After your test, share your IELTS results and experiences to inspire others 🙂
Post your IELTS test results
- Post your results in the comments box below
- Please add your profession or academic subject
- Add tips and share experiences
- It is always a pleasure for me to see your results 🙂
Notice:
- Not all results will be displayed.
- I receive hundreds of results, only some will be posted – usually the top ones.
- If you want remarking advice, click here: Remarking
- If you results are withheld, click here: why results are withheld
Your Own IELTS Tips Page
If you scored band score 8, 8.5 or 9, and you wish to share your tips on your own page, email me.: liz@ieltsliz.com. Click here to see an example of a successful candidate’s tips: How I scored….
I hope you did well and are happy with your results 🙂
Liz
If you would like information about the Band Scores, click Band Scores.
Hello Liz,
I appeared for IELTS academic test (CBT) on the 27th June. I received 8 band overall.
Listening :- 9
Reading :- 9
Speaking :- 7
Writing :- 7
Your videos and website were very useful. Thank you for all your work. You are the best.
Great score 🙂 Well done 🙂
Hi Liz! I just received my IELTS results (first attempt) and I am happy to share them with you. I am an ophthalmologist and my goal is to apply to a fellowship in the UK. I managed to achieve the score that I needed
Your website was the basis of my preparation and I really would recommend this site for future test takers. However, it is paramount to receive personal advice from an IELTS expert, otherwise you cannot fully understand the exam.
Thank you so much!!!
Overall 7.5
Listening 7.5
Reading 8.5
Writing 7.0
Speaking 7.0
I’m glad you got the score you needed for your next step – well done 🙂 I’m also glad my site was useful 🙂
Hi Liz, first of all thanks for your valuable guidance.
I appeared for the academic module of IELTS UKVI on 13th June
Overall score – 8.0
Listening-8
Reading – 9
Writing- 7
Speaking -7
I had watched all your videos on YouTube. Your teaching skills are amazing.
Thanks and Regards
Dr. Sayli Kulthe
Ophthalmologist
India
Well done getting overall band 8 🙂 I’m so glad my videos were useful 🙂
First I would like to thank Liz for the outstanding content that she has created.
I have had a bitter experience with this exam, out of my 8 attempts, the accursed 6.5 in writing always has been the bane of my existence. However, the only attempts that I was able to break the 6.5 barrier, were the ones where I missed to score an 8 in listening, and this made me wonder if there is something fishy going on with the scoring system. Especially when on those attempts I managed to score 8/7.5 in writing. However, I refuse to succumb to negativity and I will persevere till I score the number I need. Below are my scores from my latest attempt:
Listening: 9
Reading: 9
Writing: 6.5
Speaking: 8.5
I promise you all that soon enough I will write a second post and share my success.
Again, God bless you Liz.
Shame about your writing score. You are close to getting the score you need so don’t give up. The examiner who marks your writing does not know the scores for the other parts of the test. Make sure you review your understanding of the marking criteria and the band score requirements. Review your techniques. See my Advanced lessons if you need help. Good luck 🙂
Academic Test June 22, 2019 (Computer-based)
L 7.5
R- 7.5
W-7
S- 8
Thank you Liz
Great score – well done 🙂
This was my 4th attempt
W:7 S:7 L:8.5 R:8.5
I was struggling a lot for the writing session only as i was able to score well in other section .
This time i waited for your Ebook to be published before scheduling the exam 🙂 . That helped me a lot as i was able to practice from that for not only my writing exams but also for speaking . I had also purchased your paid essay lesson which i will say is the best out there . I did not follow any other tutorial as they were little bit confusing . Thanks a lot Liz for all the support which is making IELTS possible for many .
Very well done getting your writing score up 🙂 I’m glad the e-book was useful – I agree it also helps with ideas for the speaking test as well. I’m glad it has all worked out well for you 🙂
Hi Liz, I just found you today and hope to practice with your materials before my 2nd exam.
I didn’t prepare for the 1st, I don’t know how I took it so lightly. I aim to get at least an overall band of 8:
Listening: 8 , Speaking : 7, Writting : 7, Reading 7
My 1st was a horrible overall of 6.5
Listening : 6.5 , Speaking :7, Writting: 6.5, Reading : 6.
I haven’t booked for a 2nd exam yet because I need to know am ready this time. I have seen all the good testimonies here and wish to share mine soon
I think you have made the right choice. Book your test when you feel 100% comfortable with IELTS. You need to know the types of questions given in each section of the test. You need to understand the marking for speaking and writing. There are over 300 pages for free lessons and tips on this site available through the RED BAR at the top of the website. I also offer paid advanced lessons and an e-book for writing task 2. I’m sure you will achieve your goal – just be systematic and strategic in your preparation 🙂
Very good article.
Hey Liz
I got my IELTS results and I did well
Thanks for the all the help ! Your blogs were very helpful
I messed up my writing section as I was out of time !
Also I gave it in the US and for some stupid reason they dont allow to carry our own pencil or pens !
They gave 2 pencils but no sharpeners !
I asked for replacement and the lady gave me only the first time , second time she was a lil pissed and said she doesn’t have any ! This kinda impacted my flow and writing and I was not really used to writing with blink pencils and my hand writing was messy!
Anyways I guess its they way it is
Reading 9
Listening 9
Speaking 8
Writing 7
Very well done with your results 🙂 I’m so sorry you had that experience in your writing test. It’s really unprofessional of IELTS to allow such behaviour from invigilators. Hopefully your score is still good enough for your future plans. If not, find a test centre that is better next time.
Hi Liz,
I took the General IELTS test on 1 June 2019 in London, and just received my result today. My overall score is 8.5 (R 9; L8.5; W 7; S 8.5). I would like to thank you as I used ONLY your website and resources to prepare for the test. I did compare and consider a lot of other materials available on the internet but finally decided to follow yours to stay focused. I would like your suggestion on one thing. While my results meet the criteria I need for my visa application, I am not happy with my writing test score. I had attempted both the sections of the test very well. I used proper paragraphing, complex sentences, paraphrasing, linking words, proper intro and conclusion for both the sections. Considering my score in other parts of the test, do you think I should appeal for recheck of the Writing test? Just as a background, although I am not native English speaker, all my education from nursery to post graduation has been in English and I have been working in English-speaking corporate environment for 10 years (last three years in London). I am a marketing professional and my job involves a lot of content/blog writing. I really think that my Writing score should have been definitely better than this.
Aside from this, I would love to be able to help other fellow test takers by sharing my experience in detail, and I read somewhere on your website that you contact people individually to gather more information from their experiences. So feel free to write to me.
For the sake of this comment, my top learning/tips are:
1. While there is a plethora of material available on the internet, follow one source diligently. Different teachers give different suggestions. While all suggestions might be good, they might not work for everyone. So before adopting one particular suggestion, practice it and test it with your peers, and see what works best for you.
2. Listening isn’t that easy as it seems when you practice at home. I practiced using a headphone but actually on the test day, the recording was played on a speaker! For me, listening on a speaker had a huge impact on my concentration level.
3. Reading is easier than it seems, but only if you have the right strategy for the test. You obviously don’t have time to read all the passages. So strategy does matter. I practiced my strategy at home on at least 5 papers and got the score of 9.
4. Writing: what topic you get on the day is not in our hand. So instead of preparing answers it is better to prepare yourself for structure. Liz’s tips on writing were really helpful. I would suggest to follow them.
5. Speaking: You can only prepare answers for Part 1. Part 2 and 3 you don’t know what topic it would be. So I don’t think there is anything specific that you do just for the “exam” will help you get high score. My examiner wasn’t very pleasant. She seemed very strict and was challenging each of my answers. Also, she didn’t give me even a few seconds to put my thoughts together. This is specially difficult for section 3 because questions asked in this section are abstract which you can definitely not guess and prepare before hand. I did get stressed because of that and this and wasn’t expecting a score of 8.5 at all. To be honest after the test I was super disappointed and I thought I wouldn’t get more than 6.5 or 7 in speaking. I am definitely surprised by my speaking result.
These are just a few experiences, but I have so much to tell that I feel like I can help write a blog on each section of the test 🙂 :).
Thanks,
Ankita
Very well done with your results 🙂 And also a big thank you for sharing your tips and experience 🙂
With out any preparation . I score overall 9 band
L-9
R-9
S-9
W-8.5
Overall-9
Fantastic! BAND 9! Very well done 🙂 However, I wouldn’t recommend people to enter this test without understanding the requirements and doing practice tests at home.
congrats!! its a great score.. its in Academic or GT?
How did you manage to hit 8.5 for the writing part? Did you take GT or AC? Even on this page not many have posted results with 7.5\8 for the writing.
I need an 8 for the writing part but it seems like a pie in the sky 😢
Great results!
Hi Liz,
I got my results today! It was my first attempt for General Training IELTS. Here is my score:
Overall – 8
Listening: 9
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7
Speaking: 8
Thank you for all the study material especially videos and sample questions.
I highly recommend this site to all IELTS test takers.
Thank you very much 🙂
Pri
Great score – well done Pri 🙂
Hi Liz,
Today I got my IELTS results and i.e. Overall band score: 7 in first attempt which is just 3 days of listening to your videos and few samples from your blog. I am sure following your tips and study material anyone who spend enough time to go through it can achieve desired score.
Thanks for all the help. Appreciate your efforts.
I’m glad to hear you’ve done well 🙂
Thank you liz for your generosity in unleashing important clues to succeed in the exam. Test result for IELTS GT for june 1st exam is:
Listening-8
Reading-9
Speaking-7.5
Writing-7.
God bless you.
Well done 🙂 I’m really pleased that my website helped you 🙂
Hello Liz,
Took my IELTS on the 1st of June, 2019. Referred to your videos online and sample questions. It was extremely helpful. Thank you so much!
My score- Listening: 9
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 7.5
OVERALL: 8.0
once again, thank you so much! God bless!
Overall band 8 is excellent – well done 🙂
I took the exam on the same date as yours but i did not receive my results yet.. ☹️ I have sent an e-mail the testing center provided but no response at all.
Hi, I am experiencing the same problem! What happened in the end?
Hi Liz,
Thank you very for your time in putting these useful resources together. I wouldn’t achieve my scores without your website.
It was my first attempt and my scores are as follows:
Speaking – 9.0
Reading – 9.0
Listening – 8.5
Writing – 7.0
Overall hand score – 8.5.
I am very grateful to you and I unreservedly recommend your site to prospective test takers.
Band 8.5 overall is excellent – very well done 🙂 You are not only blessed you are also talented 🙂
Hi Liz,
I took the pen and paper based General Training IELTS test on the 1st of June in Bangalore, India.
I squealed with delight when I got my results this morning! 😀
Listening – 9
Reading – 8.5
Writing – 7.5
Speaking – 8
Overall Band Score – 8.5
I followed your blog posts for the Reading and Writing sections of the test. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your help and support! I was rather dreading the reading test when I began my preparation. Your lessons made me re-think my strategies and have fun! You are wonderful for doing this! I would also like to thank some fellow test takers who urged me to to follow my gut instinct and reproduce what I read to a t, when it came to the reading test. All in all, I believe that one should not dread the IELTS test but must enjoy it!
Wishing future test takers all the very best! You can do this! You just need to believe in yourself and enjoy the test!
Preetha
An excellent results 🙂 You’ve certainly taken on the right approach. IELTS is often dreaded, but it can be enjoyable if you approach it in the right way. I’m so pleased my lessons helped 🙂
Hi Liz,
Thanks for having such a great platform.
This was my second attempt and i got an overall band score of 8.5
Speaking: 9
Listening: 8.5
Writing: 7.5
Reading: 8.0
Your writing and speaking tips really changed my approach to this test and i’m really grateful!
THANK YOU!
That’s an excellent score !! Very well done 🙂 I’m glad my tips were useful 🙂
congrats nkoli. I’ve never seen a 9 in speaking! when did you write?
I also got an 8.5 overall and only found you one day to exam. thanks Liz!
A great result – well done 🙂
Hello Liz ,
This post is to let you know how very grateful I am to you and your page.I prepared for the exam for just 10 days and whatever I was able to do ,was solely because I followed you blindly.
A very heartfelt thank you 😊.
Listening:8
Reading:9
Writing:7
Speaking:7
Overall band:8
Band 8 overall is great – well done 🙂
I’m so sorry.
I did not specify in my last comment.
I sat for the academic version of the test, I had previously written and scored a 6 in writing. So, for my second attempt, I choose to focus on your website.
I recommend the advanced courses as in my opinion, they will significantly improve your chance of passing.
I’ll also add, test takers should be wary of websites that promise improvements and yet offer bad writing advice. All you need is ieltsliz. I should know, my results tell the story.
And now my results
1st 2nd attempts
L 7.5 – 9
R 8 – 9
W 6 – 8
S 7.5 – 7.5
If you observe, I made a massive improvement in my writing and all that improvement is thanks to liz. You alone deserve all the thanks and I am very grateful. Words cant Express how thankful I am. In my native language, I’ll say, daalu shinne (it means many thanks)
Wow!! I am very impressed by your improved results. Very well done!! That is a real achievement 🙂 I think your results show people just how important it is not to give up and to keep a positive mental attitude at all times. I’m really pleased my Advanced Writing Task 2 Lessons helped 🙂
L8.5 R8.5 W7 S7 O8
Dear Liz,
Thank you for your YouTube videos. After having failed writing twice (Band 6) I was really short of time as joining date was approaching. In the short preparation time of less than a week, I went through writing videos, followed your advice and I scored band 7, the minimum required for me. For me, it’s a more than huge relief as I can now join the job.
God Bless You.
Uday
PS: Are you on Patreon?
Fantastic! I’m really pleased for you. You obviously grasped all the essential techniques 🙂 No, I’m not on Patreon.
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your lessons, especially the sections that provide recent topics in IELTS writing and speaking, it was really helpful.
Tips on answering True/false/ NG questions was also valuable.
Just got my test results and had an overall band of 8. L:9, R: 8.5, W: 7, S: 7.5
There’s need for a lot of practice for speaking and writing so one does not run out of ideas and also manage time properly. Using a recorder to practice speaking skills was also helpful.
Thanks.
Very well done with your results 🙂
My IELTS score is 8
Listening- 8.5
Reading- 7.5
Writing- 7
Speaking- 8.5
It was possible with your knowledgeable instruction and guidance and by God’s grace. Thank you Liz.
Very well done getting band 8 overall 🙂 I’m so glad my lessons helped you 🙂
Dear Liz,
Thank you for this wonderful site and your amazing suggestions. I took my IELTS academic test on 2019.05.31, computer delivered test and got my scores today.
I am more than overwhelmed by the result. I scored:
Speaking 8.5
Reading 9.0
Listening 8.5
Writing 7.0
Overall 8.5
I thank you and your site for everything you are doing to help people like us.
Brilliant! I’m really please for you – well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I took my IELTS Test in Lagos, Nigeria on May 23, 2019. I got my result yesterday and I just want to thank you for your Lessons. This was my first attempt and I achieved my required score.
overall band: 8.5
Listening: 9
Reading: 9
Writing: 7
Speaking: 8
Thank you so much! I highly recommend your true/false/NG tutorial in reading. It was my best part.
Overall band 8.5 is excellent !! Very well done 🙂 I’m so glad my lessons helped 🙂
Hello Sarah,
That is an amazing overall band, great job on that!
Hi Liz,
I took the Academic test 18th May 2019 and
Writing 6
Listening 8
Speaking 7
Reading 7
overall 7.
I am not 100% happy about my results as I have to retake it to get each 7 and above.
I felt that I didnt do well in writing component as I took 25 minutes to do the task 1. I got panic and did nt do well in task 2.
I purchased your Advanced writing lesson and I am currently going throw them.
I hope to do well next time and please let me know if you do writing correction and evaluation. I am happy to pay for your time.
Thanks,
you are the most awesome IELTS teacher online and off line.
much love
Rosy
I wish you luck in your next test 🙂 Make sure you practise under exam conditions at home to make sure you can do task 1 in 20 mins. Also you can think about doing task 2 first – but make sure you do have 20 mins left for task 1.
Hi Liz,
I had written the exam on 23 May 19 and got the result few hours back. First and last attempt – seems that IELTS journey is over for me.
Overall band of 8
L8, R9, S8, W7
I would like to thank YOU for your help and guidance. Working in a hectic job, I only reviewed your website and videos. Your sessions and lectures are phenomenal and I owe my score to you. I will share with you over an email my strategy and detailed guidance for fellow students.
The exam was exactly on your suggested format with no surprises whatsoever. I was expecting a higher score in writing section since I had put in a lot of effort in writing section preparation.
Thanks once again and keep doing the good work and good karma will come back to you.
Regards
Sahil
Very well done with your score 🙂 It is a great feeling to hit the desired score in the first attempt. Feel free to email your tips and experiences so that other people can benefit from them. My email is: ieltsliz789@gmail.com
Hey Liz
Thank you so much for providing such a Comprehensive and beneficial content on ur blog
Your tips really helped in Writing
I appeared for IELTS test on 23rd May 2019 and got a overall 7 bands with
L-6.5
R-7
W-7
S-7
Well done with your results 🙂
Hi Liz,
I just received my exam results. L-7, R-8, W-7, S-7 with an overall band score of 7.5
I am really glad about my band scores since it was my first time to take the exam and I only had two full days to study (plus a week of 2-hour study a day on a bus while commuting from my workplace to my apartment). I had to take the exam as soon as possible because it was an urgent requirement from me.
Thank you very much, Liz. Your website was really helpful for me. I did not take any review classes, but only relied on your website and youtube channel. You are really amazing!
Again, many thanks and take care!
Great results !! Particularly when you had such little time to prepare – well done 🙂 Using preparation time effectively is the key 🙂
I am so distraught right now. Did CBT IELTS last week and got the following LRSW 8.5,8,8,6.5
Should i request a remarking of the writing? I didn’t argue both sides during Writing 2 and the essay was the Argumentative type. Would i be wasting money trying to request a remark?
It is unclear what you mean by “both sides”. In an opinion essay, you must state your opinion of the issue or issues presented. That is the content of your whole essay. It is not a discussion essay about what other people think.
Hi liz! I would just like to say thank you for providing a lot of helpful sources and tips for IELTS preparation, especially writing. my first attempt was on March and got a score of RLSW 8.5,8,7,6. After getting that result I went through your tips and practiced daily for 3 weeks with the recent questions you posted, as well as followed the style of writing for your sample essays and got RLSW 9,9,7.5,7.
This improvement in writing wouldn’t have been possible without your guidance and tips provided on your site, I highly appreciate it and wish you all the best.
Thanks,
Judah
What a great improvement! Very well done indeed 🙂 This certainly will be an inspiration to other IELTS candidates 🙂
Hi Liz,
I took my IELTS exam (1st attempt) last week on 23rd of May. I received my results today.
Reading: 9
Listening: 9
Speaking: 9
Writing: 7.5
Overall Band: 8.5
I am happy with my results.
A big thank you to you. I have referred your website extensively for practicing speaking and writing sections.
Your tips on constructing the essay was very helpful, especially the manner in which introduction and conclusion should be written . The model letters highlight the style for different types of letters.
The videos on speaking guided how to tackle the different parts of the interview.
Once again, thank you for your help.
Best wishes!
Regards
Abhishek
Excellent score – very well done 🙂 I’m really pleased my lessons helped you 🙂
Thanks Liz 🙂
wow Abhishek well done! any tips for writing you have?
