Andrew was successful in scoring band 9 in IELTS speaking. Below he shares his tips with you on how to prepare and tackle IELTS speaking. Andrew clearly demonstrates his full understanding of IELTS speaking and how prepare properly.
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Andrew’s IELTS Results
Overall IELTS Band Score 8.5
- Listening: 8.5
- Reading: 8.5
- Writing: 7
- Speaking: 9
“On one side I was confident of my abilities but as it was my first attempt on such a test, I had a lot of jitters. Though I was disappointed about my score in writing, I was more than happy about the other modules. All credit goes to you and your amazing blog.” Andrew
Andrew’s Band 9 IELTS Speaking Tips
Regarding tips, I did not follow many for speaking, but I did a few:
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1 Calming yourself
Right before the speaking test one tends to get tense and nervous, this if unchecked could lead to stammering, loss of words and a general discontinuation of speech. To overcome this I simply took deep breaths, for about five minutes till the examiner called me, to calm my nerves.
2 Timing
This is an integral part of the module where one must practice the speaking test using a timer to time their answers, as one cannot afford to speak too less or too much. Use timer to time your answers. Timing is everything.
3 Part II
Go through all the possible questions for part II of the speaking test test. This helps a lot as you one will not have enough time to think and speak, so therefore it must be sub-conscious. It pays to prepares answers to such questions before hand(but don’t memorize) to have an idea, even if the questions seem similar to you.
4 Work hard
Though the exam can be taken again, it is quite a morale booster when one achieves in the first go. Practice speaking the answers, attempt mock practice tests till you are confident. Spend some time practising daily. Consistency is the key.
5 Language
When speaking don’t worry about the correctness of your answers, the examiner is looking at your language and not on your knowledge. Even if you do not know the exact answer for a question, you can beat around the bush to an extent.
6 Notes
For part II the examiner will give you paper to make notes. Make notes in the order of your speech, in a logical manner. Write hints and not sentences. I guess it is safe to say that the examiner does look into it for their final scoring. Comment from Liz: That’s correct. Your notes are not marked and do not influence your score.
7 Practising with a Recorder
Doing so will give you an idea of the flow of your speech pattern, your speed, pronunciation, pitch of sound and clarity of voice, with which you can improve all parts of you speech. It also aids you to consciously categorize your thoughts before speaking.
These were the tips I followed for speaking test. Once again I would like to thank you. Andrew.
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IELTS Liz Message: I want to congratulate Andrew on his excellent results. Band score 9 in IELTS speaking is something to be very proud of. Andrew, your tips will certainly help many IELTS candidates to not only gain confidence but also tackle this test in the right way. Thank you and well done 🙂
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For more tips about IELTS speaking, visit this page: IELTS Speaking Tips, Topics & Model Answers
Oh man,your scores are just incredible.I could never in my wildest dream think about your result.But,last week I took an IELTS mock exam and my Speaking was 7.5.I know that it’s a good one,however not the very thing I wish.So how can I increase my score like “9”.Thanks beforehand.Good luck!
Hey Asadbek
There is always room for improvement, practice hard and with consistency. If you have English as your second or third language, I would encourage you to start thinking in English for a change (let your thought processes be in English). Converse informally with your peers in English, this will help you feel comfortable in English. Lastly, keep speaking to yourself (when your alone), this will subconsciously generate confidence and create an ease to speak in English. All the best.
Congratulations Andrew on that great achievement and thanks for sharing your experience and tips
Thank you, its my pleasure.
thank you andrew its interesting tips to be followed
My pleasure Malek.
It’s great to see someone scoring a 9 in Speaking in India and that too, in Rajkot (I’m making a guess, unless they change centre numbers regularly). I’m appearing for my speaking test day after tomorrow. I’ll try and record myself this time. Thanks for all the insightful tips.
Thank you. Hope you did well.
Congradulation Andrews! That’s such a great achievement!
How long did you spend preparing for the exam?
Thank you Fatima. I spent about three weeks in preparation.
Congratulations Andrew!!
This is so inspirational to crack IELTS.
Thank you Sreepadha.
Happy for Andrew ! and Liz you did amazing
Thank you Enos.
Great score and many thanks for sharing your hints Andrew. Congratulations!
Thank you Silmara, my pleasure.
Wow, this was meticulous Andrew.
Congratulations.
Meanwhile, Enormous thanks to Liz for such a big heart.
Much thanks Samuel. Indeed all credit goes to Liz.
cONGRATS AND THANKS Andrew for sharing.
