IELTS Articles | IELTS Learning Tips

How Luis moved from band 6.5 to Band 7.5 in just 4 weeks

Luis called me in May 2016. He was living in the UK and not too far from me, a doctor but unable to practise as such in England. I meet many doctors in this same situation and it can be very frustrating for them. He had already taken the exam twice and not achieved […]

The fox that chases many rabbits gets none

I heard this old Chinese proverb very recently and it made me think about many of the IELTS students that I had spoken to and how they tended to jump from one strategy to the next, mixing and matching ideas and ‘rules’ until they became totally confused.

How much can YouTube videos really help your IELTS?

I know that YouTube is a popular source of material for IELTS students and I truly believe that ANYTHING you do in English is all very helpful and there are some amazing teachers on YouTube who give very freely of their time and knowledge and all of this is really worth watching and taking on […]

The Dangers of Spending too long on IELTS Reading questions

I love IELTS reading!! There is nothing about it that I don’t really enjoy. I love doing it and I love teaching it. I also love the fact that when I teach it most of my students have ‘blue sky’ moments when it all suddenly makes sense and their scores shoot up. This is the […]

Warning: Complaining about IELTS just stops you being successful

IELTS is your friend. This may sound strange but it is actually true. There are people who want to go overseas to continue their education by taking a Master’s Degree or PhD. Other people want to work in the US, UK Australia, Canada, New Zealand. Still others want to educate their children in one of […]

The Truth about getting band 7 and 8 in IELTS

In 2012 I worked with a student from Malaysia called Sharifa. Sharifa wanted to go to Australia to do a Master’s Degree. She was a fully qualified child-psychologist and had already been offered a place on a Master’s programme and required an IELTS score at least 6.5 but had to have a minimum of band […]

7 Steps to Band 7 English

Some years ago I lived in Indonesia. While I was there it was necessary to learn the language – firstly for living and then later for my job. I was an English teacher at the university so at first my work was all conducted in English. Learning Bahasa Indonesia was not an easy thing as […]

How to improve IELTS Skills

At the beginning of August my youngest daughter Imogen performed at a Proms concert in the Albert Hall in London. She was part of the National Youth Choir. The Proms is a big deal, music concerts performed by some of the world’s greatest musicians in one of the best and most famous music venues in […]

5 Steps to Great Planning for IELTS Task 2 Writing

Not many people who have to write are able to do this automatically and without much thought – even professional writers. I am talking here about native speaker writers. So for those who have English as a second language think how much more difficult it will be to just sit and write. How easy it […]

The Perfect IELTS Preparation System

Here’s a preparation system that should deliver good results if you stick to the spirit of it and adapt it to your situation. Set aside some time regularly to practise – preferably each day but as a minimum 3 times a week. This does not have to be hours and hours (language is not like […]