Thanks Ruchika. I only followed all tips that Liz has mentioned on her website. I watched all her videos on Writing exercise. I read the model essays and letters.
It was really helpful.
bro results are shown after 13 days from the examination.how you got your results that early. I have also given ielts test on 23 . so result would be declared on 6 june.
If you take the test online (computer based), you get your results in 5 calendar days. 13 days wait time for results is true when you take hand written exam.
Congratulations abhishek
What do you think which is better computer or paper based? Any from where to get computer based study material?
Any listening tips you have to score above 8
Hi Liz,
I would like to thank you for being such a wonderful mentor. Your website and tips helped me a lot.
My score:
Overall: 8
L: 9
R: 8.5
W: 7 (6.5 before EoR but got the score increased)
S: 7.5
Thank you so much your website was a live saver! Also my tip to those who are planning to go for EoR if you are confident about your writing or speaking skill it is worth a try.
Life Saver* typo
Great score! Well done getting your writing remarked – it isn’t easy to hit band 7 in writing 🙂
Thank you so much liz,
After 5 trials, I used your advantage video and finally passed writing.
You are amazing!
My last result is LWRS 8,7,7,7.5
I was stuck on 6.5 in writing, your writing tips in those three advantage videos are second to none. It was worth every penny.
Well done hitting band 7 in writing 🙂 It isn’t easy. I’m so pleased my Advanced lessons helped 🙂
Hi Liz,
General Training, India:
Exam Date: 6th April 2019
Result on 19th April 2019 as below:
Listening: 8
Reading: 7
Writing: 7
Speaking: 6.5
I was upset for my speaking section and I applied for EoR (Remarking) and got my updated TRF delivered on 14th May:
Speaking got improved from 6.5 to 7 and finally, I got CLB 9 in all the modules.
Thanks to you, your lectures helped me to achieve this score. I watched all your YouTube videos and read your sample essays from your website to understand the format.
The recent exam questions link was too helpful to prepare for the speaking module.
Thank you so much!!!
Great news about your speaking 🙂 Very well done 🙂
Hey Liz
I have taken my IELTS GT on 11th May in the USA. My scores are:
Listening – 8.5
Reading, writing and speaking -7.5
Overall – band 8.
I work for a software company as consultant.
Thanks for the tips, your site helped me to get familiar with the test patterns.
Great score – well done 🙂 Glad you found my site useful 🙂
Overall score: 8, Listening:9, Reading: 8.5, Writing: 6.5, Speaking: 7
I have 2 small kids, I’m working nights and had only a month to prepare. I had to fly to the city with test center, couldn’t sleep in the b&b the night before and on the test day the audio player broke, so the order of components changed which was a bit confusing.Many things made it difficult but I’ve done it! I’m so happy as I have the score needed to return to my studies. I’m very grateful to you Liz, the material on your site was so helpful in the preparation. Thank you.
You deserve a big WELL DONE!! Sounds like the experience was a bit of a nightmare, but in the end, you conquered and that is all that matters 🙂
Hi Liz,
I took IELTS (GT) in Mumbai, India on 18th May 2019, and I just received my score.
Overall Score – 8
Listening – 8.5
Reading – 8.5
Writing – 8
Speaking – 7.5
Your tips and model answers have been extremely useful in my preparation, especially for the writing module.
Thanks a lot!
Great score – well done 🙂
I appeared for my IELTS exam (General Training) on May 11 (in the US):
L: 9
R: 9,
W:8.5
S: 8
Overall: 8.5.
I would love to share some tips by email. This is to share as Liz’s website as well as others’ tips have helped me in my preparation.
Very well done indeed 🙂 Feel free to email your tips and we can discuss things further.
Hey, great writing score! Can you please share your tips here so that everyone looking to take test soon can benefit please?
Thanks!!
L already shared tips. They were posted yesterday. Always check the RECENT LESSON in the side bar. You can find L’s tips here: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-candidate-tips-band-score-8-5/
Hi Liz,
I started following your tutorials two years ago when i appeared for Academic IELTS in India which helped me to move to Canada for higher studies. I gave my IELTS general on May 11th, 2019for Permanent Residence. I work 44 hours a week and hardly get anytime to study, I trusted you and the amazing study material.
L-9 R-9 S-8.5 W-7 Overall 8.5
I am so thankful to you.
Love,
Sushmita
Excellent score !! I’m really pleased for you 🙂
Hi Liz,
First of all let me thank you for your amazing guidance. I and my wife only had 3-4 days to prepare for the exam and all we did was to go through your examples and videos. We didn’t spend a cent on other materials.
I got 9L 8R 7.5S 7W and my wife got 9L 8.5R 7S 7W.
Eventhough this result is more than what we need we still could have done better on Reading and Writing having watched all of your videos.
I strongly recommend writting in all caps for L and R. Also, for reading, its better to start from the last section. I didnt do that and had to rush through the last part which is tad complicated. I was getting all comfy on the beginning wasting time and found myself cramped up in the end.
Once again thank you so much for your contribution. You are changing the world one result at a time!
Brilliant scores for both of you – well done 🙂 Thanks for sharing your tips – I know other candidates will appreciate it 🙂
Hi Liz,
I appeared for GT in AZ, USA on Apr 27.
Overall band score of 8.5
(Listening 9, Reading 9, Speaking 8, Writing 7.5)
It was my first attempt. And I could only spend 2 weeks before test for preparation, so I was very happy with the end result. I used your site extensively and really made a difference in the end. I read all your tips and completed all sample exercises in here for Listening and Reading and several more practice tests online. I didn’t have time to do practice tests for Writing or Speaking, and just referred to your tips and some samples.
For Listening, the recording was played over speakers in the test hall, and for the most part that the type of questions were similar to seen in samples. There were just a couple answers I didn’t catch while the audio was being played, and for those I made an educated guess.
For Reading, I did the last section first and it was the section I ended up spending most time overall. I had to read it several times to get True/False/NG answers. Actually in any section where there was T/F/NG or Y/N/NG questions, it was somewhat tricky and needed few readings.
For Writing, though I knew going in that I should spend more time on Task 2, lack of prior practice made it difficult to organize the points I wanted to convey and manage time in both Tasks. I was in a rush to finish both Tasks and didn’t get a chance to review. After L, R and W, I was feeling confident about first two, but uncertain about Writing.
My Speaking Test was late in the evening. I didn’t use many big words, just tried to be clear about the points I was making and making sure it was easy to follow with my accent. For the cue card part, I found myself speaking for less than the entire allotted duration, and thought that I might lose points but Invigilator asked me to elaborate on points that he probably was expecting me to cover in those 2-3 min, and I responded to those, so in the end that’s all they look for I guess.
Thank you so much for all the valuable information you’ve put together for us in this site. I couldn’t have done without it. I am recommending this site to anyone who asks me about my preparation.
Thank you for giving a platform to share my experience and to anyone reading this good luck if you’re appearing for this Test in coming days!
Very well done with your results – great score 🙂 I also want to thank you for sharing your experience. I know it will help a lot of people who are currently preparing for their test 🙂 Glad you like my site 🙂
Hi Liz. I can’t thank you enough. I got a band 8.5 in GT.
R:9, S:9, L:8.5, W:7
I am so grateful to you. Keep up the good work.
That’s a great score 🙂 Well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
Your tutorials have been of great help to me for the preparation of the test. My scores for IELTS (Academic module) taken in April 2019 are, L 9, R 9, W 6.5, S 8.5. However, a total band score of 8.5 does not help me enough, as I need 7 in each category. Is re-evaluation a good idea for a score like this?
Regards,
Asha
Firstly, very well done your scores 🙂 About remarking, your writing will already have been checked by two examiners who both agree that your writing score is 6.5. This is automatic when your speaking and writing scores differ by two band scores. Although it isn’t likely, a senior examiner might not agree and might give you a higher score. So, it’s your choice if you wish to take that chance. If you take the test again, please get my Advanced Lessons and learn more about writing task 2: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/
Hi Liz,
I wrote my exam on the 27th of April, 2019;
Overall 8
L-8
W-8
S-8
R-8
Your website contributed immensely to my success, it is a simple and comprehensive approach to the techniques of IELTS. I also benefitted from the letter regarding the undelivered book, as it was my Task 1 question.
I hope you will continue with the good work.
Tai
Very well done with your score 🙂 I’m so pleased that my website helped and my model letter 🙂 Good luck with your future plans 🙂
Hello Liz,
First of all, thanks a lot for the endless efforts that you put in everyday for the people who you barely know. I have been referring to your material extensively for IELTS preparation but never got 7 in writing in previous 2 attempts. Today, I got my result for my third attempt and I finally got 7 in writing.
L: 8.5
R: 8
S: 7.5
W: 7
Overall: 7.5
I have taken computer-delivered IELTS and it does help a lot in the writing section. Firstly, you can make corrections easily in case you do any mistake or want to change the sentence or a paragraph. Secondly, it gives you dynamic word-count that helps a lot to keep track track of the number of words you have written. Word-count also saves few minutes that you spend in a paper-based test.
More power to you, Liz. Stay fit & happy and god bless you.
Warm regards,
Ninad
Well done, Ninad!! I’m really pleased for you 🙂 I’m so glad my website was useful. You are right about the advantages of the CD IELTS writing test – certainly easier. Although if a person’s typing isn’t strong, I think they might struggle with the listening section that requires them typing the answer whilst listening. Anyway, thanks for sharing your tips 🙂
I wrote general test on 27/04/19 and the result was amazing.
Overall band score – 8
Listening – 8.5
Reading – 8.5
Writing -7
Speaking -7.5
Thank you Liz for all the support.
Temitope Oke
That’s a really great result – well done 🙂
Hi Liz ,
Here is my score :
L= 9
R=7.5
W=6.5
S= 7
Will still need to retake the test to improve my writing as I need minimum score of 7 🙁
Two mistakes I did in the writing module :
I went to washroom 🙂 .I had to .
I spent time on task 1 more than it should be .
Wish you more success !
BR
Fadi
Well done with your results 🙂 Yes, it’s a shame about your writing, but at least you know what went wrong. 2 hours and 40 mins without a toilet break can be tough. Always best to go to the toilet in reading (if your reading skills are quite strong). It’s still a great overall score 🙂
Thank you for the tip . It makes more sense 🙂
BR
Fadi
Hi Liz,
I attempted the exam from Sri Lanka. took the exam several times since I was stuck at 6.5 for my writing. However, this time I got a very good result with the help of your tips.
Speaking: 8
Listening: 8
Writing: 7.5
Reading: 7.5
Thank you,
Great job improving your writing score – well done 🙂
My score in IELTS exam on. 13th of April
L-9
R-9
S-8.5
W-8.5
Overall -9
Band 9 overall is fantastic!! Very well done indeed 🙂 I hope you will take the time to share a few tips with everyone – I know they would love to hear about your experience of IELTS 🙂
Wow.. Congratulations
How was you scored it?
Wow… How did you score this… ??
Indeed, that’s a great achievement. Congrats. Could you share your tips with us?
Hi Liz and hello everybody!
I did my first IELTS attempt in order to do a PhD in the UK in September, the module was academic and it has been done on the 6th of April 2019.
L: 7.5
R:7.5
W: 5.5 and after EoR—> 7.0!!!!!!
S: 7.0
I would like to share my experience with this test and the process of remark. When my results came up I was utterly disappointed about the writing section. I have studied so hard every task, but most of all writing, because I knew that it was the toughest for me. I have never lived in an English speaking country, but thank to my generous parents I had the possibility to study this language for many years. I was 99% sure that my writing was well written, without spelling mistakes, with the correct vocabulary and easy to read and understand because during the exam I have rechecked double both essays. Moreover, ALL my writings exercise were corrected by a British Council teacher and I was sure that I had strictly followed all Liz structures of the Advanced lessons for writing.
So then, I asked for a remark just 5 days after the results and in JUST 6 days (how fast!!) I finally I got the deserved band score (more than 1.5 band..my gosh, I couldn’t believe it). Hence, my advice is: go for a remark if you are completely sure about your abilities and about your output during the exam.
Thank you Liz for all your precious work, you are a great resource for every student. Keep going this marvellous blog and lessons.
All the best,
M.
A fantastic remark result 🙂 You must have been so concerned about your writing score. You are absolutely right, if you know your level and you have understood the band score requirements, it is worth a remark 🙂 Thanks for sharing your results 🙂
Hello, Liz!
I come from Taiwan, and was working in the media industry for the past two years.
I decided to pursue a master’s degree in filmmaking this fall, and that is why I took the test.
I took the IELTS for UKVI Academic test on 13 April, and just got my result back.
Overall 8.5
Listening 9.0
Reading 9.0
Writing 7.0
Speaking 8.5
This is my second time taking the test, and I struggled with writing on the first attempt.
After recommended by a friend to use your website to prepare for the second test, I got the score I needed for my application!
I would like to thank you for your website really helped me with understanding the writing tasks, including how to organized the paragraphs, the appropriate words to use, how to find main points, etc.
The tips for reading and listening also made me more confident about how to answer the questions.
And the speaking sample questions gave me a lot of resource to practice before the test.
The result is higher than I expected, with improvements in not only writing (6.5→7.0) but also speaking (8.0→8.5)!
Once again, thank you for sharing all these information with us, and making our test preparation process less pressured and confused 🙂
Best,
Haylie
Haylie, I’m really pleased your score improved so much – very well done 🙂 It’s great for people to see what is possible 🙂
Hi Liz, my IELTS Overall Score is 8.0 .
Listening – 8.0
Resading – 8.0
Writing – 7.0
Speaking – 8.0
I really gained a lot of information from your youtube videos and online tips. I thank u so much for the support you have provided which has helped me get this score.
I’m really pleased to see you got band 8 – very well done 🙂
Let me first congratulate and thank you, Liz. You are doing a wonderful job. I came across your website through google and used it for 5 days of practice(a week off from work). I took my test in New York, USA.
Overall: 8
Listening: 8
Reading: 7.5
Writing: 8
Speaking: 8
Well done with your results 🙂 Glad you found my site 😉
Hey Liz,
I took the GT this month and I am happy to say that the preparation has paid well. Below are my results:
Overall Band: 8.0
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 9.0
Writing: 7.0
Speaking: 8.0
Your website helped know what exactly to expect from each section and each test category. I took a lot of notes as I studies, as that is the only way I can remember stuff later. I really think that preparation is essential to show the testing body your full extent of knowledge in English, however it really takes a strong base to be able to easily prepare for the test. I hope your website keeps helping people get jobs and degrees and better lives.
Thanks for everything,
Rami
Great score – well done 🙂 I’m glad you took notes. The actual act of making notes is one of the ways to learn and remember. Glad you made the most of my site 🙂
Just got my result. For academic.
Reading – 9.0
Listening – 9.0
Speaking – 9.0
Writing 7.5
I was a little nervous about the writing, so I used your tip and wrote task 2 first. I always found task 1 challenging even during preparation but I tried to use as many of your tips as I remembered and I am pleased with my score.
Thanks Liz. You are doing awesome work.
Excellent scores – very well done 🙂 Getting 7.5 in writing isn’t common – good job 🙂
Hi Liz,
I followed your techniques and got overall band 7.5.
Listening 8.5
Reading 8
Writing 6.5
Speaking 7.5
It’s for the general category…..They made us sit at 11:30 am while the exam started at 1:00 pm and they had all the rules about the restroom breaks and all.
There was a lot of stress in the examination hall and that’s is probably one of the reasons I scored less.
But hats off to you for the amazing support on the content and videos…
Very well done with your results 🙂 Shocking conditions to ask you to take your place over 1.5 hours before the start of a very long test. At times, I’m really shocked at sloppy and unprofessional procedures in some of the IELTS test centres. Anyway, you’ve done really well and can put it all behind you 🙂 Glad you liked my lessons 🙂
Hi..Liz,I start watching your video from last 2 days.. But your s video and ideas made me more comfortable than others. As, i have start watching video of many other instructor, but your ideas are really good. I feel its really going to help me in my exams.I am planning to give my exams may be end of this year.Again i am really thankful to you videos and tips.
Thank you
Good luck!! 🙂
Overall Band -7.5
Listening – 8
Reading – 7
Writing – 7
Speaking – 7
Thank you very much Liz.It was not possible without your lessons.
Well done with your scores 🙂 It isn’t easy to hit no less than 7 in all sections 🙂
Thanks Liz😊
I pray to god you will recover soon.
Thanks
Hi Liz,
I had taken IELTS general in November last year and have been wanting to write a thank you note since then. My apologies for not doing it sooner. Your website and YouTube channel were extremely helpful. I initially scored
Listening : 8.5
Reading: 9
Speaking : 7.5
Writing : 6.5
The over-all band was 8.
But I was sure that my writing had been better so I applied for re-evaluation and my writing score increased to 7.
Thanks again for the wonderful work you have been doing and helping so many students across the world.
Very well done 🙂 I’m glad your remark worked 🙂
Hi Liz,
Me and my husband took the General Training Computer based IELTS on 9th April and got our scores today.
Listening: 9.0
Reading: 9.0
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 8.5
Overall: 8.5 (identical scores for both of us)
We are so grateful for your tips. One week of preparation and working through all your suggested techniques helped us greatly, especially with the writing section. Thank you so much!
That’s great. I’m really pleased for both you and your husband 🙂 Band 8.5 for both of you is excellent 🙂
Hi Liz,
Thank you so much for all the useful information in your website. I got my score today:
(General)
L-9
R-9
S-8.5
W-7.5
I am very happy with the result but was expecting 8 in writing. I gave the computer based test (which I would strongly recommend!) and my guess is there might have a few typos, also I m sure there were some punctuation mistakes. Can you let me know if I should go for a reval? I need 8 in each section.
Great score – well done 🙂 So far your writing has only been marked by one examiner. When there is a two band score difference between speaking and writing, it is automatically marked by a second examiner – this is not the case with you. If you feel you should have got a higher score based on the requirements of the band scores, then you have the option to choose. It’s certainly worth consideration if you can afford it and if you feel sure of your performance. If it doesn’t work, you will need to take the test again. In that case, review your techniques and your language to ensure that band 8.
Hi Liz,
I have got my results today:-
Listening- 8.5
Reading- 9
Writing-7
Speaking-7.5
I have got my desired score, and you are the person who I owe a lot 🙂
Thank You So MUCH 🙂
Your online student,
Shivam
Great score – well done 🙂
Hey Liz! I took the IELTS academic for the first time and passed with overall 8 bands.
L – 8.5, R – 9, W – 7.5, S – 7
About 2 weeks of preparation.
I cannot thank you enough for all the help and free tips you provide via this blog. ❤️
That’s great – well done 🙂 Glad my website was useful 🙂
Hi Liz,
My husband and I appeared for the Ielts exam on 23rd March 2019 and got our results on 5th of April. We are so glad to let you know we cleared the test in the first try! He got an overall score of 8 and I scored a 7.5. ☺️.. Because of our hectic work schedules, we weren’t able to prepare much for the test. The only preparation from our part was going through your videos and this helped us a lot.. The credit goes to you and your expertise. Thanks a ton Liz.. 😊 . Kudos to your efforts!! Can’t thank you enough….
I always smile when I hear such good news. Very well done to both of you 🙂
Hi Liz, I got an overall score of 8.0.
reading 8.5, listening 8.5, speaking 7.5 and for writing 7.0.