Thank you Sun, it was my pleasure.
Congratulations Andrew
Thank you Abdullahi.
Congratulations 🎉🎊🍾🎈 to Liz and Andrew.
Thank you Nii.
Awesome score. I’m guessing a lot of native speakers wouldn’t do as well as you have done and that makes it all the more impressive!
Well thank you Russell, I am really humbled.
Andrew congratulation
Can you share tips for reading or the strategy you follow?
Thank you Sania.
Well, regarding the reading module I had few thumb hand rules.
1) Skimming/Glancing – Learn to skim through the passage given. You must be able to ascertain the crux of the passage in as little time as possible. Practice skimming, as most of the given time is taken over by reading leaving very less amount of time for answering.
2) You don’t need to understand the passage but try to get a general idea of it. Get a gist of it and move on.
3) Try speed reading using a timer. In the given 20 minutes (for each passage) try to finish reading well with 10 minutes as this will give you the next 10 minutes for answering.
4) Key words – Often in a paragraph there will be a few keywords which will explain the whole meaning of the paragraph, lock onto those key words and underline them. You can also underline phrase ,dates, names, numerical data, etc. to register them in your mind.
5) Questions – Practice the ‘true/false/ not given’ and the ‘yes/no/not given’ questions as these are often the most tricky ones. Spend time to practice these question daily apart from your usual practice time.
6) Pay attention to the meaning of the questions. The questions never have the same words as the answer(and vice-versa), therefore it is vital to understand the question.
7) Lastly practice daily. Don’t try to take a full reading module test daily but practice on all the various parts.
Hope this helps.
All the best Sania.
Hey Andrew
Tips for writing plz
Hey Tresa
I’m not the person to advise you on the writing module as I scored so less. But I will share few tips that I did follow.
1) For both task 1 and task 2 there is a proper constructive pattern for the number of paragraphs and arrangement of ideas in them. (Eg. – Task 1 writing must have a minimum of 4 paragraphs consisting of an introduction, overview, body para A and body para B.) Therefore stick to the pattern, one can’t afford to compromise here.
2) Check you spellings – Spellings play a huge part. Make sure you write words whose spellings you are absolutely sure of.
3) Practice with time – Practice writing with a timer till you are able to finish writing well before the last 5-6 minutes. ( As the last few minutes will give you a chance to glance for any corrections.)
4) Maintain the word limit – Again practice writing well above the word limit (150 words for task 1 and 250 words for task 2). You cant afford to write less. Make sure to write round 170 for task 1 and 270 for task 2. To check the no. of words don’t count each word ( as that will waste your time), but make an estimate. You should be familiar with your handwriting and how many words you will be writing in a sentence.
5) Organize your thoughts – Before writing the tasks take a minute to organize your thoughts and know what to write where.
6)Handwriting – Make an effort to write legibly(especially letters like ‘i’ and ‘e’). Leave ample space between words and sentences. Make sure to make punctuation at proper places. Practice this.
6) Practice – Again practice often, consistency in the key.
Hope these would help you Tresa.
All the best.
Thank you.And I congratulate you
My pleasure. Thank you.
Congratulations
Thank you.
Congrats dear
Thank you Nishamol.
Thanks Andrew for sharing, and congratulations
Thank you. It was my pleasure.
congrats to you Andrew. i hope i can get result as yours…
Thank you Siti. Yes you can, all the best.
Great androw ..
I hope to acheive ielts exam..
Thank you Monica. All the best !!
Practice using recorder found helpful . Great bunch of tips.
Congratulations Andrew.
Thank you Haridas, cheers !!
Congrats Andrew
Hey Rushell.
Thank you.
Thank you Eva.
Dear Andrew, thank you so much for valuable tips, can me Know from which country you belong to
Hi Gaurav ! I’m from India.
Hey Andrew
Any tips for writing please
Thank you.
My pleasure.
Calming yourself is the key.
When i entered for speaking test, i took 5 plus deep breaths while sitting in front of examiner and all nervousness gone away. Hence no stammering,no lack of thoughts…….
I attemptes on October 27,2018(General). My results as follows L 8.5
R 7.5
S 7.0
W 6.5
However, i’m bit disappointed with my writing.
Congratulations Andrew,
Thank you Eva.
Hi. Congratulation on your great achievement.
I would be grateful if you could let me know the time span that you
spent for exam
How much time do you devote daily for IELTS studying?
Cheers!
Hi Foad
I spent a few hours daily for about three weeks.
Thank you Foad.