I often hear people say that IELTS is unfair or that it is just a money-making machine or that it is set up to make people fail. There are blogs and websites that discuss these things in detail and take examples and comments for IELTS Students and teachers alike. Personally I think that although like all tests it is not nor can ever be perfect, I personally believe that all these things are simply a distraction from the real work of improving English skills and passing the test.
There are a few facts to consider:
Fact 1
IELTS is just a test – it doesn’t have an ulterior motive – it’s just an assessment of your English on a given day.
Fact 2
The score you are required to achieve is NOT set by Cambridge and IELTS but by your prospective university, professional body or the country you wish to move to - again IELTS is just a test.
Fact 3
As an English language test IELTS is actually pretty accurate. With a few exceptions, it really does tell you how good your English was on the day you took your test and unless anything untoward happened on the day then this is a fair assessment of your language level currently.
Fact 4
The test result you get has just 2 functions for you. Firstly it will give you the score you want and then you can use it for the purpose you took it. If, however you don’t get the band then it should tell you exactly which parts you need to work on in order to get the band next time. If you achieve the first then you can go and celebrate. If, unfortunately, you are in the second category then you should feel sad for a few days and then analyse what the results tell you and start to work on those for your next test.
(Here’s a post I wrote a long time ago about this)
Fact 5
The process of taking the IELTS is sadly not a particularly enjoyable one in terms of the organisation and this can make a lot of students feel very nervous before the test begins. The key to this is to realise firstly that this process is for the administrators NOT for you. Your part in the process is only the test itself so make sure you are well-prepared for all of the pre-test processing. Ask questions about what to do and when. Talk to other students who have taken the test and if you are not sure ring the test centre and get ALL the information. Make sure you know exactly what time to arrive etc. and try to keep calm.
Fact 6
Nobody fails IELTS. This is important – you just receive a band on the scale which tells you where you are at the moment. Language skills develop the more you use them so perhaps you just didn’t use them enough this time. You need more steps to reach your goal – so just keep taking more steps and you’ll get there – nothing is more certain J
I personally don’t believe it’s an unfair test but I do feel that many students take it too often especially when they are not ready and this can have a detrimental effect.