Tips from a Band 8 IELTS Candidate

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Below are tips from a successful IELTS candidate for getting band 8 overall. For the purpose of anonymity I have called her Annie.

Annie’s Result

  • Listening = 8.5
  • Reading = 8.5
  • Writing = 7.5
  • Speaking = 8

Computer or Paper Test Tips

Choosing the test format (Paper/Computer) wisely: I was weak in listening and no matter what I couldn’t score beyond 7.5 in my practice tests. While I was taking my practice tests on computer, I realised that I had no opportunity to highlight the text or make notes for reference. It was the same case with reading. My writing and typing speed were relatively same. So, I opted for paper based test and it was the best decision as evident from my listening and reading scores. Although I lost quite a lot of time in editing my essay on paper and I feel I could have scored band 8 through typing, listening and reading were my priorities. 

Listening Tips

Like Liz and other tutors reiterate, answers often appear as synonyms. Learning alternative ways in which the same thing is expressed and practicing to identify the synonymous language is extremely helpful. If you’re unable to do so while listening, note down the words used and come back to it while answering. It happened to me twice or thrice and the notes helped me. The key is to stay with the audio and not get lost if you miss something. Recheck the word fit into the answer sentence before you finalize the answer. This eliminates undesired mistakes in tenses, singular and plural, spelling etc. 

Reading Tips

Patience is the key. It’s important to develop stamina to sustain your focus required to complete all sections. Keyword search is the most effective way of targetted reading covering only required parts. When I felt stuck, I chose to answer easy questions first and the quick wins kept me going. Especially in ‘True, False, Not Given’ type, the strategy that aids decision making is crucial. For example, a statement is false if there’s a clear contradiction, a statement should be marked as ‘Not Given’ if relevant information is totally absent. The last two passages are actually informative, sometimes fun to read. If you look at passages with an intention to make sense out of the content instead of just answering, you can connect the dots and derive the answers with much more ease.  

Writing Tips

The biggest mistake I made is to change my stance mid-way. After I wrote the first paragraph, I felt I was able to get adequate points on the other side of motion. I lost time in erasing and re-writing. Even if it means spending good amount of time, identify your stance clearly so you’ll spend rest of the time strengthening your content. We’ll never be able to practice all possible essay questions or preempt our topics, but we can always carry a skeletal structure around which the essay could be developed. Needless to say, an essay with good range of vocabulary is a definite winner. That said, do not force fit words. Throw in a few words to make your essay look smart and that’s just about it.

Speaking Tips

I was quite confident about the speaking test. In fact, I did well in first two parts. Part three was a shocker and I struggled to express my views about the topic. What you need to remember while answering is that you’re not judged based on your choices. You may either like or dislike something and the idea is to express what you feel with clarity in thought. This acknowledgment then made me more comfortable and eased me during the rest of the conversation.

That is all from my end. Annie.

Message to Annie: Thank you so much for sharing your tips. I know many people will benefit from them and be inspired by your results 🙂 Liz.

More IELTS Candidate Tips

Click below to read more tips from successful IELTS candidates:

How I scored Band 9 in Speaking

How I scored Band 9 in Reading

How I scored Band 8.5 Overall

How I scored Band 9 Overall

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How many Sentences for an Essay Introduction

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IELTS Writing Task 2 Academic & GT Essay Introductions

Hi guys, here are model answer introductions and essential tips for Tuesdays lesson on writing task 2 introduction paragraphs. I hope you find this lesson useful 🙂

1) How long should the introduction be?

Most essays will require only two sentences for your introduction paragraph. You will need to write a background statement and a thesis statement. There is no need to write more. It won’t help your score to add more to the introduction. Your introduction should usually be between 40-60 words. Below are details of the content of an introduction paragraph.

2) Background statement:

This is the first sentence of your essay and it paraphrases the essay question. This is the way to introduce the issue or issues given to you by IELTS because that is what your essay is responding to. Paraphrasing is a way to avoid copying directly from the essay question by using your own sentence. For example:

Essay Question: The government should allocate more funding to teaching sciences than on other subjects so that the country can develop. Do you agree or disagree?

Background: It is often thought that in order for the country to progress more funding ought to be allocated to teaching sciences instead of other subjects.