This was my first attempt. thanks for sharing your wisdom and expertise with us.
gratitude from Sri Lanka.
Great score – well done 🙂 I’m really pleased my website was useful 🙂 My best wishes to all in Sri Lanka.
Hi Liz,
First of all, I would like to thank you for this wonderful website and providing all this information for free. I got my results today
Overall – 8
Listening – 8
Reading – 8.5
Writing – 7.5
Speaking – 8
This was my third attempt and finally, I scored better than what I was expecting. In my first and second attempt, I was missing the desired band by 0.5 (LSRW 1st 8,8,6.5,7 – 2nd- .7.5,6.5,7,7). I think the writing was my weakest link and your advanced lessons and modal sample essays helped me a lot.
Tips:
Listening:
Section 4 for a little tricky for me as it has MCQ. It has some jobs and their responsibilities. my trick was just to write key points against the roles.
Writing:
Read all modal essays written by Liz.
Write synonyms of the commonly used word on paper and use them while writing essays at home.
Proofread your essay once done.
Solidify your sentences, don’t leave them open-ended.
While practicing if you are running out of ideas use google to read articles about topics.
Speaking:
I referred your recent exam questions and I prepared key points for every question.
Support your answers with an example if possible.
Once again thanks a lot for your website and videos.
Very well done scoring those results 🙂 It shows how determined you need to be. Thanks for sharing your tips 🙂 About finding ideas for topics, I will be releasing an “Ideas for IELTS Essay Topics” e-book this month which will help enormously 🙂
I recieved my results today
L 8.5
R 8
S 7.5
W 6
I need 7 at least in each section. I felt the same in both speaking and writing regarding my performance after the exam. I don’t know really if I should ask for re-score or retake the whole test again. Exams are stressful for me.
You mentioned that you felt the same in speaking and writing. However, the marking criteria are very different for each. Speaking is based 100% on your language used. Writing is only about 50% based on language and 50% on other skills which you need to demonstrate. Have a look at the marking criteria for writing and decide if you want to try a remark:
https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-band-scores/
https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-band-scores-5-to-8/
Don’t just read the requirement for the score you want. Read all band score information because then you will see what causes your score to up or down.
Hi Liz, I got L8 R8.5 S7 W6. I am frustrated as I believe I did well in writing, I have read both parts several times after completing before time was up but I am not sure where I went wrong to get 6 score. Kindly let me know if re-evaluation would be a good idea as I read somewhere that if 2 of the other section is having 2 scores difference from the lowest then they automatically do a re-mark.
Please read the other comments where I’ve replied about remarking – the comments apply to anyone with less than two bands between speaking and writing.
Hi Liz,
I got my result today(GT).
Reading – 8.5
Listening – 8
Writing – 7
Speaking – 7
Overall: 7.5
Your online videos and website helped me a lot. Thank you a lot.
Regards,
Nick
Well done 🙂
Dear Hala,
Same score and I am so so frustrated too L -8.5, R-8, W-6, S-7.5
Same here L 8,R8,S 7.5, W 6.
Hi Liz..
I got my ielts result (general) today..
overall score is 8
Listening 8
Reading 8
Speaking 8
Writing 7
This is my first attempt and am so happy that I was able to get 8. My sincere thanks to you. I just went through your website and just followed your tips . Thank you so much once again. You are really great .
Great score – particularly for a first attempt – well done 🙂
Hey Liz how are you? I am from India and I recently gave my IELTS exam on 23.03.2019 and I got a band score 8..
Listening – 8.5
Reading -9
Speaking – 8.5
Writing – 6
I was shocked to see such a low score in writing considering my marks in other.. I plan to go for a review.. Do you think it will actually help or is it just a scam…. Do people actually get their marks increased or is it just a mechanism without any real change in result.. Do you suggest me to go for a review or instead appear in exam again… Hoping to hear from you soon..
Thanks
Regards
Amisha
It is certainly not a scam. IELTS is a legitimate English testing company run by BC, Cambridge and IDP – none of the owners scam people. There are plenty of people who have had their scores increase from marking. But it will only happen if the senior examiner thinks your writing deserves more and this will be based on the marking criteria and whether your essay reached the requirements for band 7. If a remark doesn’t change your score, you will have to think very seriously about why you scored only 6.5 which will mostly likely be due to your understanding of the marking criteria.
Hi Liz,
I got my results today and below is my score. Your advance writing lessons had helped me a lot to achieve 7 Band in writing. You are the best trainer.
Overall band score: 7.5
Listening: 8
Reading: 7
Writing: 7
Speaking: 7
To all users, just follow Liz site, you can achieve your required score easily.
Thank you
Well done 🙂 That’s a very strong score 🙂 Glad my Advanced lessons were helpful.
Hi Liz,
I got my results few minutes back.
L-8.5
R-9
W-7
S-7.5
Overall – 8
Your advanced lessons had helped me a lot. Thank you so much. I have already recommended your site to all my friends. Thank you once again.
Great results 🙂 Well done 🙂 Glad my Advanced Lessons helped.
Hello Liz
I just got my results and am ecstatic to let you know that I scored well thanks to your tips and videos. Please see my results below:
L-9
R-8.5
W-7
S-8
Overall- 8
For tips- I stuck to your Reading and Listening tips for understanding what is required. Thereafter I practiced from various sources. I’d like to add, that writing answers in CAPS helped for sure.
For Writing, I watched your videos on tips and I went through sample essays to ensure I have structure in mind every time I see a Task 2 topic. For Task 1 I was fairly confident after having seen sample letters and practiced a few.
For speaking, It helps to smile and keep calm. It’s best to elongate the answer in Task 2 by talking about the same thing in different time periods (PPF by Jay). Besides, it is good to talk to the examiner like a friend; but also ensure you make lists of new words in the one month preceding the exam- it helps to use them when you are talking in Task 2.
I am a Chartered Accountant working in Delhi, India.
I’m really pleased to see your score – well done 🙂 Thanks for sharing your tips – it really helps others to hear from people who have been successful in IELTS 🙂
Hi Liz,
You are really amazing. I got the required score because of you.
I have recently written the IELTS exam three times, and I am third time lucky. :). I need 8777 in LRWS.
My three exam results:
Date -> L, R, W, S, Overall
04/Feb/2019 -> 8.5, 7, 6, 8, 7.5
22/Feb/2019 -> 9, 9, 6, 7.5, 8
30/Mar/2019 -> 8.5, 9, 7, 7, 8 (After purchasing the lessions 🙂 writing 6 -> 7)
After a couple of failures in writing, I have purchased your advanced lesson videos and watched them repeatedly until I understand most of the ideas. It helped me to achieve the required band in writing next time itself. Thank you so much, Liz.
For all other readers, you have to buy Liz’s lessons if you are not doing well in English.
I’m sure you were very relieved to finally get such strong scores 🙂 Well done 🙂 I’m glad my Advanced Lessons were useful. Hopefully I can make some more when I’m better.
1=No
Hey LIZ,
I took academic ielts in San Diego, California.
Overall band: 7.5
Listening: 7.5
Reading: 6
Writing: 8
Speaking :7.5
I struggled a lot in reading section during the exam. My time management was poor and I panicked. Kindly advise how to improve on reading.
I solely rely upon your lessons. Love your way of teaching.
Well done with your results! Very well done getting band 8 in writing – not easy 🙂 For reading, it’s all about the following:
1. being able to spot paraphrases
2. being able to locate information quickly in the passage – scanning
3. 4. understanding precise meaning and subtle differences, rather than just understanding general synonyms
4. having strategies for question types
5. knowing which types of questions have answers than come in order so you don’t waste time
6. spotting keywords in the questions – words that indicate precise meaning, indicate the type of answer & help locate the area of the passage
7. spending more time with the question – the more you analyse the question, the more likely you are to get the right answer
8. choosing which questions to spend more time on
9. spelling
10. not getting lost in detail and hunting for answers – each answer is one point
I hope this helps. You really need to analyse each practice test or exercise you do at home to know why you are getting answers wrong and why you are getting them right. Be strategic in your practice.
I hope this helps 🙂
Hi Liz,
First of all, thank you for all your tips here in your website! I focus solely on your site especially on writing and reading part.
I had my exam last March 24, 2019, GT Computer-delivered. This is my result
Listening 8.0
Reading 7.5
Writing 6.5
Speaking 7.5
I was quite happy to see my speaking band score because I was so nervous for this subtest. I tend to over speak without thinking if my grammar is correct or not anymore. Also, during my test, my examiner kept throwing me questions even though I haven’t answered in length yet.
Sadly, I didn’t achieve my desired score. 🙁 I was aiming for 7.0 in writing. I was actually a bit more confident since I prepared well for this. I was thinking of remarking just not sure if it’s worth it.
Strong scores 🙂 For writing, if you feel strongly that your writing fulfilled the requirements of band 7 in both task 1 and task 2, then you can consider a remark. Also make sure you wrote over the word count in both tasks, and wrote a conclusion in task 2 and an overview in task 1.
Hi Liz,
I would like to thank you for all the practice tests and tips on your website. I am a software engineer and gave my GT test on 2nd March. Apart from solving all your lessons, I also completed the Barron’s in a month’s time. And I must say, I got my desired score though I did better in Speaking than my score (as per my opinion).
My scores are as below:
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 8
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 7
Thank you again!
Very well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I hope you are doing great. Firstly, I would like to thank you for such extensive help and whatever you are doing for everyone is praise worthy.
I have given my IELTS on 2nd march, 2019 and I would like to share my result.
Listening 7.5
Reading 6.5
Writing 6.5
Speaking 7.5
Overall 7
I was kind of disheartened to see my result as i could not achieve my desired requirement. So, I am planning to resit to exam on 27th April. I really need your advise in this regard as I have done tons of Cambridge practice tests that’s why i am not left with anymore. Can you please guide me that from where should i do my listening and reading practice now? As those tests are like repetition for me now.
Your advice is extremely valuable!
Thank you so much !!
You cold try Barron’s which contains tests that are well written. My site also has over 300 pages of free tips and practice lessons. But make sure you do not do test after test. Doing a test will not help you enough. You need to analyse each individual answer, develop skills, raise awareness of keywords and paraphrases etc. You must develop strategies for each type of questions. Use the RED BAR at the top of my site to access the main pages for learning each part of the test. Also think of getting my Advanced lessons for writing task 2 which you can buy on this page: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/
I’m extremely thankful to you for the reply. I’m really looking forward to get 8 7 7 7 and it seems like a hardest thing to do, but i am not going to lose hope. I just need your guidance for that.
I have started to solve the exercises on your page and trying to develop those skills. I have given IELTS General Test.
Can you please guide me regarding writing that how should i practice it?
Thank you once again for the guidance.
Hi Liz,
A trillion thanks to you for helping me achieve my desired score ! Your invaluable tips and practice tests helped me to get an overall band 8 in IELTS GT. Here are my scores
L-9
R-8.5
W-7
S-8
My test was on March 2,2019 and I had hardly a fortnight in hand to prepare for the Test. It so happened one day that I chanced upon a video of yours on IELTS Listening Tips ,which I felt was precise and meticulously crafted. My confidence grew as I worked on the Practice Tests and I found your tips to be practical too. I couldn’t have achieved such a good score without your guidance.
Thanks for your efforts
A great score with such little time to prepare 🙂 Well done 🙂 I’m so glad you found my videos useful 🙂
Hello Liz,
Pleased to inform you that I got a band score of 8 in my IELTS academic exams, which I took on the 14th March 2019. I took less than 2 weeks to prepare and I sort of chanced on your website in the last week and I must say it was great help especially with my writing. I sort of had to rush through my writing so I wasn’t surprised with my band score even though I know I could have done better. My results are shown below;
Listening: 8.5
Reading : 8.5
Writing: 7
Speaking: 8
Thanks so much for all your help and continue with the great work
God bless you
Jesse Morgan
With such little time to prepare, you’ve done extremely well 🙂 Band 7 in writing is a very respectable score even though it isn’t on a level with the other scores.
Started IELTS prep a week before my test. Yeah I’m lazy. Went to YouTube for practice vids. A nice lady with a calming voice took me through prep. The tips and tricks liz shared were extremely valuable to me and despite never having an English conversation ever in my life i was able to get through
My score was:
Listening 9.0
Reading 8.5
Writing 8.0
Speaking 8.5
Overall 8.5
Thank you Liz for your guidance
Overall 8.5 is excellent, particularly with just a week of prep!!! Very well done 🙂 Glad my videos were calming – that comment made me smile 🙂
Hi Liz,
I took my IELTS(academic) in pune,india on march 16,2019.I have passed in my first attempt by just following your guidelines.
overall:- 7.5
L :- 6.5
R:-8
S:-8
W:-7
Your website is extremely useful and i recommend it to every IELTS test taker
Well done with your results 🙂
Hi Liz,
Thank you for your great videos and help to us, IELTS test takers. I just got my results a few days ago.
R- 7.5
L-8
W-6.5
S-6
O:7
I have got a terrible question that I could not even answer in my own language in part 2, but I still managed to talk, around 1.5 minutes and finished. I wonder if this is the reason that I have got just 6 from speaking. But when I think the marking criteria, I think I would score at least 6.5 (even 6-6-6-7 makes it 6.5 from 6.25 , right? ).
Although getting a 6.5 after a remark will not increase my overall score, I’ve just dissappointed to see just 6 from speaking, since it will be on my CV.
So I want to ask you;
1- Considering my other scores good enough, and my believe on that I should 6.5, not 6, do you think the chances are high for me to get a 6.5 after remark ?
2- Can the score decrease after a remark , is it possible in IELTS ?
3- What are the success rate in general for remarks on speaking section ? I know you can not know the exact rate, but I just ask for your geniune opinion.
Your score will increase if the senior examiner thinks your speaking was above band 6. This isn’t something I can judge without hearing your test. If your writing score was band 8 and your speaking was only 6, I would say there might be a chance that your spoken English is higher. But your scores are very similar which sounds as though the marking was accurate. However, this really signifies nothing when I have not heard your test. This must be your choice. I am not familiar with any scores decreasing – you can ask your test centre if you are worried.
In the speaking test, it doesn’t matter if you are familiar with the topic because you don’t have to stay directly on topic. There is no such thing as Task Achievement or Task Response in IELTS speaking – you should have expanded your talk in any logical direction you wanted. You didn’t have to stick with the prompts at all.
Let me know what happens if you do decide to remark. If you take the test again, rethink your strategies in and understanding of part 2 and possibly of the whole speaking test.
Hi Liz,
I took my test (general) on 2 March, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada and have just received my results.
Overall band: 8.5
Listening: 9
Reading: 9
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 7.5
I came across your videos a week before my test and went through an intensive week learning from you! Your tutorials and videos were most helpful in preparing me for the test. Although I felt I could have done better with my writing and speaking, I am generally pleased with my results. Thank you Liz! I couldn’t have done this without you!
Your results are very strong indeed – well done 🙂
Hi, Liz,
I took my IELTS Test (Academic) on 09 March 2019, and I got my score today. Actually, I didn’t get a better writing score.
Overall: 7.5
Listening:8.5
Reading: 8.5
Writing:6
Speaking:7
Thanks for all your useful information and tips about listening, reading and speaking. But for the writing, I don’t know why I got a band 6. I am thinking of applying a remark as essays’ words exceeded the minimum requirement and I wrote an overview in Task1 and a conclusion in Task 2. Please wish me luck.
Thank you!
Well done in your scores! Good luck with your remark 🙂
Hi Liz ,
Thanks for all the tips and practice exercises. I was able to score an overall 8
Listening- 8.5
Reading – 9
Writing- 7
Speaking- 7
Thank you again for all the great work that you have been doing and keep it up!
Regards,
SW
Well done with your results 🙂
I have read each line and each tip on every tab/link/page on this site!! w.r.t. to general training module, I have gone through even the comments under each link 🙂
I am grateful to you for the amount of free reliable material on this website. I have done every practice test on this site.
First, I took the paper-based test because I was not aware of the availability of computer-based test in my country. My results,
L: 8.5
R: 8.5
W: 6.5
S: 7
Overall: 7.5
Experience: Too crowded with 800-1000 candidates in the exam hall. Unfriendly and uncaring staff. We were made to enter the hall at 11:30am for the exam which was scheduled to begin at 1:00pm. When some candidates wanted to use the toilet just before the exam, they were refused by the staff. Long queues to enter and exit the hall.
Overall, good logistics and arrangements to accommodate such huge crowd. If you find writing section difficult on a paper then go for computer-based test.
The results were updated promptly on the British Council website on the 15th day and TRF was delivered to me 5 days later.
I took the computer based test to improve my writing score. In the paper-based exam, I couldn’t even finish my essay.
Computer Based Test. My results,
L: 8.5
R: 8.5
W: 7
W: 7
Overall: 8
Few observations:-
I read one of the comments, here, that the computer screen is too big. Yes, the screen is wide. I had to move/tilt my head to view the reading passages because of the computer screen privacy filters, the corners were blacked out!!
The questions in the listening section are numbered left-right and NOT top to bottom. So, watch out for the question numbers before selecting the correct options.
Writing section was a breeze. It works like the microsoft word sans spell check.
Experience: The centers are new and the staff is friendly and approachable. Only 4 candidates in the exam hall!!! We were allowed inside the hall even 5 minutes before the test begun.
Overall, computer-based test was a pleasant experience. We were provided guidance on using the system at every step such as login, navigation between screens or log out procedures.
The computer-based test results were NOT updated on the IDP site but the test result form was delivered to me on the 5th day after the exam!!
I am happy with my listening and reading section scores. I needed high range vocabulary to improve my speaking and writing scores but these scores will do for me!
Thanks a lot, Liz!
Very well done with your scores 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experience of both tests 🙂
Listening 9
Reading 8.5
Writing 7.5
Speaking 6.5
Overall – 8 Bands
Appearing for exam on 23rd March 2019 to better the scores.
Thanks for your tips Liz. I followed most of your videos on youtube as well. I am confident than ever.
Great score 🙂
Hi Liz,
I gave my exam on 2nd March for Ielts General and following is my result:
L : 9
R : 8.5
W : 7
S : 6.5
Overall : 8
I could have done better in speaking as i fumbled once during cue card; rest i am happy with my result and your website has helped me alot in my preparation.
Regards
Akashdeep
It’s a very strong result and if it is enough for your future, it’s great 🙂 Well done 🙂
Dear Liz,
I just received my IELTS score and I have exceeded my own expectations and achieved an 8 Band, with Listening-8, Reading-8, Speaking-8 and Writing 7.5.
For the above scores, I solely focused on material available on your website for tackling all my test related issues, for instance the TFNG was initially difficult for me but your lessons helped me tackle them and most importantly gave me great confidence.
Undoubtedly the advanced writing lessons helped me immensely in getting 7+ in writing which was a challenge.
You are doing a great job in helping thousands around the world and I hope God Blesses you in all your future endeavors.
Please accept my heartfelt gratitude and folks IELTS.LIZ is the one stop destination for preparing for your IELTS Exams.
THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING LIZ.
Well done with your results 🙂 Band 7.5 in writing is great 🙂 I’m so glad my Advanced lessons and website helped. All the best with your future plans 🙂
I got my test score
L:9, R:9, S:8, W:6.5
Overall 8
Thank you Liz for all your support. I am giving my Writing section for revaluation as I feel it is not marked right. I need 7 in writing for Canada PR. Let me know your thoughts.
