Listening Test, if
you are unsure of the spelling, write an approximation of the way the answer sounds.
16.
16
Make sure your answers are easy to read: You cannot expect to do well if your answers cannot
be read. Candidates may be unaware that their answers cannot be understood by the examiners
who mark the tests. Be careful!Words: If you have trouble with English letters, you could write
your Listening and Reading Test answers in BLOCK LETTERS.Your letters must be distinguishable
from each other. Pay particular attention to: E and F I, J and L M, N and W U and V I and T(It is
often hard to tell the difference between these letters when candidates write them
quickly.)Numbers: Numbers can be even more difficult to read:Many candidates do not realise
that their numbers cannot be recognised by the examiners. Practise so that your numbers look
similar to those shown above.
Ad
Are you an expert on surfing?
If so, share what you know about how to stand up on your surfboard.
Please be as detailed as possible in your explanation. We will take your
detailed information, edit it for clarity and accuracy, and incorporate it into an
article that will help thousands of people.
Tell us everything you know here. Remember, more detail is better.
Video

Related wikiHows

How to
Get More Marks in Exam


How to
Get the Highest Score in IELTs


How to
Prepare for IELTS


How to
Take the IELTS

Sources and Citations
http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information.aspx
Article Info
Categories: English
Recent edits by: Maluniu, DionysusBacchus, Chris
In other languages:
Espaol: Cmo obtener una calificacin de 7 en el examen IETLS, Italiano: Come Prendere 7 al
Test d'Inglese IELTS, Portugus: Como Obter um 7 no IELTS
Discuss
Print
Email
Edit
Send fan mail to authors
Ad
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 126,316 times.
Did this article help you?
YesNo
Random Article Write An Article
Share
1
Featured Articles

How to
Hold a Girl's Hand


How to
Make a Patty Melt


How to
Tell if a Diamond is Real


How to
Make a Tie

Meet a Community Member

Meet Genavieve, a wikiHowian of over two years who has patrolled over 11,100 edits. She spends her time
on wikiHow writing, adding tips to articles, patrolling recent changes, playing games in the forums, and
adding videos. Shes proud of teaching herself how to design wikiHow Talk pages and now puts those skills to
use regularly, helping out other users. She loves the wikiHow community: Everyone is always friendly and
makes me feel welcome so I really have made lots of friends and developed a bond with some of these
amazing people.
Join The Community
Follow Us On...




















Home
About wikiHow
Terms of Use
RSS
Site map
Log In
All text shared under a Creative Commons License.
Powered by Mediawiki.