As you can see above, the background statement contains exactly the same information but written differently. It is an easy sentence to write if you practice your paraphrasing skills. You can find a useful page on paraphrasing here: Paraphrasing Background Statements and examples of background statements here: Background Examples

3) Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement will introduce your answer or your opinion. It is the second and final statement needed in the introduction. It shows the reader the direction you plan to take in your essay. Furthermore, it is important that you write this carefully and clearly because it will impact both Task Response and also Coherence and Cohesion which together count for 50% of your marks.

The thesis does not need to be detailed. It is possible to split it into two sentences if you need more space, but mostly it will be one sentence only. For example:

Essay Question: The government should allocate more funding to teaching sciences than on other subjects so that the country can develop. Do you agree or disagree?

Thesis Statement Agree: I completely agree that focusing on science subjects at school is essential for a country’s future.

Thesis Statement Disagree: In my opinion, funding should not focus on the sciences but should rather be allocated to maths, technology and languages.

Thesis Statement Partial Agreement: While I agree that the sciences do need extra funding, this should not be at the expense of other subjects which are also crucial to a country’s development.

As you can see above, each thesis statement is simply written and presents a clear opinion. Do not try to create a complicated thesis statement. Your opinion and having a clear position is more important.

Short thesis statements

Yes, it is possible to write just a few words: “I completely agree with this position.” or “I strongly agree with this opinion.” However, I personally prefer to showcase more language skills with a slightly longer thesis statement as shown above.

Below you can see a full introduction for a one sided approach:

It is often thought that in order for the country to progress more funding ought to be allocated to teaching sciences instead of other subjects. In my opinion, funding should not focus on the sciences but should rather be allocated to maths, technology and languages.

4) Giving Your Opinion in IELTS Essays

Yes, you need to give your opinion if the instructions ask for it. Using the words “this essay” does not represent your own personal opinion. If you are asked for YOUR opinion, you need to use I or MY – failure to do this will result in a lower score. See this page for more details: How to give your opinion

5) More Writing Task 2 Tips

You can find more IELTS writing task 2 tips, model essays and lessons on this page: IELTS Writing Task 2 . All main sections of this website are access through the RED MENU BAR at the top of the site.

High Band Score Essay Techniques: Advanced Lessons

If you are struggling to hit band 7 or you need more help understanding how to write a high band score essay, get my Advanced Writing Task 2 lessons which you can find here: Liz’s Advanced Lessons.

You can also find a useful e-book about Ideas for Essay Topics. Containing over ideas for over 150 essay topics. Ideas are presented as vocabulary exercises to help you improve your range and accuracy in English.

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6) How to Write an Introduction

Here is a useful video tutorial I made some time ago which helps you understand more about writing an introduction paragraph:

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Essay Introduction Practice 1

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Hi guys,

Below is an essay question that is common to get in IELTS writing task 2 Academic & GT tests. This is your chance to post your introduction and compare it to others. Writing the introduction is the easiest part so use this lesson to practise.

Essay Question: The government should allocate more funding to teaching sciences than to other subjects so that the country can develop. Do you agree or disagree?

Answer

The answers to this lesson are now available.

CLICK HERE: MODEL ANSWER & TIPS FOR INTRODUCTIONS

Remember: you need to have a background statement and a clear thesis statement. Always aim for clarity rather than aiming to impress. Avoid errors and keep your meaning clear. Keep it under 60 words.

All the best

Liz

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Why the IELTS Speaking Examiner Stops your Answer

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Learn why the IELTS speaking examiner might interrupt your answer in the IELTS Speaking Test. A lot of IELTS candidates are shocked that the examiner stops them in the middle of their answer to ask a new question. They are not prepared for interruptions and when it happens, they lose focus, get stressed and their performance suffers. Don’t let this happen to you. Be prepared and understand why the examiner is interrupting your answer.

Why the IELTS speaking examiner interrupts your answer

There are three main reasons why the IELTS speaking examiner might interrupt you and not let you finish your answer.