Fingers crossed for your remark. Very well done with your other scores 🙂
Dear Liz,
I received score today for my exam on March 2nd 2019 General Test. My overall band score is 8.5 in first attempt.
LRWS – 9, 7.5 , 8.5, 9
A big thank you to you. The tips and practice tests that you provided were very helpful along with your youtube videos. For someone like me who can’t go through paragraphs and paragraphs of reading tips, your well-organised content gets a big credit and I can’t thank you enough for that. I made notes in points for every section separately from all the tips, videos that I saw. Other than that, I did many practice tests in few of Cambridge Ielts, Kaplan’s and Barron’s books.
I think the reading tests in the practice test books were too easy compared to the one I faced in the exam which was quite difficult and hence my 7.5 reading scores. I had enough time left in the end during the reading test exam, but the questions themselves were too confusing and didn’t point to any obvious answers at all.
For Listening test, it was a real surprise to see no headphones for the candidates but instead there was a tape recorder style player in the room. I was worried if someone would sneeze/cough at the wrong time during test making me miss the answer but thankfully they played the test recording so loudly that even the recording noise from the next exam room was canceled.
I was shocked to see band 9 for speaking because like I mentioned in one of my previous comments, I spoke too fast in my speaking test part 2 and finished very early. I was struggling to add some more but the examiner stopped me by that time anyway. But I was more than good in the other 2 parts of speaking test I think.
I would also suggest not to underestimate the time factor for writing test. I only started practicing writing tasks WITH TIMER when my exam was nearing. So during exam, though I did finish writing within 1 hour but didn’t get time to revise WT 2.
That’s all for now. Let me know if you need more details.
Once again, thank you so much for all the help Liz.
Needless to say, I recommend your Ielts material to everyone I know.
Good Luck to all future test takers.
Cheers
Great results – well done 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experience. In speaking, the speed isn’t important as long as the examiner can understand. Your speaking test can last between 11 and 14 mins – the length doesn’t reflect your score at all. Getting 9 in speaking is fantastic – congratulations!! As for writing, you are 100% correct. Time management is essential.
Hey!
I have received my IELTS results for March 2nd exam (Academic), and they are as follows:
L: 9
R: 8.5
W: 7
S: 7
Overall: 8
I have attempted every single practice on this website and it all paid off!
This website is amazing and has everything to help you!
Even the tips, however simple, which you may think they won’t be of help, they will!
Your tips for the listening exam helped a lot and I wish if I had done more on reading, which proved to be challenging for me in the exam, because I didn’t do any kind of practice on it..
For the speaking part, my score went down most probably because I was not able to get good ideas for task 2 (which was really simple but yet I ran out of ideas). My writing score also went down because I ran out of time and I had to follow Liz’s advice to go directly to writing a conclusion paragraph. I think my writing lost its strength and coherence at the end which brought my score down.
Nevertheless, I was planning for an 8 and I got it. Thanks for everything Liz! You are doing great work by helping those people who may have good skills but don’t know how to convey them to examiners and prove to them that they are worthy of high band scores.
Mahmoud AS,
Amman – Jordan.
I’m really pleased to see your score – well done 🙂 I’m glad you used all my lessons – there are so many on this site and I’m not sure people use them all. Band 8 is a great score to be proud of 🙂
Hi Liz,
My last test result was L-7.5, R-7, W-6.5, S-8. I am writing it again on the 23rd of March. I have also asked for a remark because I believe my writing wasn’t scored properly. Will keep you posted. Please wish me luck. This is the 3rd time this year!!!
Fingers crossed 🙂
good results
Liz, I can’t thank you enough for your site.
It really helped in my preparation.
I wrote the exams on 02/03/2019 and my results came out today.
L-9
R-7
W-7
S-7
I am so pleased with the results, although I thought I would have done better in my Reading.
The best advice I can give is to be prepared for the exam, use IELTSLIZ website and take nervousness far away from you. Attempt the exams with confidence.
Best of Luck!!!
Very well done – great listening score 🙂
Hello Liz,
I recently took my IELTS (GT) test on 02nd March, 2019. I got an overall score of 7.5 band with the breakdown as follows:
Speaking – 7.0
Reading – 8.5
Writing – 6.5
Listening – 8
I wanted to ask you a question. I have an option to write the exam again or apply for reevaluation (just trying my luck). What do you think is a best idea? I am aiming to get a score of 8777.
My reading test went quite well and I was destined to get 8 or above. I made a few mistakes when it came to writing, listening and speaking test. In writing, I put too much thought process on the question rather than the content. I also could have used different words but I would only recollect them after the test was done.
For the listening test, even though I got an 8, I lost my focus for a bit of time in a couple of questions and lost some valuable marks.
For the speaking test, I repeated a few words here and there and just like the writing test, I remembered that I could have used some more words while answering. I rushed a bit as well while speaking, I guess anxiety got the worst of me at that time.
Thank you for sharing valuable tips.
Good day!
Well done with your results 🙂 You are asking me about remarking and the chances that your writing will be increased to band 7. Your writing will be increased if you wrote a task 1 and task 2 worth band 7. I cannot comment without seeing each piece of writing word for word. The only advice is what I always say: if you word under the word count and if you forget your overview in task 1 or conclusion in task 2 – forget the remark. Otherwise, the choice is yours alone.
Hi Liz,
I want to thank you for all the wonderful help you provide with your extensive IELTS material.
I gave 5 attempts, first two were paper based and remaining three computer based, and finally in my 5th attempt I was able to get the required score.
Attempt 1 — L-9, R-9, W-7, S-6.5
Attempt 2 — L-9, R-9, W-6.5, S-6.5
Attempt 3 — L-9, R-8.5, W-6.5, S-7
Attempt 4 — L-9, R-8.5, W-7, S-6.5
Attempt 5 — L-8.5, R-9, W-7, S-7
Hardwork and persistent efforts is the key to success.
Thanks alot
Your results definitely show how determination pays off 🙂 Very well done 🙂
Wow!hats off to your determination brother!
Hi Liz,
I appeared in IELTS exam (GT) on February 26th, 2019. Your website really helped me a lot for my preparation. Thanks to your videos and suggestions, I was able to achieve the desired score in each band.
I am applying for Immigration.
My Score:
Listening – 8.5
Reading – 8.5
Writing – 7
Speaking – 7.5
Overall band – 8
Thank you for providing such a useful resource for IELTS, it was really very helpful.
Great score 🙂
Hey Liz.
I got to know about your blog from a friend and I guess it was one of the best references that anyone could have made. Thanks to your material on IELTS, I could score so well with only 15 days to prepare. Thank you again. My Band scores are as follows.
Listening : 9
Reading : 8.5
Writing : 7
Speaking : 8
Overall: 8
Again thank you for the wonderful content that you share
Well done getting overall band 8 🙂
Hi Liz,
For a chance I found your wonderful IELTS website.
First of all I wish to congratulate for your invaluable work as well as your brilliant smile on the video, really confortable.
I am an Italian female hospital paediatrician and I am going to undertake again the IELTS on the 23rd March (my first and second IELTS in 2011 and 2014 received 6.5 overall scores).
In 2011 I was awarded an MSc at the University of London but I wish to attend a PhD starting from next May. Hence, I need to reach an IELTS overall band score 7.5.
Today I tried to answer the 6 questions on the Holloway University as follows:
1. 19
2. 1879
3. 8,000
4. enjoyable
5. at 19 miles
6. History Social Sciences
Please, if you can, write me by email.
Many thanks, Paola
Hi Liz,
Im a Nigerian medical doctor and i sat the UKVI Academic test on February 9th
I had about a month to prep for the exams and required at least 7 in all sections with a total of 7.5
Your website and videos were immensely helpful as i went through almost all the tips and videos.
Also made use of some Cambridge practise tests
My scores: Listening: 8.5, Reading: 8, Writing: 8, Speaking: 8. Overall band 8
Thank you so much for your help.
Very well done hitting those scores 🙂 I’m so pleased my website was useful 🙂
Hi Liz,
Im a Nigerian medical doctor, i had about a month to prep for the exam
I sat the IELTS Academic UKVI exam on Feb 9th 2019 and i did well courtesy of this website
I needed at least 7 in all sections and a total band score of 7.5
I went through your tips for the various sessions, watched all your You tube videos and took a reasonable number of practise tests from this website (alongside 3 Cambridge practise tests).
My scores:
Listening- 8.5 , Reading- 8 , Writing – 8 , Speaking – 8. Overall Band – 8
Coincidentally, my writing task 2 was health related (Diet and exercise as essential for a long and healthy life) plus i had practised something related to the task from this website.
I am extremely grateful for all you do to help people with this awesome website.
Thanks Liz
Sounds like you had a very clear understanding of IELTS. Well done with your results 🙂 Lucky getting a health related topic in writing task 2 😉
Hey Liz !!
Many thanks for sharing such wonderful links and material online on your website.
I got an overall score 8 in my first attempt and all credit goes to you as this was the only website / online resource that i relied on for preparation and did not have much time for preparation.
I appeared for GT test.
Here is my overall and individual score details :
Overall Band : 8
Listening : 7
Reading 8.5
Writing : 7.5
Speaking : 8
Band 8 overall is great! Well done 🙂 Glad my website was useful 🙂
Hie Liz
L recently did my ielts exam and thanks to you l passed with a score of 7 overall.
Thank you very much
Well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I can’t thank you enough for helping me through this IELTS expedition.
I got my results yesterday and got an overall band of 8.5.
Reading : 9
Listening : 8.5
Speaking : 8
Writing : 7.5
When I read across various websites and watches various videos on you tube, i saw that many had taken the exam many times before they achieved their required score. So, i was a little nervous in the beginning, then I followed your tips on all the modules and that helped me a lot. Also I’d like to thank the people who had shared their writing and speaking topics which gave me an insight of what I could expect on my day of test.
Band 8.5 overall is an excellent score – hope you are proud of that achievement 🙂
Hi Liz,
I am a Software Engineer
I sat for Feb -14 exam and scored LRWS-8777 which was exactly required for my immigration. It was your advanced lessons which helped me in Writing. Thanks a ton Liz. I am waiting for your book which I have already recommended to my friends.
Thanks
I’m pleased to see your scores – well done 🙂 So glad my Advanced lessons helped 🙂
Hi Liz,
I can’t thank you enough for providing your guidance through this website. Though I had previously written the Ielts in 2017, I had an aggregate of 7.5 and needed at least 8. I stumbled upon your website only 15 days prior to my exam. After going through your website, I realized there were lots of things I needed to learn especially as per the speaking test. Your website is a treasure chest for all IELTS candidates. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. It was only because of you that I was able to clear IELTS GT (Feb 9 2019)
My scores are as follows:
Listening – 8
Reading – 9
Writing – 7
Speaking – 8
Aggregate 8
Great results 🙂 Glad you found my site 🙂
Hi Liz,
Thank you for the useful information, Your site really helped me! 🙂
I took IELTS Academic in February.
Overall Band:8
Listening: 9
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 6
Speaking: 8
My Speaking topics:
First part: describe where you live/what would you change/ do you like living there/public transport
Second Part: Talk about the success of your friend
Third Part: Questions related to success(how to be successful/who is considered to be successful/difficulties of being successful)
I am slightly disappointed with my Writing score, I thought I did OK. Maybe I should have practiced that part a little more 🙁
Well done with your results 🙂 Writing isn’t marked in the same way as speaking which is often the reason for the difference in results. It’s still a great score overall – band 8 – great 🙂
Dear Liz
It’s such a pleasure to have you online to guide on IELTS Preparation. I would like to thank you from the core of my heart for all your valuable inputs , tips , videos and positivity. I have got my IELTS GT results today and I am so happy to share it with you
Listening 8.5
Reading 7.5
Writing 7.5
Speaking 7.5
Overall Band Score 8.0
THANKS A TONNE
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND WISH YOU ALL THE BEST
I’m sure you were very happy to see those results 🙂 Well done 🙂
Hi
LRWS 9 7.5 7 7 IDP INDIA ACADEMIC 02-02-2019
LRWS 9 8 7 7 IDP INDIA GENERAL 14-02-2019
Thanks Liz
Well done getting your reading score up 🙂
Hi Liz,
First of all, thank you for the abundance of information that you provide for free to many people like me who are preparing for IELTS. The knowledge gained through your website was extremely helpful in my test preparation.
I appeared for my first test on 09/02, GT module and my test results are:
Reading: 9
Listening: 9
Speaking: 8.5
Writing: 7.5
Overall: 8.5
My experience:
Listening – I prepared extensively for this because all the practice tests I took prior to the actual test, I was averaging 7 to 8 tops. I felt really good on the actual listening test and I had a strong feeling that I should get 8.5 but 9 was just a pleasant surprise.
My top tips:
1. FOCUS. When you are listening just listen. Do not read other questions when listening.
2. USE BREAK TIME WISELY. You will have enough time to read questions and develop as much context as possible of what’s to come prior to recording starts. So utilize this time very wisely. Use the tips from this blog on how to make the most of that break times before and after listening piece.
3. WRITE WHAT YOU HEAR. Do not re-formulate or re-word anything. Just write what you hear.
Reading – I had taken the almost same number of practice tests for reading as listening. I was very comfortable with this section during practice tests. Averaging at around 8 to 8.5. I somehow felt I would score around 8.5 after actual test but again 9 is any time better 🙂
My Tips:
1. For section 1 and 2, I did not send time reading each and everything. Skimming and scanning technique worked perfectly for me. Remember, you can get through with these 2 sections really fast if you use right techniques and utilize that extra time on section 3.
2. For Section 3, I did have to read with much more focus BUT because I was able to complete section 1 and 2 both in roughly 25-30 minutes, I had enough time to focus on reading in detail.
3. For Y/N/NG or T/F/NG, Liz’s tips were really helpful on these. So do use them during practice session.
Writing: Phew, I wish I had done more practice on this. Task 2 Essays can be tricky when you sit to actually write down the ideas and explain them. I wasn’t sure if I will even get 7 after the actual test. 7.5? I will take that with big fat smile. Yes, I could have done better for sure. Would have loved to get 8 at least. But then I think I laced in preparations.
Tips:
1. Writing speed: Practice as much as you can to improve your writing speed. I felt time crunch in task 2 even though I had finished task 1 in close to 10 minutes. I was able to finish the essay in last one minute. And did not have time to review.
2. Structures: Good thing is that there are mostly 6-7 different question types and structures for those can be prepared for in advance. Prepare how you will write Intro and Conclusion for each question type. Body paragraphs (mostly 2) can be driven from your introduction based on the question type. I did this and it did help me a lot.
3. Planning: This is a MUST. You should never start writing without planning what you are going to write. Write down your ideas with examples in brief. You have to just insert these in appropriate places in intro, body, and conclusion. So spend 5 minutes to plan and plan well. DO NOT start writing till you have your ideas written down.
There are ample tips on this blog. Do use them.
Speaking: I think this was easy of them all for me. Living in the US for the past 10 years and being in the field that require me to talk most part of my day, I didn’t have to prepare much for this. But I still did. It was more of an experience of an interview for me on the actual test day. Which I was comfortable with based on past experiences. Again was sure to get 8.5 to 9 after the test.
Tip:
1. BE YOUR SELF. Nothing else would be required. Just think of it as you are going to have conversation with a stranger on various topics. Sharing your thoughts to him/her.
2. DO NOT give one-word answers. Add to your answer by adding more material. For Part 1, it’s fairly basic. Questions about you, your work, hobbies, likes/dislikes etc.
Part 2, You do not have to speak everything on the topic given for entire 2 minutes, you can digress as long as you keep talking. So KEEP TALKING.
Part 3, express yourself. Express your idea as to how you feel about them. the person on other side of the table is not there to judge you based on you opinion but only there to see how well you can talk. So again, just talk.
Use Liz’s tips on speaking to improve your speaking.
Wishing good luck to all future test takers.
Once again, thank you Liz, for the wonderful platform.
Very well done with your results 🙂 And thanks for sharing your tips. You have hit on some of the most important ways of tackling IELTS and I’m sure many people will benefit from reading them 🙂
Thank you so much…sir
Well done. Thank you for you tips. Very helpful 🙂
Hello Liz,
I am an MBA student about to graduate in May 2019. I have been using your IELTS resources for over a year now. I took my IELTS academic last year for college admissions and my IELTS GT for visa on 9th Feb 2019. I have scored as below for my IELTS GT:
Listening 7.5
Reading 8.5
Writing 8.0
Speaking 8.5
Overall 8
Thank you so much Liz for your resources and expert tips for IELTS. It has been a great help to me. I will keep recommending your website for others in the future. Kudos to your work! 🙂
Great score – well done 🙂 Thanks for supporting my site 🙂
Hello,
I want to thank Elizabeth for all the valuable guidance you provide. I have recieved my results yesterday and i have cleared my requirement for GMC registration.
I just want to add if you could help students more with writing. I have passed in my first attempt and I believe everyone else can following the guidelines given by LIZ.
Thanks LIZ
Glad to hear you’ve got the scores you needed – well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I am very pleased and grateful to let you know that I scored Band score 8.0 in my IELTS GT test held on February 9, 2019. I started preparing for the test very late since my employer had put me on a plane for business travel. I started my preparation on around Jan 25 and wish I had just a little more time to practice in terms of time management.
Nevertheless, I scored above my own expectation:
Listening: 8.0
Reading: 8.0
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 8.0
The credit for this score goes to you and your effort in maintaining this forum.
Every single video of yours is carefully crafted and the content on these links is very crisp.
I barely finished my test and I admit the tips posted here were especially helpful for me since I am very bad at managing time in the exams.
Thanks and God bless you!
Rajat Chadha
Very well done 🙂 I’m so pleased that my website was useful 🙂
Hi Liz,
I took my IELTS (GT) in Ottawa, Canada on February 9, 2019. I just received my result and I couldn’t have expected a better score!
Overall band: 8.5
Listening: 9
Reading: 9
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 8.5
This was my first IELTS attempt and I am so glad that I achieved my target score. Your website is extremely useful and I recommend it to every IELTS test taker.
THANK YOU!
Well done with your results 🙂 Thanks for recommending my site 🙂
Hello Liz,
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude for the amazing content that you have made available free of cost for all the IELTS aspirants. Your website is the only guide required for anyone who wishes to clear this exam. Thank you very much.
I took my IELTS GT on 29thJune2019 and got the results just today. I am so glad that I got the desired scores in my first attempt itself.
Overall band -7.5
Listening -9
Reading -7
Writing -7
Speaking -7
Well done with your results 🙂
Wow! Wonderful score
Any tips you would like to share about writing please
It would be very helpful
Please respond
Hello beautiful Liz,
I took my exams on the 9th of February and I just saw my result:
L- 8.5
W-7.0
R-7.0
S- 8.5
Overall-8.0
Your website was very helpful, wouldn’t have done well without the contents. Thank you so much for the work you are doing. You are the absolute best.
Band 8 overall is great – well done 🙂
Zara posts her results and comments:
First of all, I can’t thank you enough for the free material you have provided. I had merely 3 weeks to prepare with only 2 hrs at my disposal every day. Your website is all one needs. I wish I had more time to avail everything. Nevertheless, I have achieved well above the requirement. I had my IELTS Academic on 9th Feb (Computer Delivered) and I have received my result.