Exam day tips
Dealing with stress
Letters Tips
Listening tips
Reading Tips
Speaking tips
Vocabulary tips
Writing tips
Advanced writing tips
http://www.dcielts.com/http://www.dcielts.com/DC IELTS featuring Dominic Cole's IELTS blog
and IELTS forum
Navigation
http://feeds.feedburner.com/dcielts/NGSY
http://feeds.feedburner.com/dcielts/NGSY
Home
Forum
Groups
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing
Essays
Task 1
Letters
Vocabulary
Grammar
8 ways to pass IELTS
In many ways hate IELTS because some candidates dont really understand it and because of
that they dont get their score and because of that their careers go phut. Bad news. Here I am
going to try and give some practical advice with 8 ways to pass IELTS by preparing better.
I should add that all this advice is personal to me and it is about how to study and is not a list of
exam tips. There are of course other lists. Here is another with some very good advice. It may be
different from my list, but thats not the point. The point is to think about how you are going to
study. If you do that, you have a chance.
7 habits of highly ineffective IELTS takers
My 8 ways to pass IELTS
1. IELTS is a test of English find a teacher of English
The best way to prepare for IELTS is to learn good general English. This should be obvious, but
often candidates forget to do this. They prepare for an exam and they learn strategies and tips
believing that that is the best way to pass. It is not. Tips and strategies only work if your English
is good enough.
I like people who learn for themselves. In many ways that is the best way to learn. At some
stage, however, you need someone to help you with the language. That person does not have to
be a native speaker. That person does not even have to be a qualified teacher. Although it is
clearly much better if it is, so I suggest you check out the teachers on this site.
2. Learn from your mistakes
This is a basic of language learning. You are going to make mistakes, that isnt the problem
though. The problem is if you keep making mistakes. What you need to do is to correct them
frequently this does not happen as people practise quantity not quality. How can you correct your
mistakes?
find a teacher to tell you where you are going wrong with your language. Make a
checklist of your mistakes.
with your skills, if you do an exercise badly, do it again. This works in speaking, writing,
reading and listening. Do the test. Correct it. Look at the answers. See what the correct
answer is. Do the test again. It doesnt matter that it is not exam conditions. You will be
learning.
3. The only exam tip you need is to answer the question
The longer I teach IELTS (10 years and counting) the simpler it seems to me. You will find
websites and books full of tips and tricks. You will find some tips here too. In truth, in the exam
the only tip you need is to read/listen to the question and answer it. You would be surprised how
many problems that solves. You should note that this is the exam tip. What you do before the
exam may be quite different. See below.
4. Realise that everyone is different beware of big promises
You will know people who improved their score in one month. They were band 6, then by magic
they got band 7. I know this is true because it has happened to some of my students. The danger
is that you believe that you too only need a few weeks. You may be lucky, but probably not. Let
me explain a little
What has not happened is that their English has improved by a band. Their English was always
band 7. What has happened is that they have learnt to read and answer IELTS questions. As I
say, IELTS is a simple exam. It only takes a few weeks (or sometimes days) to learn what to do
in it.
The problem is that for many/most people the problem is with their English, not the exam.
English can take months to put right. A difficulty is that you will find websites and teachers who
promise success by just following a few simple tips. Sorry, no. Its a test of English. Here again,
this is where you need a teacher. If the first one says 2 weeks, get a second opinion.
4. Learn skills, dont practise questions less can be more
Language is a skill. Skills need practice, but they also need to be practised in the right way and
that means quality, not quantity. The problem here is that too many people believe that practise,
practise, practise is good advice. It isnt if all you are doing is repeating exam questions. That
way your skills and language are going to improve slowly.
It is in fact much quicker to learn slowly. Just as the tortoise beat the hare, so will the candidate
who learns to write paragraphs beat the candidate who only ever writes essays. See my Lionel
Messi post.
5. Preparing for the exam is not the same as taking the exam
What you do before the exam and in the exam are two different things. In the exam, there should
only be one thing in your head: read/listen to the question and answer it. If you are thinking of
more than that, then you are not concentrating on your English. All the other skills should be
almost automatic: you dont waste time thinking about them, you just do them.
It takes time, however, before you reach this point. How long depends on you. What you need to
do before the exam is practise those skills carefully. As you are doing this, you will find that you
work more slowly because the skills maybe new. Dont worry. All that means is that you are not
quite ready yet. You are still learning and learning is a positive process.
6. Learn English, dont memorise it
You are in a hurry. You need to pass the exam as soon as possible. What do you do? You go and
find some sample essays and learn them or you look for sample speaking questions and learn
what you are going to say. This tends to be a HUGE error. If you do this, its probably too late
and you wont believe me, but let me try and explain.
Examiners will know you are not using your own language. Trust me on that one. They
hate this more than anything else. It can be regarded as a form of cheating. Bad news.
You want the examiner to like you.
Perhaps, you have learned an answer to a similar question, not that exact question.
Disaster. You wont answer the question. There is no bigger crime in IELTS. You could
lose several band scores for this.
You may feel more nervous, not less. In the exam, you are under pressure. Typically, you
have to work harder to remember something written by someone else than to say it
simply for yourself. You end up making more mistakes, not fewer.
If you still dont believe me, take a look at my IELTS training video. Its a joke of course, but
there is a serious point behind it.
7. Learn some general English
Yes, there are special IELTS topics. Yes, you can sort of predict the right language to learn. No,
in my experience, the best thing is not to concentrate solely on that English. This is very
personal, but the IELTS candidates who succeed most quickly are those who take an interest in
learning English. Why? They are interested and interested people tend to be people who learn.
In contrast, candidates who only do IELTS work, often get stuck. Either they get bored (IELTS
is boring) or they dont understand why they need to learn English. This is personal, but typically
bored people and people who dont see the need to improve their English, dont improve their
English.
It is for this reason, I include my little but often/daily exercise posts and IELTS word of the day
on this IELTS blog. It may not seem like it, but they will help you improve your score just as
much as any top tips will.
8. Learn the exam format
Is this too obvious to mention? I nearly didnt. But IELTS does have a format, learn it.
How to like it, share it and save it
Related Posts
Improve your IELTS speaking advice from a successful candidate
20 more tips and ideas for IELTS
Motivation and IELTS
IELTS exam day tips
The most common mistake in IELTS
Exam preparation timing
How to follow me and get daily lessons
Get daily lessons in your inbox (please don't forget to open the confirmation email) or follow me
socially. I will respect your privacy.
E-mail dcielts/NGSY DC IELTS en_US Submit