  1. The main reason is that time is limited. If your answer is slow, lengthy or not giving enough good English, the examiner might choose to stop you and start with a fresh question. It’s one way that the examiner can help guide you and keep you on track.
  2. Another reason is that you already gave the examiner the aspect of language they wanted to hear. When this happens, the examiner doesn’t need to hear the rest of your answer and can interrupt you to move on. Let me give you an example:
    1. Question: What changes would you make to your home if you could?
    2. Answer: If I could, I’d expand the living room so that we have more space and maybe build a patio. But I’d also like to ….
      1. Comments: Why would the examiner stop the answer after only one sentence? Well, this question was testing if the candidate could speak in the hypothetical tense (second conditional). The candidate already showed that this tense was easy for them, so the examiner can stop them and move on to a new question. Remember, some questions are testing specific language functions and once you’ve shown that ability in your answer, the examiner could stop you so that they can test other aspects of your language.
  3. The examiner will also interrupt you if time is up in any part of the test. This is actually obligatory.

It is important that you understand this fully:

  • The IELTS speaking examiner is not being rude or lacking concentration by interrupting you. In fact, when they change questions, they usually have a valid reason for doing so, which is neither bad or good as far as you are concerned.
  • The examiner is not trying to undermine your confidence. You actually should be prepared for interruptions to your answers if you have prepared fully for the test. This aspect of the IELTS speaking test should not be a surprise to you.
  • Being off topic does not affect your score in IELTS speaking. So, when the examiner interrupts you to redirect the question, it won’t affect your score. It is the examiner helping you.
  • The examiner isn’t interrupting you because you gave the wrong answer. There are no right or wrong answers – only opportunities to showcase your English. Interrupting your answer gives you a chance to tackle a new question.
  • The examiner does not rapidly ask questions to test your ability to handle stress – this is not how the IELTS speaking test works. The examiner only has a certain amount of time to test your English thoroughly so that they can give you a fair and valid score. Often you might show a wider range of English when you are given more different questions and topics.
  • Each examiner is different. Some examiners do tend to interrupt more than others so always be prepared. Whether they interrupt a lot or not at all doesn’t mean one examiner is better than another.

Always remember that the examiner is only testing 4 things: fluency, vocab, grammar and pronunciation. Nothing else is marked. 

Will interruption to your answer lower your score?

No. 100% not. This is a choice made by the examiner to cover all language functions and direct the test in the way the examiner wants.

How Can you Prepare and Cope for Interruptions

  1. You should know that the IELTS speaking examiner might interrupt you before you enter the test room. This is knowledge about the test that you ought to learn during your exam preparation.
  2. When it happens, don’t be upset or confused. 
  3. Being interrupted isn’t bad or good. It’s just part of the testing system and will help the examiner assess many parts of your language.
  4. Don’t think you made a mistake. The examiner might be moving on because your answer was actually excellent already. For whatever reason, it is simply a way for the examiner to manage the test and you don’t need to be concerned about it.
  5. Keep talking until you are interrupted. Let the examiner manage the test their way.
  6. As soon as you are interrupted, focus on the new question.
  7. Regardless of interruptions, be confident and try to enjoy the test. It is an informal speaking test.
  8. Remember, interruptions are normal.

Free IELTS Speaking Tips & Model Answers

Click here to learn more about IELTS Speaking for free: IELTS Speaking Tips & Answers

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Answers to Autism Hour Listening

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Below you can find the transcript and answers to the listening exercise about Autism Hour. If you have not completed this lesson, please do so before looking at the answers below. Click here: Autism Hour Listening Lesson

Transcript & Audio

There are 700,000 autistic people in the UK. Autism is a lifelong disability which affects how a person communicates and responds to people and how they experience the world around them. Although most of the public have heard of autism, few actually understand what it is like to live with it and how to support someone with autism. Autism Hour is when businesses agree to dim their lights and reduce background noise, such as music, to create an environment that is more suitable for autistic people. Autistic people have difficulty processing sensory information leading to sensory overload which can cause great stress and even physical pain. In a world geared towards neuro-typical people, this problem can leave autistic people restricted in where they can go and what they can enjoy. Autism Hour not only opens doors to autistic shoppers and their families, it also provides an opportunity for staff members to learn more about autism which is essential if autistic people are to get the support and respect they need from society. Autism Hour is also important in bringing to light the general affect that sensory information can have on people who are not neuro-typical or who have an illness affecting their ability to cope with light or noise or any other type of sensory information.