Speaking 8.5, Reading 6.5, Listening 8.5, Writing 7 (Overall 7.5)
During my speaking test, I had a friendly and casual conversation. It started with questions about myself, place where I live, where I’m originally from, tea and coffee and then the cue card was about something that I have taught someone recently. My advice would be to extend your answers. For instance, I was asked about where I am from. Instead of saying “xyz” only, I stated, “I am originally from xyz but I have been living here for quite some time”. Similarly, when I was questioned about what I love about the place I am currently living in, instead of simply saying it is a nice and quiet place, I said, “it’s located in a quiet cul de sac with many amenities close by. The school is at a walking distance, the bus stop is just around the corner and a shopping mall at a few mins drive.” When I was asked about if I like tea more or coffee and why, I elaborated by saying “I enjoy all caffeine drinks. Coffee is more of a weekend thing for me and my husband. Tea, on the other hand, is a kick start for the day ahead a great energy boost and honestly it’s a bit of addiction as well ” Another question followed “which one is consumed more in your country? Would you offer it to your guests?” I answered, “oh tea, without a doubt, is preferred to any other drink. It’s a sign of great hospitality in our country. We always offer tea to our guests or any other beverage of their choice”. I would highly suggest you practise extending your answers on topics listed in this website. The tips Liz has provided for cue cards are also helpful in elaborating your answers in part 1 and 3. The way Liz has taught paraphrasing in essays has helped me use appropriate synonyms even in my oral conversations.
In reading module, all three passages were long with questions equally divided unlike many mock tests where you have short, easy passages as well as lengthy, tougher ones. It meant all 3 took full 20 mins for me. I had relentlessly practised saving time by first attempting shorter ones and saving around 35 mins for the longest passage. That did not help unfortunately. It’s not that the passages were too tough, it’s the nature of the questions that demand reading thoroughly and challenge your time management. Since reading is not my forte, I was quite out of my comfort zone and 20 mins certainly wasn’t enough. I had T/F/NG, matching headings and completing sentences, dragging and dropping, etc. But what I found the most challenging was matching statements of 5 or 6 different people while the passage mentioned around 11 or 12 names and their varying statements.
I had a pie chart in Task 1 comparing the proportion of a day people spend on various activities in two different years. Task 2 was regarding my opinion on if the govt. should spend on big art pieces and sculptures. Thank you so much Liz for your advanced essay lessons. I highly recommend them to anyone willing to score well. It was much easier keeping track of word count in computer delivered but I struggled with the typing noise of 20 others in my room. It was so distracting and I panicked thus losing first 10 precious mins of my task 1 just trying to regain focus. I have been using laptop for the past 1 decade. The test centre, however, had desktops with noisy keyboards. Moreover, in last few mins I was rechecking and I decided to add one line in task 1. The time finished before I could wind up and my task 1 was posted with an unfinished line. I am sure I have been penalised for this thus affecting my writing score. Please avoid editing in last 5 mins. Keep it only for checking.
The listening tests were very easy. Practise concentrating as much as you can with available mock tests. In a computer delivered test, you don’t have time to transfer answers. You are given half a minute to check your answers. But before you do, don’t forget the important tips on this website.
I hope that helps.
Just received my IELTS results a day back. I had taken the academic version and relied solely on your website for learning and preparation. I got an overall band score of 8 with the following-
Listening – 9
Speaking – 8
Writing – 7
Reading – 7
Thank you very much, Liz, for such a wonderful site 🙂 Would have never scored such a good band score in the first attempt without your lessons!
Well done hitting band 8 overall 🙂 Glad my website was useful 🙂
Hi Liz,
I´ve done the IELTS exam on 19th of January 2019 and my scores are as follow:
Listening: 7.5
Reading: 9.0
Writing: 7.0
Speaking: 7.5
Overall band: 8.0
I would like to thank you deeply and from the bottom of my heart by the useful tools you provide in your website. I bought your advanced lessons and I can´t emphasize enough the importance of having it. In my first attempt I had 6.5 in the writing part and after I´ve seen your lessons I got the 7.0 I needed. I would recommend it for everyone who is struggling to get a high score in the writing part. It helped me to organize my ideas and to understand exactly what the examiners want.
Thank you so much, keep doing this excellent work!
Sara
I would like to than y
Well done getting your writing score up to band 7 – not easy 🙂
Hey Liz,
I scored 8.5 in my first attempt. Listening = 8.5, Reading = 8.5, Writing = 8 and Speaking = 8. I can’t thank you enough!
That’s a great score! Well done 🙂
Congrats!!! any tips
Hello Liz,
I would like to start off with appreciating your work and your efforts in helping people with their IELTS in a remarkable way. I couldn’t really make very good use of your tips mainly because I gave very little importance to watching videos and spending time online for IELTS. Although I spent only the last four days before exam watching videos and reading tips online, I must say your videos took up most of my screen time and I’m glad I did that! Before that I focused on books and my own style of writing and speaking as I was always confident in those skills.
I recently appeared for my IELTS General Training on 19th of January 2019 for the first time and my scores were:
Listening – 7
Reading – 8
Speaking – 8.5
Writing – 8.5
Overall band – 8
I am an English teacher myself and so my scores in writing and speaking were somewhat expected and I’m glad I could make it to that score without any coaching.
But what suprised me was my Listening score. I was the most confident in my listening test and there is no way I ended up getting a 31-32 score out of 40 to get a 7 band in listening (I checked your marking criteria). I listened and answered accurately most of the questions and there is no chance of me making an error in spelling or word-count.
My query is if I should go for a remarking for listening. I read a lot online and it is a general belief that it isn’t worth going for a remarking for Listening/Reading as there are fixed answers they follow. I still want to take this chance as my CRS score is affected a great deal with my listening score.
Looking out for opinions and suggestions here.
Thanks!
Well done with your results 🙂 Your listening score might be due to writing an article “a /the” when it is not required or alternatively not writing it when it was required. Each type of question has different requirements in how you write your answers. It highly unlikely your score would change from remarking because it is not based on interpretation. Sorry I am answering this so late.
Hi Liz,
I took general test on Jan 19,2019 in Chicago, USA and below are my test results.
Overall – 8
Listening – 8.5
Reading – 8
Writing – 7
Speaking – 7.5
Thanks so much for your help.
Well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I finally got my results today, GT, exam held on 19.01.2019
Overall 7.5
Listening 7.5
Reading 7.5
Writing 8.0
Speaking 6.5
I must confess I panicked at the beginning of the listening part, I found it hard to concentrate despite successfully making lots of mock tests at home where I usually scored 8, sometimes 8.5. It was not until the end of section 2 that I realised that if I continued the same way, there would be really bad consequences for me. I’m sure I did the last section much better than the first one!
It’s a pity that we cannot review the mistakes we’ve made after the exam, not that it would change anything, but just to learn from our them.
I’ve always thought that it would be easy to score 7 on the speaking part, but now when I see my score I regret not going into details about the questions I was asked. I believe I can do much better with some more practise.
And finally, my greatest joy, the writing part.
I would not have scored 8.0 without your advanced writing lessons. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!
I knew that I was in the right way following your guide!
Thank you once again and all the best!
Irina
P. S
I work as a customer service representative with Swedish.
Very well done with your scores 🙂 I agree it is a shame not to be able to learn from your test, but there are practice tests that you can do at home which serve this purpose. Band 8 in writing is excellent – something to be proud of 🙂
Hi Liz, I wanna thank you for all your tutoring help. You are doing an amazing job. I am a Civil Servant with the Federal Government of Nigeria. I sat for the Ielts on 1/12/2018 and got an initial score of R9,L9,S8,W6.5. Expectedly I was upset the writing score, so I took my chances with a remarking. I received my new score today after 6weeks of waiting and had an upgrade in writing from 6.5 to 7.
My new result is
R:9
L:9
S:8
W:7
Overall:8.5
I basically used your blog for preparations, and I advice people I meet to check out your blog.
In speaking I made sure to converse with fellow test takers on the test date to douse whatever exam tension I have. It worked.
Very well done 🙂 It sometimes does pay off to do a remark in writing 🙂
Hi Liz,
First of all, I want to thank you for the wonderful website, which is of great help for all of us. You are doing a great job.
Am a software Engineer and took my IELTS (GT) on 19th Jan. Got my results today.
Overall – 8
Listening – 8.5
Reading – 9
Writing – 7.5
Speaking – 7.5
This was my first attempt and am very happy with my results. This will help with my immigration.
I did not have much time to prepare and had no idea where to start. One of my friends suggested your site. I have been following your site since. I would say that anything that i learned about IELTS is from here.
Anyone who is preparing for the test should definitely go through all the modules in this site. Please practice all the topics listed out in Speaking section. They will really help you.
Once again, thanks a lot Liz. You rock!
I’m so glad your friend recommended my site to you. Well done with your results 🙂
Hi Liz,
I can’t thank you enough for providing your guidance through this website. Though I had prepared for IELTS GT for total 40 days, I stumbled upon your website only 20 days prior to my exam. After going through your website, it seemed to me as if I had done nothing in the initial 20 days of preparation. Your website is a treasure chest for all IELTS candidates. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. It was only because of you that I was able to clear IELTS GT (20th January 2019) in my first attempt. My scores are as follows:
Listening – 8.5
Reading – 9
Writing – 7
Speaking – 7.5
The peculiar thing is, I used to consider myself as an excellent writer, before you made me realize that exam skills are equally important. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of knowing exactly what the examiners want. After going through comments of your many successful students, I bought your advanced lessons just a week before my exam. And it is one of the best decisions that I ever made. All the credit of my writing score goes to these video lectures. I would highly recommend them to anyone who is serious about this exam.
I also went through the ‘post your result’ section on your website, just before my exam, and that served as a huge motivation for me. It gave me the much needed push, and made me realize that if so many students can get a high score, so can I. And I did.
I also went through all the recent exam questions that students posted on your website, as well as your ideas and vocabulary for each topic. I also conducted a general google search on broad topics just to build my knowledge base, because I thought that it could be useful while framing the main points as well as supporting points in Task 2 essay. Considering that you only get an hour to complete two tasks, and you have to think + plan + write + review in that time frame, it is imperative that you don’t spend too much time on either activity. Hence the need of googling the main topics just to keep the memory fresh.
I also kept a tab on the recent speaking topics posted here, and practiced a lot at home by recording myself on my cell. These recordings proved quite helpful since they made me aware of the errors that I was making while speaking, and I could eventually rectify them.
I especially struggled a lot with the listening section. Initially, I could barely even understand British accent. To aid my understanding, I initially watched videos on youtube that explained the very basics of speaking the British language. That helped a lot. I also solved many listening practice questions given on your website.
Lastly, I took ten full-fledged mock tests. Also, taking all the three sections at one go is a really good idea because it will make you aware of your concentration level – two and half hours is a really long time and as Liz has correctly pointed out in her videos, by the time you arrive at Task 2 essay, you are already almost two hours into the paper and are very very tired. It is super important that you plan out your ideas and also leave some time at the end to review it once for any errors you could have made with articles/ spellings / prepositions/ omission etc. Hence, proper time management, stress management and concentration are crucial factors for IELTS. And taking all sections of mock tests in one sitting helps you gauge your own level, as well as know your potential, and then you can accordingly work on it.
And yes, I am a consultant and I work for more than 45 hours a week.
Very well done with your results 🙂 And thank you for sharing your valuable tips and experience. I know many people will benefit from what you have to say 🙂
Very good
congratulations
Hi Liz,
I am a corporate lawyer from India and I use English on a daily basis 🙂
However in my first attempt I did not get the desired course, so I decided to retake the exam after 15 days only, firstly because I was confident of my English language skills and secondly I knew I needed to only understand the IELTS Exam structure better.
I then came across your website and I cannot thank you enough to helping not only people like me but million others who do not have great English skills.
I had appeared for Computer Based exam and scored as follows:
R: 9
L: 8.5
S: 8
W: 8
Over all: 8.5 🙂
Thanks a ton.
Regards,
as
8.5 is a great score – very well done 🙂 Glad you found my site 🙂
Hello ms Liz. My name’s Habeebah Folorunsho-Jimoh. I am a medical doctor from Nigeria. I studied for my Ielts using tips from your website mostly. A colleague who had got a band score of 8 introduced me to your website. I wrote my exams on the 15th of December and made all my required scores at my first attempt. I also used your advanced writing tutorial which my brother purchased on my behalf. Here are my results below
Listening 7.5
Reading 7.5
Speaking 7.5
Writing 7
Overall band score 7.5
I want to say a big thank you for the wonderful job you are doing. You are awesome. I would like to say that a few weeks before my exams I was consistently a band 6 for reading despite all efforts. Two days to my exams I changed my strategy. I stopped skim reading and simply looked for the answers in the passage. This helped me to save time and reduced my anxiety. I believe this played out well for me eventually as i used the same strategy in my real exam. I also wrote in capital letters during my writing exam as I have a very bad hand writing and I think that also helped me during my writing exam. Thanks once again
Very well done with your results 🙂 It’s interesting what you say about skim reading. Some people benefit from it and others don’t. For this reason, each person needs to test out different approaches to see what works for them. I’m glad you testing it all out and found what worked for you 🙂 Glad my Advanced Writing Task 2 lessons helped 🙂
Hello Liz,
I have taken the academic test for the first time on January 5th, 2019 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Got my results recently and I have achieved Listening 9, Reading 9, Writing 7, Speaking 8 with an overall band score of 8.5. I am very satisfied and proud of my results, however, not gonna lie, I felt a bit disappointed in my writing score. Given the time that I had to prepare, which was only a month, I do think that I’ve achieved these results thanks to your thorough and on-point lessons. This website really helped me and I am glad that I have decided to prepare by myself instead of taking a course. Thank you for all that you do.
Wish you all the best,
Buteemj
Great score 🙂 Don’t be disappointed with your writing. Band 7 is a benchmark that many can’t hit. So, be proud. Great job 🙂
Dear Liz,
Thank you so much for all the work you’ve put into this site. It’s enormously helpful, especially when you don’t really have the time to prepare or the financial resources to buy expensive preparatory books.
I am currently a graduate student (pursuing an M.A in Security & Diplomacy in English, previously studied Russian and English philology). I decided to take the academic test because I want to apply for a scholarship in a foreign country and I need proof of my English proficiency 🙂
My Academic IELTS examination was in Bucharest on 12 January. This was my first time taking the IELTS and I prepared for roughly a week prior to the test.
My results are as follow:
Overall: 8.5
Listening: 9
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 8.5
I am quite happy with the results, although they could have been better (especially that writing part, I think I’ve underestimated it since I write more in English than my own native language, so I was so sure of my success).
Some tips:
The listening part can be extreeemely easy if you hear English everyday. I recommend subscribing to different native English-speaking youtubers (be they American or British, better find both, so that you can listen to different accents), and watch whatever interests you. For example, I enjoy watching makeup reviews, travel vlogs, people trying different foods from around the globe, and pretty much anything that appears in my recommendations. Just immerse yourself into the different accents of English in different situations.
The reading part was the most difficult for me. When I was just trying some online found tests at home, I never got more than 7.5 in any test (I tried about 5 times), but I always do better under exam pressure, so the extra adrenaline infused attention paid its role into this grade. I just think that the best advice is to rehearse as much as possible, with both the time limit and sample question papers.
The writing part is quite tricky. Task 1 is super easy if you follow everything that Liz teaches. I had a graph involving how much time do men and women of different ages spend on the Internet for work or leisure. I paraphrased the task as introduction, than wrote the “overall”, and then decided to give insight on the percentages. I think that for task 1 you just need to understand its mechanism and have a pattern in your mind on how to write it. Task 2 seems to be more problematic since it’s hard to know if you satisfy the examinator with your empirical examples and “well thought” essay. Just follow Liz’s tips and then pray for a good subject (even then you cannot be sure of your success, my task was to give possible solutions regarding food waste and explain why this happens. Because of my East-European background, I pulled the ex-communist country card and explained that this is customary for us and a solution would be to make people more aware of what famish really means in 3rd world countries, and maybe also restaurants and supermarkets could donate at the end of the day their remaining food to different shelters. Maybe I was too general in my writing, but I’m sure that if I would take the exam 3 more times, my grades would be different each time depending on the task). To conclude, task 2 is all about on the spot inspiration, of course combined with good vocabulary and great grammar.
Regarding the speaking part, I was a little bit nervous and I was already feeling during the test the fact that I wouldn’t get a 9. It also depends on luck and immediate response. For the second part I had to speak about a sudden change of plans and if this change bothered me afterwards. The third part was pretty funny because I was feeling as if I was competing in a beauty pageant. I had questions like “what should the government do to improve the national economy?”, or “in what institutions should the government invest for a prosperous future?” (something along those lines). Just be confident, smile and don’t stop speaking AT ALL.
Finally, thank you again Liz, you are such a great help for so many people! And everybody, you just need to pay attention to what Liz says, her tips are amazing, and also, be aware of your English skills and just try to be surrounded by spoken and writen English as much as possible, this is the trick to mastering any language 🙂
Very well done with your results 🙂 8.5 Overall is excellent !! Thank you also for sharing your experienced and tips. I fully agree with the need for getting used to accents in the listening test – a great tip. I’m glad the writing task 1 was quite straight forward for you, although you are not allowed to give personal opinions or try to explain the information in any way – you can only report facts of what is on the paper. That might have affected your score because your writing task 2 ideas were fine. Although, having said that, you are right that it is hard to judge if you are or are not fulfilling the band score requirements in writing.
I love your comment about the speaking question. That really was a beauty pageant question. I hope you did the beauty pageant smile while you answered 🙂
Thanks again for sharing and well done 🙂
Hi Liz, Thank you for free lessons and videos that you provide for IELTS test takes. I got the score needed to get the admission. your website did a great help in it. Thanks again.
Well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I scored overall 7.5 band score in first attempt in IELTS general on 15 dec 2018.
Listening -8
Reading 8.5 (Im happy about it)
Speaking 7
Writing 6.5 ( very disappointed about it)
I had prepared myself without any tutions, I followed your online material.
Your tips had helped me a lot, but can you help in improving my writing.
I myself feel, I couldn’t structure my essay in exam pressure, also I don’t have extra-ordinary vocab. Also in hurry i didn’t concluded my writing task well.
Can you advice me how can i target to score 8.5 in my next attempt. I am planning to give IELTS in may 2019 now.
Thanks,
Shaina
Well done with your results. Your writing score is not far away from band 7 so don’t be too harsh on yourself. Exam pressure does affect people and that is why many people take the test more than once. For vocab and grammar, always aim for accuracy rather than impressing. You might want to review Task Response in writing task 2 as that is an area very specific to IELTS: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-band-scores-5-to-8/. See my Advanced Writing Task 2 lessons if you need more help: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/
My results for the test taken on 5 January 2019 General Training
Overall Band: 8.5
Listening: 9.0
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7.0
Speaking: 8.5
I’m a software developer from South Africa. I needed 8+ in all four sections in order to get the points I need for a visa application. Do you think that asking for a remark of the writing section could potentially move up my score to band 8? I think in cases of it being 7.5 it could, but I’m not sure in this case.
Overall 8.5 is excellent – very well done 🙂 It is possible to consider a remark in writing. It will only increase, however, if the senior examiner thinks it was under marked – there’s never a guarantee. If it doesn’t work, try my Advanced Writing Task 2 lessons.