http://feeds.feedburner.com/dcielts/NGSYhttp://twitter.com/ -
!/teacherdominichttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Dominic-Cole-IELTS-
Blog/158666590842144https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGP1_ovKlCU4d6g-Ml-
YM8whttp://www.flickr.com/photos/120953962@N04/http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/dominic-
cole/13/827/a6a/https://plus.google.com/101878734365659578623/posts
tips
Speaking its a monologue, not a dialogue
Sample IELTS Essay Families and modern life
17 Responses to 8 ways to pass I ELTS
1.

Hieu Phan December 17, 2009 at 9:28 am #
Thank you very much for sharing It makes me more confident for the test on Jan-09.
Reply


Dominic Cole December 17, 2009 at 7:43 pm #
HI
January is quite close, isnt it. Im planning a full article or maybe a series of
articles on what to do when preparing, just before and immediately before the
exam. The point is that typically you should be doing different things at different
stages.
ALL candidates are different of course, but this is my general advice. In the week
before the exam, do whatever it takes to relax yourself. Relaxation is really
important, as is concentration. Myself, I wouldnt be doing too much practice at
that stage: its too late really to make a difference. More than that it is likely to
make you more stressed and stress does not help. What I would be doing is going
through old tests I have done before to remind myself of what to do and what not
to do. Make it an open book exercise where you can see the answers you can
learn a lot that way.
The other thing you need to sort out before you go into the exam room is what
plan do you have for timing etc. There are different options on different papers.
None is necessarily right or wrong the only wrong plan is to have no plan at all.
It really does help to have a strategy because that makes you feel more confident
and confidence tends to lead to better performance.
In the exam itself the one thing to concentrate on is the question.
Good luck
Reply


Denish March 11, 2013 at 5:15 pm #
First of all, thank you so much for your kind help and your articles.
I have been able to score 8 band with this website help.
I scored.
L 9
R 8
W 7
S 8
Overall 8
Ive tried all possible steps and strategies to score 7 band. Ive bought
many books and watched many YouTube videos. However, they all were
useless for me.
After reading your articles, I tried the simple language with effective
writing. I learnt a lot from this website.
God bless you for your kind support.
All the best to all IELTS takers.
Regards,
Denish
Reply


Dominic Cole March 14, 2013 at 12:33 pm #
Thank you for the comment. Im glad that simple worked for
you.
Reply
2.

Name May 7, 2010 at 6:23 am #
thank youvery much
Reply
3.

Name November 10, 2010 at 10:08 pm #
Thanks alot for the great sdvices
Reply
4.

kussotare December 2, 2010 at 6:40 am #
this is awesome thanks. ill do my best for the test.
Reply
5.

michael mitchell February 17, 2011 at 3:16 am #
As everyone knows, I am very boring.
I am teaching IELTS and find your list extremely useful. You have probably stated what
we all feel and your remark near the end about those who dont want to improve (guess
what?) they dont improve!
We need more people like yourself who state what we have always experienced, . the
student who is throwing their parents money away! Despite our advicesssss!!
It heartens us all to hear a bit of truth about some students. Not everything is the teachers
fault.
Reply
6.

tins May 23, 2011 at 7:45 pm #
I am having the exam in two weeks, so Im trying to immerse into English as much as
possible. I just still have that feeling that I am not prepared enough Anyway your
advice on this blog seems quite useful thank you for working it I consider the
possibility of reading tips and experiences from IELTS very supportive and helpful Keep
on like this
Reply
7.

salini September 6, 2011 at 4:42 pm #
Hi Dominic,
Finally I found you.I was searching for a good IELTS trainer but unfortunatly i couldnt
found a good trainer in my locality.But i am so happy that your tips can help me a lot. I
am taking this test for the second time (over all 6.5 and speaking 7 for academic
writing).Also i am in dare need of an 8 band score in each module.I took it as a challange
for am lagging so behind to reach the goal.I will definitly go with your tips.
Regards
Salini.
Reply
8.

