IELTS Articles | IELTS Learning Tips

Be patient about your writing practice

You may have heard the expression Rome wasn’t built in a day; it refers to the need for patience and having a systematic and steady approach to something. I meet many, many IELTS students who are in a hurry to take the exam and because of this they are not really looking at whether they […]

The perfect IELTS Band 7/8 student

I was speaking to a student today and we were joking about putting together a perfect IELTS student for band 7/8 and then making every IELTS student into this character. I could picture my best listening student, my best reading student, speaking and writing students and I said that if I were able to combine […]

Improve your English language skills for a better IELTS score

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I once received a comment from a student who had asked me for the best way to improve their IELTS score which made me laugh but was at the same time quite tragic. I had told him that the best way to get a higher band was to focus on his English language skills and […]

Will 2014 be the year you pass your IELTS?

It’s a New Year, time for all those New Year resolutions. Have you made any yet? I really want you to make just one resolution this year and that is to pass your IELTS. It’s that simple – focus and pass – that’s it really. So, how do you focus on this one thing? There […]

10 Myths about getting a high score in your IELTS Exam

I have worked with IELTS students for many years and over this time students have told me many things about the IELTS exam that I term ‘myths’. This means they are methods or ideas that are false and don’t work. The reason I consider them to be mythology is because they are mostly not true […]

Keeping focused on your IELTS goal

I received this testimonial today from a student on my IELTS Step By Step programme who has just taken the IELTS and got a fantastic score. This what Luciano wrote: “This course (IELTS Step By Step) is really helpful if you are looking for band 7 or higher. It covers all the areas (listening, reading, […]

The ONE change you can make to your IELTS writing to be sure of your high band

If you have ever worked with me or come to a webinar you will know that my one mantra when it comes to IELTS writing is plan and plan and plan. I insist on it from my students and I encourage ALL IELTS students to really practice their planning seriously. I often hear these comments […]

Why IELTS preparation and practising IELTS tests are different.

A huge number of students prepare for the IELTS test by going through endless practice tests. This method of IELTS exam preparation is very limited and will not help you to achieve your band easily or quickly. Here are the reasons why: Practice tests are normally the final stage of learning for any exam – […]

What is the best way to practice for the IELTS exam?

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I was speaking to an IELTS student today and she told me that because she had got a low score in the listening test last time she was now concentrating just on listening and would review the other parts of the exam the week before the exam. This is a high risk strategy and shows […]

Grammar in the IELTS exam – is it important?

The short answer is ‘yes’ of course it is. Grammar is the foundation for any language and in order to be flexible in your usage and create new sentences in writing and interesting and varied phrases in your speaking you need to be able to use grammar. Grammar is, however just as important in the […]