Hi Liz <3
I'm a physician by background and plan to apply for a PhD in the UK… fingers crossed my application is propitious
I had my IELTS on the 5th of January '19
I scored a 9 in Listening, 8.5 in reading, 8.5 in speaking and a 7 in writing
Please tailor your writing as per the rubric and not on one's whim since examiners use it to grade one's essay. I used subordinate clauses to improve the GC section without mechanical phrases like firstly, secondly, lastly. I also used highly advanced "highfalutin" vocabulary too from my prior GRE (Graduate Record Examination) preparation. I'm curious as to what I can improve on my writing section but no need of perfectionism or greed, a mere curiosity hehe 🙂
All the best to the mettlesome candidates appearing in forthcoming tests
Xoxoxo hug + cookie
Thanks for sharing 🙂 It isn’t really possible to tell you how to improve your writing without seeing your IELTS essay. It’s all about fulfilling the requirements of the test and not make poor choices or too many mistakes.
Hello Liz!
I jut got my results today and scored 8.0!
Listening: 7.5
Reading 7.5
Writing 7.5
Speaking 8.5
I am so happy with these results since now I will be able to study my Masters in international affairs in London! Thank you for all your help and tips 🙂 Currently I am a student and finished my bachelors degree and I am working part time for a big company.
Very well done with your results 🙂 A great speaking score 🙂 Glad my website helped. Hope you enjoy London 🙂
God bless the day I found your website Liz. Thank you for the efforts you put into assisting us.
I registered for the test and had a week to prepare. In between working full time and taking care of my family, I could only spare 3 hours each in 3 days to prepare for the L, R & W.
Overall Band Score – 8
L – 8.5
R – 8.5
S – 7.5
W – 7
Thanks again Liz.
That’s a fantastic score to get when you are working full time and taking care of a family – very well done to you 🙂
I gave IELTS general exam and got band 9 overall. Writing -9, reading -9, listening-8.5, speaking -8.5.
It was my 5th attempt and I got the desired score now. Your site helped me a lot liz.
Excellent score – Band 9 ! Well done 🙂 It shows that perseverance pays off 🙂
Hi liz, i am posting my query here for the first time. Appologies for inconvenience if any. I will be giving my computer delivered IELTS exam (GT) in feb first week. Would it be possible to see recent exam questions based on CD ielts (GT) on your website?
Regards
There are sample tests for computer based IELTS on the British council website. You can google it and find out.
Amazing…well done and congratulations 🙂
This is remarkable, specially scoring 9 in writing ! Congratulation 🙂
Please your tips tricks strategies. How u got such an excellent band.
Finally someone with band 9 in writing i was getting weary, Please useful tips
Nice. Very very nice score
thanks 🤗
Liz, you are an inspiring!
Your advanced writing lessons, allowed me to score 8.5 in writing section which is an epic score for me, since I haven’t studied in native English speaking country not even for a week.
Overall – 8
Listening – 7 (It is so perfect for me since I’m bad in listening even in my native language)
Reading – 8.5
Speaking- 8.5
Writing- 8.5 (It was 6, one month between the two tests)
Thank you Liz, my IELTS score now can take me to any graduate school if I prepare my profile very well.
Cheers from Saudi Arabia,
Ali
Great results !! I’m so pleased for you 🙂 Getting 8.5 is not common. Glad my Advanced Lessons helped 🙂
Mashalla Ali, Congratulations!
I just have a question, How did improve your writing , as I am suffering from the writing score 🙁
Thanks in advance.
hi check Liz`s advanced writing lessons, they are really helpful
Hi Liz,
I took my Academic IELTS test on 13th Dec in Chennai. My scores are: L9, R9, S7.5, W7, overall 8.
I’d hoped to score more in Speaking, but the band score is enough for my job application.
Thanks so much for all your efforts. Even though I had time in hand, most of my prep happened in the last 5 days, and your website had a starring role in it 😃
Regards,
Krithika
Glad you did well 🙂
Ishan (Test Date : 12/15)
Overall 8.5 –> L, W, S: 8 & R: 9
For Reading: Thanks for your tips on T/F/NG.
For Writing: Your subscription videos (paid) were truly worth the money.
Thanks!
So glad my advanced lessons helped – very well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
Test date-8th December,2018
Location-New Jersey,US
Test type-Academic
Overall Score-7.5
Listening-8
Reading-7
Writing-7
Speaking-7
Liz,i would like to take this opportunity to appreciate the services that you provide.I had a month time for preparation and solely depended on your website for different tips,techniques,time management and your advanced lessons helped a lot.Results mainly depend on the amount of time you put in based on your proficiency in English. Frankly,not being a native speaker bothered me because i wanted a minimum band score of 6.5 and i got to know about your website through my friend.Following your website turned out to be a boon.
TIP-Strictly practice at home in examination conditions.I never followed the time while practicing and in the exam,i had a lot of trouble in the writing part because i spent nearly 30 min for part-a(report) and was left with 30 min for essay but i followed Liz’s tip to take at least 5 min for analyzing the essay and noting down the supporting points which helped me stick to the question and not digress.However,i managed to complete the essay(1 min left for counting the words 🙂
-secondly,practice all the cambridge papers(1-11) which would expose you to the real standards of ielts exam so that you wont be surprised on the exam day and will be prepared to tackle any sort of difficulty.
Very well done with your score and thanks for sharing your tips 🙂
Hi Liz
My results for the test on 13th December are out.
Overall: 8, Reading: 8.5, Writing: 7, speaking: 7.5, Listening: 8.5
Thanks a lot, your tips and videos were really helpful.
Great score – well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I scored the following on the GT test on Dec 1st, 2018:
L: 7.5
R: 7
W: 8
S: 8
Overall: 7.5
I did NOT use any other website/information/service other than your website to prepare for the exam. I am happy with the result but unfortunately, the score on Listening isn’t sufficient for me to get through the immigration requirements. I need half a band more than my current score in Listening to make the mark. I wanted to check with you if there is any paid service that you offer that can help me increase my listening score?
Very well done 🙂 So glad my website was useful 🙂
Hi Liz.
I would like to thank you, finally i got 7 in writing and 8.5 in both reading and Listening also 7.5 in speaking.
your advanced videos helped me a lot, i followed some of tips and tricks explained in those videos.
finally i wont have to redo ielts again. thanks for the amazing and useful website.
Glad you got the scores you needed – well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I am Komal from Banglasdesh. I sat for Academic module of IELTS on 15th Dec. Got my result today. My scores are: Listening: 7.5 Reading: 8.5 Writing: 6 Speaking: 7. Overall: 7.5
I practice in my home with your IELTS tools in your website and Cambridge books for ielts. Though the score in the writing section is satisfactory I am not sad with this score Just it. Your website was very helpful for my test. I am grateful to this site. Thank you, Elizabeth
Well done 🙂
hi liz
today i got my score for ielts, got an overall band of 8.5, had appeared on 15th december 2018, GT
L 9, R 9, S 7.5, W 7.5.
your website and youtube video were very helpful, specially for the writing section
thanks a lot
Great score – well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I appeared for GT module and my scores are L 8, R9, S7, W7. Though i expected higher score in writing, but this is also enough for immigration. The credit goes to you, your videos, blogs and all the information is really helpful. Its like one stop solution for all ielts related queries.
Thanks a lot!
I’m so glad to see your results – well done 🙂
Hey Liz!
Today i got my results for IELTS Academic exam held on 15th Dec.
Its to mention that I have started preparation exactly a month ago, on 15th Nov, I applied for the exam and started preparation. I knew nothing about ielts and i used your blog to prepare from scratch.
My scores are
Overall 8
Listening 8.5
Reading 9
Writing 6.5
Speaking 7.5
I was aiming for 7 each and 7.5 overall. I did not succeed in getting the required in writing module, but I am extremely thankful to you and credit this blog for my amazing scores in all other modules.
P.S .. i am a doctor by profession.
Well done with your scores 🙂 Your writing score is not far off the mark 🙂
My IELTS Academic scores:-
Overall – 8.0
Listening – 8.0
Reading – 8.5
Writing – 7.5
Speaking – 7.5
Hi, I’m a student from Bangladesh, currently studying for my A-Levels. I would like to thank you Liz, for your amazing YouTube channel and blog. You helped me out a lot by sharing useful tips and advice. Good luck for the future!!
Very well done 🙂 Good luck with your A-levels 🙂
Hi Liz,
I registered for my IELTS GT exam with 11 days in hand and a running full time job.
Only after registering I realised what I gotten myself into because it is indeed not just another ENGLISH exam. Your guidelines regarding all the modules really helped me a lot. I was a bit sceptic regarding writing Task 2 as most people get stuck at 6.5 but your writing samples were exceptionally helpful..
I scored L-8.5, R-9, W- 7 & S-7.5
Although I expected myself to score better in speaking, but this band is sufficient for immigration. Thanks for kindly keeping the free videos on your site. Cheers!
Well done with your results 🙂 Many people book the test without realising how much preparation will be involved. There is a lot to understand about the test. I’m glad you fond my site. Good luck with your future plans 🙂
Hey Usha you got exactly same scores like mine.. THANK YOU LIZ..
Excellent – well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I just received my IELTS GT score,
Listening: 9
Reading: 9
Speaking: 8.5
Writing: 7
Overall: 8.5
Your techniques and tips were really helpful . Thanks for your wonderful videos, it really helped a lot.
All the best for your good work 🙂
Great score – well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I had my exam on 1st Dec GT Canada
Thank you so much for the invaluable guidance and strategies for IELTS. They helped a lot.
My Scores are
Listening 8.5
Reading 9
Writing 7
Speaking 8
Merry Xmas! 🙂
Very well done 🙂 Merry Christmas to you too 🙂
Hi Liz, I am avid member of your website and youtube videos and it gives me immense pride to say that your videos and tips really helped me crack my IELTS GT. I gave my IELTS in Kuwait on 1/12/18 and just yesterday received my Result. I got 8.5 Listening, 8.5 Reading, Writing 6.5, Speaking 8 with an overall band score of 8. I wanted to apply for PR for Canada. So need atleast 7 in writing for the same. Do you think its advisable for re-evaluating my IELTS test for increase in 0.5 band in writing and is there possibility that scores will deduct further? Waiting in anticipation
It’s possible to consider a remark, but there’s never a guarantee. As long as you wrote over the word count in both tasks with an overview in task 1 and a conclusion in task 2, then you could consider that. If it isn’t successful contact me again.
I’m in a similar situation, and I did EOR but it’s result was unfortunately ( No change). Even though I wrote over the word count in both tasks, with an overview in task 1 and a conclusion for task 2. So please Liz advice me.
Writing over the word count with an overview in task 1 and a conclusion in task 2 does not mean you will be successful in remarking. They are just requirements for considering a remark. Your score is based on more than word count, overviews and conclusions. You will only get a remark if the senior examiner thinks your writing deserves more. If you didn’t get the score you want, you need to review your approach and start looking for the area you need to improve on.
Hi Liz,
I am working as a Software Engineer.
I appeared for the IELTS (GT) on 01-Dec-2018 in New Delhi, India.
It was my first attempt.
Here is the result-
L-8
R-9
W-7
S-7
Overall Band Score-8
Got the bands I wanted 🙂
Thanks alot for posting such valuable tips and practice sessions. I have already recommended your site to two of my friends. Keep up the good work!!.
Well done 🙂 A great score, particularly for a first attempt. Thanks for recommending my site 🙂
Brother was it british council or idp
I took the GT exam on Dec 1 in Jamaica. Thanks to God for leading me to this site, I got :
Listening 7
Reading 8
writing 7
Speaking 8.5
Keep up the good work Liz. Stay blessed
Great speaking score – well done 🙂
I’m extremely grateful to you for the free materials on her blog/website. They have helped me immensely to achieve LRWS 9,9,7,7.5 at first sitting. I am particularly appreciate your materials and sample essays in the Writing section. They were simplified and easy to follow. I’m utterly grateful for your kindness, and may God continually bless you through this interesting journey of putting smiles on the faces of people.
That’s a great result – well done 🙂 Glad my website was helpful 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession.
Hi Liz,
I want to thank you for the wonderful tips and lessons on the website, I took IELTS (GT) recently and just followed questions and practice test from your website. I am so grateful to you and the truly commendable work you do. Happy Christmas 🙂 🙂 and thanks once again for everything. You are just awesome !!
My scores are :
Listening : 8.5
Reading: 9
Writing : 7
Speaking : 7.5
For all IELTS Aspirants : My only tip would be practice hard and go through LIZ website.
Well done with your results 🙂 Now you can enjoy a lovely Christmas and a successful New Year 🙂
Hi AISH,
Congratulations for the scores; Can you tell us from where did you appear IELTS Exam.
Thanks !!
Hello Liz,
I wholeheartedly thank you for all the guidance and the materials provided here and making it available to everyone. I appreciate your help and the alacrity you carry towards IELTS blogging. Your work is commendable and i find it’s ineffable. Hat’s off !
My score:
reading : 7.5
Writing : 7
Listening : 8
Speaking : 7
Happy Christmas 🙂
A great score – well done 🙂 And a Very Merry Xmas to you too 🙂
I would like to take this opportunity to thank IELTS Liz and the rest of the team here for the great job that they have been persistently doing. This immensely helped both me and my wife in our recent IELTS test on 10 Nov 2018 at Cleveland, Ohio. Just got the scores today, this was the first attempt for both of us.
My Score –
Listening 8.5
Reading 9.0
Speaking 8.5
Writing 8.0
My wife’s score –
Listening 8.5
Reading 8.0
Speaking 7.5
Writing 7.0
I am currently working as Senior Data Scientist with a leading bank and my wife is a Human Resources – Operations professional. Kudos to the folks who continue to share their invaluable experience as well. All the best to future test takers !
Very well done to you both – great scores 🙂 Certainly worth celebrating 🙂 By the way, I work completely alone – no team – just me 🙂
That makes it even more commendable Liz ! Thanks again for your untiring efforts. 🙂 Belated Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family !
dear, liz my English is not wall. i have get IELTS exam twice and i got score 4.5 . i will also have to take now because i am about to move Canada so can you please help me to get at lest 6.0 please help me out and i will be very thank fully.
IELTS is an English language test. You need to have better English to score a higher score. Review your English and then consider IELTS later.
I have received my score report today.
03-Nov-2018 (GT)
Listening 9.0
Reading 8.5
Writing 8.0
Speaking 8.5
Previous test:
12-MAY-2007 (GT)
Listening 8.0
Reading 7.0
Writing 6 (whole band only at the time)
Speaking 8 (whole band only at the time)
I’d highly recommend Liz’s advanced writing lessons. The lessons really helped me to achieve the result. Without watching these lessons, I wouldn’t have scored 8 on IETLS writing. As a software developer, I rarely write anything in English. I’d never thought my writing could even achieve 7.
My wife scored a bit lower. Her reading was 9.0, but her writing and speaking were both 6.5. She needed 7 in both. I think the main issue with her writing and speaking is that she finds it difficult to express herself (even in her native language). Since it’s only half-a band lower than what’s needed, she will try again in December.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Very well done with your score – great result 🙂 Good luck to your wife for her next test. You should be able to support and direct her 🙂
Listening 8.5
Reading 7.5
Speaking 7.0
Writing 6.0
In pursuit to score 8,7,7,7 to be eligible for Canadian express entry.
Writing has become a complete headache even after taking IELTS for 3 times in a row. Feeling a little low just because of not getting what I deserve.
I think you need to be very careful of saying “get what I deserve”. This is about understand the right techniques and complying to IELTS band score requirements. The comment you should be writing is “what do I need to do to hit band score 7”. Obviously there is something lacking and you need to identifying it. See my Advanced writing task 2 lessons if you wish to learn: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/. Also you could consider a remark if you feel you understand what the examiner is looking for and you still deserve band 7 for the essay you wrote in your test.
Extremely grateful for all the resources that you have posted here Liz. I would also like to thank all the members who come back to post their respective test questions on this site which broadens the variety of questions that one has access to.
Below are my scores after 2 failed attempts! I am an HR Faculty in a management college and i thought that my English is fairly good 🙂 However, the IELTS Test requirement is such that you need to focus on the specifics to get a good band score. And this is somethings that is very explicitly explained across Liz`s website, for all the sections.
Took the IELTS General Test on 27th October 2018.
Listening : 8.5
Reading : 8
Speaking : 7
Writing : 7
Thank you once again Liz!
Best wishes for the amazing job that you are doing
Sharmila (India)
Thanks for coming back to share your results – very well done 🙂 It’s tough when you have taken a couple of tests beforehand, but determination and persistence wins out 🙂 You are absolutely right understanding the specific requirements set by IELTS rather than just thinking it’s a basic language test. Well done again with your results 🙂
Hello Liz,
I had my IELTS test on 27th of October in Bangalore,Karnataka.
IELTS Academic module(First attempt)
Listening:7.5
Reading:8.5
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 7
Overall: 7.5
I take this opportunity to thank you for guiding and providing valuable suggestions through your website.Reading was the toughest part for me and the tips which were given by you were really fruitful.
I am happy with the Writing band too.All the lessons in this website are truly beneficial.
Thanks again.
Great score – well done 🙂 Don’t forget to share your profession.
Grateful to Liz for your excellent worked examples in this website. I work for a Catholic charity in Singapore in research and advocacy and applied to do a masters in business in UK full-time. They needed an IELTS score overall band score of 7.5 and I am so grateful that your resources have helped me to exceed this requirement which subsequently led to an offer from the university.
Test score for 29-30 Jun 2018 test date
Overall band: 8.5
Listening: 9
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 9
I was very busy with work and events in that period and found your website literally the day before the written parts of the IELTS. My weakest area was most likely the chart reading exercise and your worked examples were a life-saver. It is a great learning for me to focus more since on reading and interpreting information more carefully and will apply the skills I have learnt in my masters programme. Thank you so very much Liz for your treasure trove of support materials! I would like to affirm you for your generous contribution to IELTS test takers worldwide with your freely available resource kits.
Band 8.5 overall is a great score – very well done 🙂 I’m so glad my website and materials were useful to you 🙂 Thanks for sharing your results 🙂
Hey Liz,
I recently gave my IELTS exam on 27th October and I am so happy that in my first attempt I got L:8, R:7, W:7, S:7,5 (Overall bad score: 7.5) I owe the results to you my dear teacher.
Thanks would be really a small word to express my gratitude to you. The structure/template you give for writing task is just superb. I just love watching your classes. You are too good and please continue your passion of teaching students aspiring to reach their dreamland in abroad. I personally do not prefer online classes but you are at a next level. I literally feel you are right in front of me and teaching me, looking directly into my eyes and transferring the knowledge to students’ mind.
Thank you once again.
Raj
Very well done 🙂 It’s a great score and you have every right to feel proud 🙂 I’m glad my videos make you feel that I am speaking to you personally. I also don’t like learning from videos, but I knew it was the only way to reach people from all around the world and help them with IELTS – so I practised really hard to connect beyond the camera and tried to visualise you all sitting at home listening to me. I also know how hard IELTS can be and that also helped me to make my lessons more personal – I know your doubts and concerns. I’m glad you could feel that 🙂 Well done again with your score 🙂
Hi Liz, I hope you are fine. I am a business consultant by profession and working for the Dubai Government. My Scores are following,
Listening : 8.5
Reading: 8
Speaking : 8
Writing : 6.5 (disappointment)
Overall : 8
Would you suggest going for a remark for writing module ? I was hoping for minimum 7 but it didnt happen. Anyway, I would like to thank you for your guidance throughout my journey. God Bless !