Anonymous September 29, 2011 at 9:47 am #
hi can anyone give a good website that i can pass ielts
Reply
9.

maria November 1, 2011 at 12:12 pm #
hi
i wish all the student pass the exam
with more than 7.5 score in all skills
thanks
Reply
10.

M.H November 2, 2011 at 1:18 pm #
Well, I think, no wait a minute, I believe that just real practicing (NOT just practicing) is
the
only way to learn English.
Thanks anyway
Reply
11.

S.T January 24, 2012 at 6:21 am #
Thank you
Reply
12.

anil balal February 6, 2013 at 8:11 pm #
i want to improve my english language
Reply
13.

Sabrina October 7, 2013 at 5:42 pm #
For those of you who will be taking IELTS (academic) soon, hopefully this will help:
http://sabbyloh.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-ielts-experience.html
It isnt a sample answer or anything like that. Its more of my personal IELTS experience
and some tips Ive found to be useful (:
Just my own opinion!
Reply
14.

ielts coaching centers in hyderabad October 19, 2013 at 5:40 pm #
Please check this site for top ielts coaching centers in Hyderabad
Reply
Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply.
Name
Email (will not be published)
Website
Comment
Submit Comme 1281 0

e527be4bd4

140966769779

If you cant find it, its almost certainly here somewhere






powered by
Custom Search

Sort by:
Relevance
Relevance
Date

Web
Get my free FB IELTS blog
&&&&&&&
IELTS Books
Websites are good, but so can books be. Here are the ones I recommend:
Recommended books
http://www.dcielts.com/daily-word/pursue/Pursue April 28, 2014
http://www.dcielts.com/task-1-2/numbers-exercise-for-ielts-task-
1/http://www.dcielts.com/task-1-2/numbers-exercise-for-ielts-task-1/Numbers exercise for
IELTS task 1 April 16, 2014
http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-grammar/ielts-spelling-and-punctuation/25-common-spelling-
mistakes-in-ielts/http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-grammar/ielts-spelling-and-punctuation/25-
common-spelling-mistakes-in-ielts/25 more common spelling mistakes in IELTS April 11,
2014
Dealing with double questions essay tasks April 14, 2014
http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-essays/to-what-extent-do-you-agree-or-disagree-essay-
structure/http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-essays/to-what-extent-do-you-agree-or-disagree-essay-
structure/To what extent do you agree or disagree essay structure April 8, 2014
http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-letters/apology-words-and-phrases/http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-
letters/apology-words-and-phrases/Apology words and phrases for letters April 17, 2014
zeinabb: I really appreciate your work on this website, it ...
Kemaru: Hi Dominic, Thanks for your speaking advices. I'...
Ed: I am confused because in sentence 2, 5 and 9 there...
Ed: Hi Dominic, This is another great summary, whi...
Majd: Hi Dominic.. Another great lesson with a bunch of ...
Speed reading course
http://www.ereflect.com/products/product-
info.php?id=390&url=241http://www.ereflect.com/products/product-info.php?id=390&url=241
Thank you
Where you can say thank you and learn about the Radiohead principle
Recommended site partner
https://getdpd.com/cart/hoplink/16329?referrer=354zefgq9hesw40shttps://getdpd.com/cart/hoplink/
16329?referrer=354zefgq9hesw40s
Members
Log In
Register
http://www.copyscape.com/web-copyright-protection/http://www.copyscape.com/web-copyright-
protection/
http://feeds.feedburner.com/dcielts/NGSYhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/dcielts/NGSY
How to contact me
Facebook page
Twitter page
Email contact
QQ
Linkedin
Privacy policy
September 2014
M T W T F S S
Apr
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30
Copyright.
Privacy policy.
/ielts-tips/8-wa 0 0 53203af aa5 /ielts-tips/8-wa


Skip to toolbar
http://www.dcielts.com/wp-admin/about.php
WordPress.org
Documentation
Support Forums
Feedback
Log in
Register
Search