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Answers

  • 1. Autism can affect how someone ……….. with others and how they experience the world.
    • Answer: COMMUNICATES
    • You cannot have “COMMUNICATE” or “COMMUNICATION”. 
    • The sentence must be grammatically correct when it is completed. 
  • 2. Businesses should ………. their lights and reduce noise during Autism Hour.
    • Answer: DIM
  • 3. Too much light and noise and lead to a sensory ………… which can be painful for people with autism.
    • Answer: OVERLOAD
  • 4. Society is mostly …………. towards neuro-typical people.
    • Answer: GEARED
  • 5. Some people with other illnesses can also struggle to cope with ………… information.
    • Answer: SENSORY
      • It is not possible to have the words “LIGHT” or “NOISE” or any other word as the answer. You cannot write “light information” as a compound noun in English.

Tip: Always remember that the listening test is also testing your understanding of English grammar and English vocabulary.

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Listening Practice: Autism Hour

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This lesson focuses on sentence completion questions which basically means filling the gaps with a word or words from the recording. It’s a common question type in IELTS listening tests. To do well at this type of question you need to be good at paraphrasing and being able to spot keywords in the question to help you navigate the audio.

I chose the topic of Autism because I feel it is one we all need to know more about. Autistic people experience the world in a very different way to people who are neuro-typical. The more we understand, the more we will love, value and respect people with Autism.

Listening Practice for IELTS 

AUTISM

Questions 1-5: No more than two words.

  1. Autism can affect how someone ……….. with others and how they experience the world.
  2. Businesses should ………. their lights and reduce noise during Autism Hour.
  3. Too much light and noise and lead to a sensory ………… which can be painful for people with autism.
  4. Society is mostly …………. towards neuro-typical people.
  5. Some people with other illnesses can also struggle to cope with ………… information.

Recording: Listen only once.

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Answers

Answers for this lesson are now available.

Click here: Answers to Autism Listening Lesson

Message from Liz:

Autism is something close to my heart. Please take the time to learn more by choosing one of the following links:

The Reason I Jump. This is one of the most remarkable books I have ever read. It opened my eyes to the incredible world experienced by autistic people. Written by Naoki Higashida, who has severe autism, it provides a special insight into what someone with autism experiences and the reasons for their reactions so we can understand and support them. You can purchase this on Amazon. Here is a link to it for UK buyers: The Reason I Jump 

National Autistic Society, UK. This website will give you information about autism and what you can do to help: https://www.autism.org.uk/

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IELTS Liz App Quiz

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Hi guys,

I wanted to let you know that my Android App is ready to be installed.

The app contains useful IELTS quizzes to test your understanding of the test. If you score under 70% in the quizzes, you should really spend more time learning about the test. One of the reasons that people struggle with IELTS is that they don’t fully understand it. So, do the quizzes today and test how ready you are.

The app also contains an easy gateway for you to access my website and my Youtube channel.

The app is called IELTS Liz.

Click here: IELTS Liz App

Iphone users: If this app is popular with Android users, I will consider making another app for you later on. Lets see how things go with this app first.

All the best

Liz

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IELTS Listening Using (Brackets) for Answers

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In some IELTS books, the listening answers are written using brackets. The common question I am asked is:

Question : Can I use brackets for my answers in IELTS listening or IELTS reading?

Answer: No, you can’t use brackets in your IELTS listening or reading test. Read the information below to understand why.

What are brackets?

Here is an example of some answers using brackets:

  1. charity (work)
  2. detail(s)
  3. (a) reception (room)

Brackets are used to provide optional answers ( more than one answer).

Why are brackets used in IELTS test books?

The brackets are used in the answer keys of books to show different possible answers for one question. It is a quick easy way to show multiple answers. For example:

  • charity (work)
    • charity or charity work (both answers are correct)
  • detail(s)
    • detail or details (both answers are correct)
  • (a) reception (room)
    • reception or a reception or reception room or a reception room (all 4 answers are correct)

Even though the answer key in books show different possible answers, you cannot do that in your test.

You must choose ONE ANSWER ONLY. You can’t give two possible options for your answer. If you think the answer is “detail”, then you must write it like that. You must decide if the answer is plural or singular. If the answer is plural, your answer will be marked wrong. So, take your time deciding if you need to give a plural answer or not. Or if you need to use an article (a/the) or not.

Can you use brackets in your test?

No, not for IELTS listening or IELTS reading. However, if you are taking Academic writing, you can use brackets in your writing task 1 to present data. See the writing section of this website for examples of this.

Want to learn more about IELTS Listening?

If you want to know more about counting words, writing answers and improving your score for IELTS listening, click here: IELTS Listening Free Tips & Lessons

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