It is possible to consider a remark as long as you:
1. wrote over the word count in both tasks
2. wrote a clear overview for task 1 and a conclusion for task 2
See my Advanced lessons if you need to take the test again: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/
Hello Liz,
I’m an architect by profession and I undertook IELTS GT last month. I referred only your videos and blogs for preparation.
Here are my results:
Listening : 9
Reading : 9
Writing : 7.5
Speaking : 7
Overall: 8
Thank you very much!!
Very well done with your reading and listening scores – excellent 🙂
Hi Liz,
I am a Supply Chain Consultant working for a Big 4 Consulting firm. I wrote the IELTS for my Canada Immigration.
I wanted to thank you for all the help and guidance you provided with your videos. I took the general test and my scores are R:9,L:9,S:8, W:8. I used your writing tips to strategize for my letter and essay in addition to the IELTS book series(1-12). I studied every day (2hrs) for 3 weeks. After understanding the techniques from your videos, I gave 12 mock tests.
My advice for anyone would be to understand the essence of Liz’s videos and apply that framework. After each test, pay attention to your mistakes and practice sections that need improvement.
Also, print out the answer sheets and ensure you are transferring your answers during each test. That helped me understand my speed and accuracy of transferring my notes to final answers.
I’m really pleased to see your score – very well done 🙂 Great results 🙂
Hi Liz,
First of all I would like you to Thanks a ton for your help and tips which you have been providing for free of cost. You are a kind person and inspiration for me. I mostly followed you for writing tips and have always got response from you. (Guess I was lucky).
I appeared for IELTS General Training test on 27/10.
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 9
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 8
Overall band score: 8.5
Low scoring in writing section, I think is because for me there was no way to get my practice tests results validated and therefore was not able to identify my mistakes to work on and improve.
Thanks again and wish you a good health always.
You’ve got really great results – well done 🙂 Getting band 7.5 is great – don’t be down about it 🙂
HEY liz.. I am so glad that I came across your paid video stuff. Earlier I was not sure if I should buy or not but then I decided to go ahead with it and I can surely say that it was my best decision in ielts journey. These videos are very PRECISE and focus ON HIGH scoring. You have been my mentor in this process and today with result in hand LRSW as 8.5,9,7,7(first attempt) I can say making you mentor and getting those paid videos save a lot of effort and money in the process.. Once again thanks and proud to be part of your learners family
Very well done with your scores 🙂 I’m so glad you hit band 7 in writing. Thank you for your kind comment about my Advanced Writing Task 2 Lessons – I’m glad they were helpful for you 🙂
Good evening ma’am..
I would like to thank you for your amazing tips and the list of speaking topics on the website. I got an overall 8.0 band score in ielts exam on first trial. (LRWS.. 8.5,8.5,7.0,7.0).
Thanks again and i highly recommend every aspirant to prepare from the resources that ma’am offers.
Well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
Just wanted to say thanks for so many useful tips on the exam. I took the test on October 13:
L – 9
R – 8
W – 7
S – 8.5
I wrote many essays during preparation time, but it seems that my practice was not perfect, thus I will try and get some professional help on this matter. I also tried to review my results but the writing band score remained unchanged. Also, I don’t think I went through 100% of the writing section content on your website, and that definitely affected my results. I have to say that I’ve never tried to write 2nd task right after the 1st one to make sure I am good with the timing, and, although, I had no issues with the time on the exam, in the end, it did affect my planning.
Is there something else you might recommend to improve writing from 7 to 8?
Thanks a lot!
Well done with your results 🙂 Definitely go through my FREE lessons, tips and model essays more carefully. Click on the RED BAR at the top of the site. I also have Advanced Writing Task 2 lessons which are available to purchase here: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/
Hi Liz,
I don’t have the words to thank you for your precious lessons which helped me to cross the bar, especially in the writing module. I am working as a Medical Lab Technologist in a local hospital since last 4 years. I desired to migrate to Canada, if possible, for which I needed 7 Bands in each module plus an 8 in Listening. I was really worried about my writing which was not up to the mark although I had a significant hold on other modules. I tested my English language level and it came out to be B2 which was not enough to reach my desired target. But I rigorously followed and practiced each and every of your writing lesson for a month, putting all my faith into them, and thanks to them, I got a 7.0 in it. I know I made about 2-4 silly spelling mistakes as well as failed to give referencing to my second body paragraph otherwise I could have got a higher score in it. But I am satisfied with my results.
I urge all IELTS aspirants to follow your each and every word written on this blog as well as every bit of advice given by you in your videos. Ieltsliz is the only answer to the most commonly heard question (one that I also asked once), “I want a higher band score in IELTS, what should I do?”
My country is India and My overall band score is 8.0 in General Training.
Writing: 7.0
Speaking: 7.5
Reading: 8.0
Listening: 9.0
A million thanks to you once again. May God always keep you strong to help people like me.
Very well done with your results! You needed band 8 in listening and got band 9 🙂 Brilliant! I wish you lots of luck with your move to Canada – I hope it works out for you 🙂 Glad my website was useful – makes me happy 🙂
Dear liz,
Hope you are in a good health.
I just received my IELTS results today,and I really owe this success to you.
I have appeared in academic ielts before as well and achieved the required score but as ielts test report is valid only for 2 years and now I had to start my job with NHS and was in need of a fresh ielts test report.So just 6 days before the exam I booked my test,wasn’t sure if i have done the right thing.
Honestly speaking,I only followed your videos especially in writing,which I find the hard bit.
I followed your steps in both the writing parts,kept it as simple as possible.
I managed to score-
Writing_7.5
Listening_8.5
Reading_7
Speaking_8.
A big thank you dear Liz.
I got the desired score only after watching your videos.
Thanx again
I’m glad to read your results 🙂 Well done 🙂 Glad my website was useful 🙂
Hi Liz,
Thank you for all your tips. I scored 9 in listening, reading and speaking; and 7.5 in writing, which makes my overall band score 8.5.
You have played an integral part in my success, because thanks to you, I knew exactly what to expect.
Well done – over all 8.5 is great 🙂
Hi Liz,
I got a band score of 8 (General Training – 27th Oct’18) , broken down as below:
Listening – 9
Reading – 8
Speaking – 8.5
Writing – 7
I wanted to thank you for the useful tips and techniques that you have posted on your website . They have been very benenficial and helped me attain my targeted band score in my first try.
Thanks & Regards,
Kimi S
Chartered Accountant
Mumbai
Well done – a great first try 🙂
I am a doctor from Sri Lanka
IELTS Academic version 27th October 2018
Overall 8.5
Listening 9.0
Reading 9.0
Writing 7.5
Speaking 8.0
Thanks for the support Liz…
Advice to the colleagues,
Keep on practicing.Exactly simulate it as you do it in the proper test.
That’s a great result – very well done to you 🙂
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your videos and teaching. I have scored a 8.5 overall and I duly pay the credits to your teaching methodologies. The practice essays were very useful. Common essay topics is another key area to be looked into. Practice makes a man perfect. This is 100 percent true and with the clear explanation of ideas in your teaching , I believe anyone can easily get their preferred score , provided they practice. I thank God for guiding me to your website. Thanks again.
My scores are
L: 9
R: 9
W:7.5
S: 7.5
Thanks and regards,
Jasmine.
Well done, Jasmine 🙂
Hi Liz,
I scored an overall band of 7.5 in IELTS Academic.
Reading – 7.5
Writing – 7
Speaking – 7
Listening – 8.5
Your blog greatly helped me in achieving this score. Thank you for all the lessons without which this wouldn’t have been possible for me.
Well done 🙂
Hi Liz!
I’m an English Literature student and I took the academic IELTS test on October 20th. Here are my results:
Reading: 9
Listening: 9
Speaking: 7.5
Writing: 7.5
Overall: 8.5
I’d like to take the time to genuinely thank you for your website and youtube channel, and also all the effort you’re putting into helping test takers. Your sources and materials are all I studied, in addition to doing about 20 tests from the Cambridge books. Thank you so much.
Wish you all the best!
You’ve done very well with your results 🙂 Great score 🙂
Hi Liz,
My Scores are:
Writing : 9.0
Listening : 9.0
Writing : 8.5
Speaking : 6.5
Firstly Thank you for all your time in posting material here. I took your advanced essay lessons and it helped me a lot. I practiced extensively using your essay tips and i fully credit my writing score to you. (i assumed i may not even get 7.0). I followed all your tips in Speaking,Listening and Writing and you are spot on. I know my score looks unbelievable with me Scoring so low in speaking. Even after EOR it remained the same. I diligently looked up your speaking topics and voila one came on the day of the exam and i guess the examiner felt i memorized the speaking part 2. I better prepare for it differently next time.
I wish you good health always and may God bless you. you are the best for IELTS,
Ajay
Well done with your results! I’m impressed with your 8.5 in writing – great score 🙂
Hi Liz,
I would like to take this opportunity to tell you what a blessing your site and youtube channel has been for my Ielts prepearation. I am an engineer and plan to pursue higher education. My score is as follows:
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 8
Writing: 7
Speaking: 7.5
Overall: 8
Request for all aspirants is to watch your videos and tips on your website to score a high band. I believe i could have scored a better band in writing section if i had practiced (did my prep in only 4 days) which i believe every aspirant must do even if he has complete confidence in his writing skills.
Finally a wholehearted thanks to you and best of luck to future aspirants.
Well done with your results 🙂
Got my results last night. I appeared for IELTS GT in Kansas City on Oct 13th. 1st attempt, prep time 3-4 weeks, 6-8 hrs per week.
Listening – 8
Reading – 8.5
Speaking – 8
Writing – 8
Thanks Liz for this fantastic website and content. I’ve so far directed half a dozen of my friends here and I’m sure they will reap all the benefits. Thanks a lot again!
Well done with your score 🙂 Thanks for recommending my site. Hope your friends do as well as you 🙂
Hi Liz,
I am a housewife trying to get into a cooking school roughly 10 years after passing from college. So, appearing for an exam after all this time was terrifying. I got my results today and thankfully, I am quite pleased with them. I belong to India but am currently residing in Dublin, Ireland. I took the academic version of the tests on 13th of October 2018. My results are as follows-
Reading-9
Speaking- 8.5
Listening- 7.5
Writing-7
Overall score- Band 8
Firstly, I would like to thank you with all my heart for your amazing and incredibly helpful blog. Your site and Youtube videos were all the preparation that I had and it worked very well. So a big THANKYOU! 🙂
Secondly, I’d like to stress the importance of the WRITING section for all the aspirants. I underestimated it and it resulted in ruining my score inspite of the two tasks being fairly easy. I wrote too much in both the tasks and knew right away that was a major mistake. One must practice sticking to the word limit! Even if you are proficient writer, practice writing essays and descriptions as much as you practice other sections. It’s important! I am also disappointed with my Listening score but I knew all along that I had messed it up and was expecting the after-effects.
All the best to all the present and future aspirants, and also to you dear LIZ! You are a shiny guiding star in this overwhelming universe of IELTS! xx
Very well done with your results 🙂 I really hope you can now get into the cooking school you want. Your tips about writing are spot on. It’s easy to underestimate this part of the test, particularly if your English language is strong. Regardless of your level, there is a lot of technique to learn. Good luck with your career in cooking 🙂
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your videos and content. It was really useful. PFB my success story:
Place: New Delhi, India
Date: 13th October, 2018
Attempt: First
Preparation Time: 3 weeks
Results:
Overall Band Score: 7.5
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 7.0
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 7
I would like to thank you and other aspirants for sharing knowledge. I would be happy to help anyone who is interested and would like to know my preparation.
However, if you are following Liz IELTS, you don’t need to worry.
I’m glad to see your score – well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I am a Mechanical Engineer from India. I appeared for my IELTS GT on 13th October in Cincinnati USA. Got my results today
My score: Overall Band – 8.0
L-8.5
R-7.5
W-7.0
S-8.0
I would like to thank Liz wholeheartedly for her prep material. They are really useful especially the writing and speaking part. The entire material and information are very focused and ideal for people with less time to prepare for IELTS. I recommend this website to my friends and everyone else. IELTSLIZ is the best resource available on the internet, period. Amazing job Liz. Kudos!
Very well done with your results 🙂 I’m really pleased to hear my website was useful 🙂
General training.
Test date: 13/10/18
L 9
R 9
W 7
S 7.5
Overall 8
Thank you Liz for everything. I am an Intensive Care doctor and writing an essay for me was even more painful than getting a colonoscopy but you saved me. Thank you.
Very well done 🙂 Your comment made me laugh – a good comparison for the experience of IELTS 🙂
Hi Liz ,
I am a doctor by profession and took the IELTS Academic test on 29th September 2018 in Delhi , India. I watched all your videos before the test and followed your suggestions diligently during the exam.I don’t have words to express my gratitude towards you . What makes your lessons and tips extremely efficient is , the simple manner in which they are presented . Your videos especially the ones that give information and suggestions on the Writing Tasks are priceless. Their value and benefit cannot be overstated.
L-8.0 , R-8.0 ,W-7.5 ,S – 8.0 ( Overall – 8.0)
I don’t think there are a lot of suggestions that can be added to your tips that are already there on your website and your videos on youtube .
I would strongly recommend practising 15 minutes of Speaking daily for a few days with a friend before the test as per the 3 part format and making sure that the candidate speaks continuously without pauses and interruptions. What you speak is less important , so make sure you answer the question asked by the examiner even if you have to divert from the topic slightly . You must learn how to tactfully divert from the main topic by connecting what is asked by what you know. Even if you don’t know an answer , please say that you don’t have the knowledge and information on the topic and would like the examiner to ask the next question. For Part 2 , the candidate must speak for 2 continuous minutes and only stop when the examiner asks him to do so.
For Writing , please write according to the format : Introduction , Overview and 2 Body Paragraphs in Task 1 ; and Introduction + Thesis Statement , 2/3 Body Paragraphs and Conclusion in Task 2.
Best of Luck
Band 8 is a great score – well done 🙂 Thanks for sharing your tips – very useful. You have grasped the speaking test well and understand clearly what is required 🙂 Good writing structures.
Hi Liz,
I am IT professional and appeared in my GT IELTS exam on September 29th, 2018 in New York. Below are my results:
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 7.5
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 7.5
Overall: 8.0
I did use your website and videos to a great extent and it played a huge role in the result that I achieved.
Thank you Liz.
Very well done 🙂
Hello Liz!
I am a Chartered Accountant in service from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
I gave my first IELTS GT exam on 29th September 2018 in Dhaka. My score is as follows:
L – 8.5
R – 9
W – 7.5
S – 7.5
Overall band score – 8
I must say that I am almost speechless by my result as I didn’t expect to hit the desired mark in the first attempt, especially when I didn’t get more than merely one month to prepare for it. I worked hard at it through my busy schedule of life, but it became easier with your guides and tips. I am deeply grateful to you and your website for providing the fantastic guidelines which have helped me to achieve the desired score in the very first attempt. My spouse has also given the exam with me, and she also attained the targeted score (well sort of!). I hope that sharing this result will inspire many of the fellow students. I want to conclude by saying that god bless you for the wonderful gift that you are bestowing to the people all over the globe through this outstanding website!
Very well done with your results and congratulations to your wife as well 🙂 All the results posted, I hope, will give other people the motivation and encouragement to push forward to their goals 🙂
Hi Liz,
I am a Senior Consultant by profession.
I gave the IELTS GT exam on 29 September 2018 in Cincinnati ,Ohio.
Finally, in my fourth attempt i managed to score the magic number:
L:8
R:9
W:8
S:7.5
I want to share that in all my last three attempts I lacked in the Listening module by .5 or 1 point to get an 8 which was a must for my application.From my multiple attempts I have learnt that one needs to pay full attention on every bit of the conversation and not bother about writing the answers.If one does this, then it becomes way more easier to pen down the correct answers in the end.In addition to this, for speaking one needs to develop the skill to talk at length but in a structured format so that the examiner can understand your thoughts clearly.For this, try using the sentence connectors -although, even though,despite of,furthermore,firstly,secondly.Also, please do not forget to summarize your thoughts in the end by making use of words-hence, overall, therefore etc.
For the Writing module,I blindly followed the your tips which you have shared on your website and always managed to score 7+ in all my attempts.Additionally, the TRUE ,FALSE or NOT GIVEN tricks in the Reading module proved magical for me.
At last, I cannot thank you enough for sharing the useful tips and tricks available on your website.They are extremely helpful in improving the overall IELTS score. I wish I could thank you in person for being a fantastic teacher. I will surely recommend your wonderful website to everyone.
Thank You
Very well done with your results 🙂 You’ve made a good point about speaking. The marking criterion of fluency is actually “Fluency & Coherence” which means that answers do need to make sense and be easy to follow. Thanks for sharing your tips 🙂
Hi Liz,
I hope that you are doing good. I appeared in IELTS (GT) exam on 29 September and got the following result :
L : 8.5
R : 8
W : 7.5
S : 7
Overall : 8
Your tutorials are really helpful. I am a Web Developer by profession, please let me know if you need any minor changes done on your website. I would do it for free just like you helped me.
Thanks
Well done with your results 🙂 Thanks for the offer of help 🙂
Profession: Teacher, Module:GT, Date: 29/09/18
L8.5 R9 W7 S7
Hi Liz
Thank you so much for all the tips and strategies. I appeared in the exam earlier but
I got only 6.5 in writing and I was so disappointed. Then I started writing tasks as explained in your advanced videos and yes I got a 7 in writing. I am so much thankful to you. I’ll advise all the students to stick to the format explained by you in your advanced lesson videos because it’s not good to experiment in the exam room no matter how good your language is and I will also suggest that one should always practise with a timer and under pressure because during exam one is too tired in writing test as it is last one. Once again thank you so much, all the credit for writing score goes to you. God bless you.
I’m so pleased to hear that you hit band 7 in writing – well done 🙂 The writing test has specific requirements for the high band scores that do not necessarily relate to language skills. It’s always good to get training 🙂
Hi Liz,
I took the test (IELTS academics) in Nigeria on September 29. I had just a week to prepare with a tight schedule as a medical doctor covering a 24 hours shift. I practically wrote all the model essays in your site in an exercise book and studied them. I watched your videos for every aspect of the exam. I completed all the exercises in the Cambridge books 11 and 12 in 4 days. I was so confident going into the exam knowing fully when that despite my short preparation time, I have managed to follow your advice. Speaking was however scary. Examiner kept a straight face throughout even when I tried to make a joke. I needed 7.5 overall with at least a 7 in each. The 13 days waiting period was particularly killing 😐😐😐
Listening: 7.5
Reading: 8.0
Writing: 7.0 🤔🤔🤔
Speaking: 7.5 🙂🙂🙂
Overall: 7.5
Thank you Liz for your wonderful effort at helping me at no cost at all. I strongly recommend the paid courses to visitors of this site as a friend got a 8.0 in writing from using the paid course. Now I can move ahead in my professional career, thanks to Liz.
N.B: This was my first attempt.
Very well done with your results – I’m really pleased to hear your news 🙂 I also glad to hear your friend could benefit from my Advanced Lessons. Good luck with your next steps 🙂
Hi Liz,
I am a chartered accountant.
