I often hear students say they are afraid to book another IELTS test. It’s understandable if you have taken the test and not achieved the result you want. If you have taken the test several times then this feeling can be magnified even more and the fear might start to grow as you face the IELTS test again. Feeling fearful works against you in any test and so if you go into the IELTS test lacking in confidence then your chances of doing well are lowered. This is called a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ if you believe that you won’t get your score then the chances are that you won’t.
How then, can you turn the situation around and make sure that you go into the test with confidence and avoid a repeat of previous test outcomes.
There are, in fact, several things that you can do to change this but there are three really affective ways to make sure that the next time you book your IELTS test you will be able to get the score you want.
1. Improve your IELTS Skills
The best way to boost confidence levels and also be certain of achieving your goal is to improve your skills. Think about athletes and other sports people who want to become champions. They work hard on their skills so that they know that they can be the best and beat their opponents. If your English skills are really good then there will be no doubt about your ability to get the band you want.
Sadly many IELTS students keep on booking tests and don’t really address their skill level. Practising lots of tests will not necessarily improve your skills. You need to look at the small areas of your language where you are lacking and work on these. Marathon runners do not run marathons every day they look at how they can improve their overall running skills and work on these small things. Simply doing test after test won’t necessarily help you to get band 8; especially if you never speak to anybody or never get your writing checked.
Analyse your test results – where are you making mistakes?
Work on these areas – go back and learn vocabulary or grammar if this is the problem. Get the help you need for the small things - these are the things that will stop you getting your high band.
2. Don’t use the test as your IELTS practice
Some students just keep booking tests and believe that eventually everything will turn out ok. Would you book 10 driving tests and hardly get in a car? It’s madness. You HAVE to learn from your mistakes, from your results and improve. This takes time. If you take the exam every month where is your time to work on your skills?
Using the IELTS test as a method of practice is not only hugely expensive; it is also a very long and drawn-out way of working. Far better would be to get your result, see which parts of the test you need to work on and then work on those before you even consider booking another test. Ploughing on with test after test is rather like relying on lottery tickets instead of working.
Don’t book a test before you find out what your level is first. There are general English language tests you can take to check this and they will give you a rough idea about your level and how much you will still need to practise to achieve the IELTS band you want.
3. Don’t book the test too soon
It’s really important to apply for the test when you feel you have a good chance of getting your result. I often see students who decide on their Test date without ever asking themselves if they are ready or what their chances are of passing the test.
It’s certain that if your take the test don’t get your score and then take it again without changing how you are practising then the chances are you will get the same result. I see this over and over.
You have to be realistic – if your score is 5.5 and you want 7.5 then the test tells you that you will need a LOT of practice before you can get this high band so in fact there is no point in even thinking about the test for at least 6 months. Learning a language is not like other subjects – you can’t revise it, you can’t really ‘learn’ it, it’s all about practice. For example, 5.5 to 7.5 is a very big leap and this will take a lot of practice – and this doesn’t mean just books! Practising speaking means getting out there and finding people to speak with. It also means trying to listen to English at every opportunity and if you really don’t know why your scores in reading and writing are below the band you want, it may mean finding a teacher or someone with much better English skills help you.
I am always surprised that students will buy truck-loads of books, spend hours and hours on the internet trawling through various sites and keep taking the test over and over without changing their method of study and yet they won’t invest in an IELTS teacher – the very person who can make this faster and easier and, in the long run, less expensive.
In the final analysis, making sure you pass your IELTS means making sure that you are really prepared well and know you can get your band and then you won’t feel afraid if the task!