Your videos are helpful. I wrote June 30 2018 and Aug 18 2018
My first attempt i got L8, R7.5, W6, S7.5
Second attempt i got L8.5, R9, W6,S7
So i asked for a remark of the 2nd attempt and my W changed to 6.5. I am so sad because i need a minumun of 7 in writing. Pls send me the link and how much is the advance writing course. I guess there is something i am doing wrong .
You’ve obviously got the ability to improve but you need to learn the right techniques for essay writing for IELTS. You will also need to reduce the number of errors you make. This means avoiding over paraphrasing – not all words can or should be changed. You also need to control your grammar and not produce sentences that are too long or overly complicated. A complex sentence does not need to be complicated in IELTS. So, take control of the language you write and learn new techniques. Here’s a link to my Advanced lessons: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/. Good luck!
Hi Liz,
This is my 3rd attempt and i was really hopeful this will be the last .after using your advance materials i got L9,R9,S7.5,W6.5 so i immediately asked for a remark and it did not change. I need a 7 for migration. I am getting fed up but i will not give up. Please am i doing something wrong. Thanks
Did you try my Advanced writing task 2 lessons?
Yes i did maam. Practised for 6 weeks.
Hi Liz,
I got 9 9 7.5 9 in LRWS General Test. Graduate student.
This was my first time taking the test, and I did not have any intention of taking it again; it was do-or-die. I somehow stumbled upon your website a few days before my test and found your tips and tricks especially illuminating. Your website is a treasure trove of really helpful information, and really want to thank you for helping me, and I am sure so many other test-takers. Also, the T,F,NG question was the death of me before I found your tips for that, so thank you for that as well.
Cheers!
Great scores! Very well done 🙂 I’m glad you found my site and could benefit from it 🙂 Thanks for sharing your results 🙂
Hi Liz,
I gave my ielts academic module on Sept 29th ’18, with the following scores.
Overall: 8
L/S/R: 8.5
W: 7
I’m not too thrilled with my writing scores as the universities I’m opting for require a min of 7 in each module, and I’m barely meeting the minimum in writing.
Should i consider opting for a revaluation for the writing section? Or should i consider the overall 8 and proceed with my application?
Your guidance in the same is appreciated!
Regards,
Krystall
If the universities need 7, then you’ve got the required score. If you want to consider a remark, it is your choice. Always think about whether you did write over the word count in both tasks. Also you must have written a clear overview in task 1 and a conclusion in task 2. If you can confidently done that, you could consider a remark.
Hlo liz….
Thaks alot ..only with ur dis website ..i achieved what i want to do ….really thanks alot
Am a student
And
Got 7.5 overall 8.5. 7.5 7 6 in LRSW
THNKS AGAIN ❤❤
Hi Liz,
I appeared in IELTS exam on 29 Sep 2018 and got my result today. I used your website for taking tips and tricks to crack IELTS exam. I am a Chartered Accountant (equivalent CPA) by profession.
My score is
Overall 7.5
Listening 8
Reading 7.5
Writing 7
Speaking 7
I want to thank you for all your support and guidance through this website.
Really grateful to you.
Thank you so much!
Regards,
Ramanpreet Singh
Well done with your results 🙂 Glad my website was useful 🙂
Hello Liz,
I’m a community pharmacist.
My General IELTS test was in 29 September, Cairo, Egypt. This is my result:
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 9
Speaking: 7
Writing: 6.5
Overall: 8
I’d like to share the circumstances of the writing test. This was the first time I take the IELTS test. After the time for the reading test was over the supervisor asked us to put our pencils down. A man taking test refused and when the room supervisor came to his desk and said to him “sir, please put your pen down” the man started shouting and was very very rude to her. At this point I thought cheating (taking more time than his peers) and shouting were enough reasons to expel him from the examination room but what happened then was unacceptable. Instead of asking him to leave the supervisors tried to calm him and this went on for 45 minutes. 45 five minutes of just sitting there doing nothing except getting more nervous and stressed in what is already a very stressful test and my results show it. Adding insult to the injury the rude man completed his test as if nothing happened. Despite being tired, I was at the peak of my concentration and energy, but the test venue supervisors ruined everything and wasted my efforts. I mean, am I expected to sit in the examination room and remain sharp and focused for 4 hours?. I consistently do very well and write essays and letters that do better than 7.5 and I believe what happened to me was unfair. I needed at least 7 in writing and now I’ll have to take the test again because of a stupid half band score.
You’ve done well with your scores and obviously have the potential to do better. It’s a real shame what happened in the test room. You had a lot of bad luck there. It was very unprofessional of the supervisors to allow that candidate to remain in the room – I’m shocked. Try to forget it though and focus on your next test. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you 🙂
Thank you so much Liz for the amazing blog. I scored overall band score of 8.5.
Reading – 9
Listening – 8.5
Speaking – 8.5
Writing – 7.5
A great score – well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
Just as I did in my previous submissions here, let me first thank you for all the support you are extending to aspiring candidates.
I am an IT Project manager, and took my test on 29th Sept.
My result is as below
– Listening – 7.5
– Reading – 9
– Writing – 7
– Speaking – 8
—- Overall 8 —–
I think I should have prepared more, especially should have practiced writing essays on the actual sheet. Although I am generally very good in producing ideas and arguments, my bad handwriting was making me over-conscious of time and word-count, resulting in loss of good arguments/phrases which I could have otherwise spun effortlessly had I been typing on my laptop 🙂 .. Listening also needed more practice.. I believe I made some silly mistakes as well there.
But overall, I am quite happy with the scope given the very limited preparation I did (10 days along with my office).
Thanks once again for being my teacher and guide !! God Bless !
For just 10 days prep, you’ve done very well indeed. Practising writing by hand is essential if you aren’t used to it. The test format must feel comfortable and familiar for you. Band 7 is not easy to hit in writing so don’t think too much about it – it’s a great score 🙂
Hi, Liz.
I’m a student and I just got my IELTS results today. I took my test last September 29.
Overall: 8.0
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 8.0
Writing: 7.0
Speaking: 8.5
Although I admit I could have done better especially in the writing part. It’s just that I really wasn’t able to prepare that much. Thank God I stumbled upon your site. Your tips helped me out a lot! Thank you!
You’ve done very well 🙂 Band 8 overall is great 🙂
Hi Ma’am
Thank you so much for all your modules! They were extremely helpful and I could achieve the score needed for my post graduation studies. I had taken the academic module and have completed my engineering this year.
I scored an overall 7.5
listening- 8.0
reading- 8.5
writing- 7.0
speaking- 7.0
I was always very scared of reading, but to my surprise, I scored the highest in it!
I expected a higher score in speaking though, but I think I understand that being just a good speaker isn’t the only reason for a good score, I remember being fluent but I was repeating a couple words in haste and getting nervous a few times. but overall I’m happy!
thank you so much! 😀 God bless!
Very well done – it’s a really strong score 🙂
Hi Liz
I wanted to give you a hug and a big thank you for being my virtual mentor throughout my IELTS preparation.
I was a banker and now a homemaker for last 6 months. I went through all your lessons and religiously followed your advice. I took the IELTS General exam on September 29 in Bangalore, India. This was my first attempt.
My test result:
L: 8.5
R: 9.0
W: 7.0
S: 7.5
I am happy with the band score for all sections but ‘Writing’. I believe that I wrote flawlessly with the perfect technique that I had learned from your advanced writing lessons. My handwriting is pretty good and easy to understand as well. Even though I have the required minimum score, would it be wise to go for a revaluation in Writing?
Well done with your results 🙂 Glad my lessons were helpful 🙂
Hi Liz,
I took the IELTS GT test in Sept 2018 and used your site and youtube videos for preparation. Along with this, I did a few sample listening and reading tests as well. Your site is great and I didn’t have to rely on other source.
I am a software engineer and currently trade crypto currencies for a living.
My results:
Overall: 8.5
Listening, Reading: 9
Speaking: 8
Writing: 7.5
In my speaking test, part 2, I finished early and the examiner urged me to talk more. I was slightly blank and blurted a few sentences that didn’t match the overall theme exactly. It was a pleasant surprise seeing band score 8 here, so I guess I would’ve done well in the other questions.
I prepared for around two weeks. I would suggest test takers to practice more for the Writing section. I struggled to finish the 2 essays since I spent 30 minutes on the first one.
Thanks a lot!
Very well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I got overall 7.5 with the following:
Listening: 7.5
Reading: 9
Speaking: 7
Writing: 6
My test was Computer-based on 6th October in Riyadh, KSA. I have already posted the questions a few days ago. Can i improve to 7 in writing in a re-take with 2 months?
You kind help required.
Thanks
Well done with your score 🙂 Improving writing will depend on why you got only 6 in the first place. If the level of your English is low and contains too many errors, it will take time to improve it. If the problem is your approach, your understanding of the requirements, and your technique, it’s easy and quick to fix. However, your score will depend on avoiding errors, which means controlling the length of your sentences and avoiding over paraphrases. It will also include making sure your ideas are on topic and supporting points and very focused and highly relevant. See my Advanced Lessons if you need training in this: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/
Hi Shani,
Is there a highlighting shortcut key in the computer-based test? Like clicking h on keyboard to highlight a word? I hope you can tell me since the test center here doesn’t have any information about it. Thanks!
Hi Liz,
I scored an over all 7. 5 with the following scores.
Speaking 8
Listening 8. 5
Reading 7
Writing 7
Overall 7. 5
Your tips were quite useful. I’d appeared a year before but then my scores in reading eere 6. 5 but for writing it was 7. 5. A mistake I made this time was that I went to the rest room during the writing test and ut took around ten minutes. Last time,I had done this during the reaing test and I’d tried to avoid a similar situation but I couldn’t help it.. I
wish I hadn’t done that. Perhaps other examinees can take this tip.
Well done with your results 🙂 It’s a shame that a toilet break isn’t organised between the reading and writing test. It should be planned by IELTS.
Hi Liz, my scores are as follows.
Reading – 8.5
Listening – 8.5
Writing – 7
Speaking – 7
Overall band – 8
I’m grateful for all the contents you have posted in YouTube and your blog. Especially the videos on essays were of great help because it helped me to organize my essay with ease. Thank you so much!
Well done with your results 🙂
Hello! I took the IELTS on 8th September and results are :
L-8.5
R-9
W-8
S-8
Overall-8.5
I am an airline pilot.
I wasn’t expecting a 9 perhaps, but atleast 8.5 for writing since the questions were very easy to write and elaborate on. The Opinion essay I followed exactly what Liz teaches in her videos .. hence kind of disappointed. Not that it would have helped me anymore but still a matter of self satisfaction.
I was unhappy with the speaking examiner since she wasn’t what or how Liz describes an examiner to be and I was cut short on all my answers in all sections. Even section 3. I thought I could develop more.
For anyone who has had an English education background, one should not get paranoid reading all the comments and hysteria about not getting an acceptable score. Keep your confidence high and do practice well to know what to expect! Thanks a lot to Liz and everyone who posted their experiences.
Very well done with your score! 🙂 Your writing score is based on many factors that can only be judged by a trained examiner. Even a native speaker will not automatically be given 9 in writing. For speaking, it is 100% normal that the examiner will interrupt your answers. This was explained on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-speaking-examiner-stops-your-answer/. As for part 3, it is a discussion. This means the examiner might let you talk on your own or the examiner might challenge you or ask for more information and examples. That is a natural part of the discussion. Examiners do this is probe the level of your English – it is a good thing. You are absolutely right about having confidence and knowing what to expect when you enter the test room.
My GT exam was on 08-Sep (Mumbai/India). Scores: 9.0, 9.0, 7.5, 8.5. Fumbled a bit in Writing due to not managing my time well.
While I do have some relevant background, the credit for the great scores goes to you Liz! You do a great job here! Your Speaking pages were especially a great boon. Cheers and godspeed!
It’s a great score – well done with your listening and reading !! 🙂
Hi Liz,
I appeared Ielts academic on 11th august. I cant thank you enough for your help. Your website was absolutely a source of help for my writing. You are thorough and updated on your information. Thank again. My score is
L:9
R:8
W:7.5
S:8
Great score – well done 🙂
Hi Liz
I’m a nurse, and I appeared for the IELTS exam held on the 8th of September 2018 and got an overall band score 7.5
Listening 7.5
Reading 7.5
Writing 7
Speaking 8
I’d like to sincerely Thank you for this website, without which I’d be lost for sure. This was my second attempt and I managed to achieve the desired score this time.
I last appeared on the 11th August 2018 and I got 6.5 in writing. I decided to answer again within a month’s time because I had the time to prepare and work extensively on my writing module. Thanks to you Liz. All the effort you have put in for all of us here is highly appreciated!
Well, when i first appeared, i convinced my mind, if i fail, i would reappear the second time. But when i received my results. I failed!! I needed 7 in writing and got 6.5 instead. I was kind of disappointed because i did work hard the first time.. This was the first time i tasted failure.. And trust me, it tastes no good. So i made up my mind to reappear again. And this time, i convinced my mind,that this is it. I am not going to fail, will give my best and yes, thinking positively and not having second thoughts does help.
My advice to you guys, if you have the time and resources to reappear for the ielts exam, do so within a month or may be 2, because everything you have learnt is still fresh and you can concentrate more on the module which you didnt fare well the very first time. It worked for me. Think positive. Dont be disheartened. You will succeed one day. Nothing is Impossible. Practice Practice Practice…
Very well done 🙂 I admire your determination to succeed 🙂 I will repeat your final words for all people preparing for IELTS to keep in mind:
Think positive. Don’t be disheartened. You will succeed one day. Nothing is Impossible. Practice Practice Practice…
Glad my website was useful 🙂
Thank you Liz..Means a lot!!!!
Forgot to mention the centre.. Cork English College, Ireland (Academic)
Hello Liz,
I am Senior Highway Engineer by profession and took my IELTS (General Training) Exam on 18th of August. Following were my scores ;
Listening 8.5
Reading 9.0
Writing 6.5
Speaking 8.0
Although I was not happy with my writing score, I had a gut feeling that I deserved at least 7.0 in writing. Straight away after receiving the Test Report Form, I applied for revaluation for the writing module. I could not control my happiness when I received the revised Test Report Form.
Following are my revised scores;
Listening 8.5
Reading 9.0
Writing 7.0
Speaking 8.0
Overall Band 8.0
This was the best 7.0 I have have ever seen in my life and I know its importance now.
I religiously followed your youtube channel and grabbed many tips, especially in speaking.
Trust me, you are doing a fabulous job in helping others. Keep the good work.
-Gaurang
Well done with your remark – a really good result 🙂 It’s not easy to hit band 7 in writing.
Hi Liz
I am currently working as a postdoc. I took the IELTS GT on Sep 8, 2018. Scored 9/8.5/7/9 for the Listening/Reading/Writing/Speaking sections. Overall 8.5
This was my first attempt and I just gave myself a month’s time to learn about the test’s format and strategy. I was a bit lost at first as to where to start, but then I chanced upon your blog. I found your writing videos to be very useful and I consider buying them as a very worthy investment.
Keep up the great work!
Cheers,
Aditya
Band 8.5 overall is a great score 🙂 Well done 🙂 Glad my Advanced lessons helped.
Here are my details:
Profession – IT Manager
Test date – 8th Sept 2018
Center – Chennai, India
Score:
L-9
R-8.5
W-7
S-8
Overall – 8
I was confident to hit 9 in L &R but was not so in Writing. But manage to hit the threshold of 7. I think, writing is one area which needs a lot of practice. Moreover, we need to follow the prescribed pattern as well. Rest all sections does not need as much focus. I did few mock tests for LR and was pretty confident to get max score. Anyway, thanks for being so helpful in my IELTS journey.
Well done with your results 🙂 You are right about writing. It really needs careful preparation to understand the aims in relation to the band scores. I’m glad you hit band 8 overall 🙂
Hey Liz!
I’m an engineering graduate. I took the ielts on 8th September and got my results today – L&R- 9, W- 7.5, S- 6 (Overall 8).
This site was really helpful to me during preparations. As I did not have access to books, I mainly depended on online resources to prepare for the exam.
Listening was a piece of cake for me. I watch a lot of English movies so i was fine with it.
I wasn’t so sure I’d do well in Reading. When i was practicing questions, I would constantly mess up matching heading, matching information and yes/no/not given questions. These questions made me confused in the exam too. As i was running out of time, i used the elimination method for matching questions. For y/n/ng, I used your tip on checking if the opposite of the given sentence is true or false.
I messed up my writing for a bit. I had understood the task 2 question differently. I realized my mistake in the last five minutes of the exam and did everything i can to fix the essay. Because of this, I’m very happy with my band score in writing as i did not expect to get beyond 7.
i didn’t do so well in speaking. Although i have been speaking English for years and didn’t have a problem with it, my nervousness made me perform poorly. I answered questions in task 1 and 3 with some repetition and hesitation. It was in task 2 that i made some major blunders. My task card was to speak on ‘An event that made me happy’. It was a pretty easy topic and i knew right away which event i was going to speak on. However, in the middle of my talk, i stopped suddenly and got nervous. I spoke for less than a minute and didn’t give a conclusion. The pause was so long that it only made my mind blank. The examiner was prodding to speak more. In the end, i spoke something about another event. I believe that it was my performance in task 2 that mainly brought down my score to a 6.
Anyway, I’m very happy with my score as i have surpassed the minimum requirements for admissions at grad school. I thank you once again for all your tips and advice 🙂
Well done with your score 🙂 Thanks for sharing your tips and and experience. Speaking does require a lot of confidence. You need to be able to keep talking regardless of nerves and regardless of the examiner’s body language or facial expressions. Some times it takes more than one test to nail it. Anyway, you’ve done well with overall band 8 – good for you 🙂
Hi Liz,
I took IELTS Academic on 8th September and followed your YouTube Videos extensively. I had only 10 days at hand for preparation after GRE and I watched almost all your videos.
Thanks a ton for such great guidance.
My scores are as follows:
Overall Band: 8
Listening: 9
Reading: 9
Speaking: 7.5
Writing: 7
Thanks again. Hope you keep doing the good work.
That’s a great result – well done 🙂 Glad my website was useful 🙂
Hi Liz,
I’m a physician and I took the exam for the first time last August 11, 2018 in Manila Philippines.
L = 8.5
R = 8.5
W = 6.5
S = 8.5
I applied for a re-mark and received my new writing score today, which is 7, exactly my target score.
Just a quick backstory. I crammed for 5 days before the exam because we recently had a family problem that needed to be dealt with ASAP. It occurred less than 5 weeks before the exam, voiding any chance for a refund. I took the exam anyway and hoped for the best.
I wouldn’t recommend cramming to anyone, but big kudos to your website for packing everything in such a concise and organized website. Very useful in an emergency situation like mine. I couldn’t have done it without your help. Keep up the good work
I’m really glad your remark worked – well done 🙂 It’s a great score with such a limited prep time 🙂 Hope everything in your family is fine now.
Hi Liz,
I am a medical doctor from Germany and I sat the IELTS on 11.08.2018 in Manchester.
My exam results:
Listening 9.0
Reading 9.0
Writing 8.0
Speaking 8.5
Overall Band 8.5.
I wish I had more in writing since I spent a lot of time preparing and I love writing essays, but I wasted time writing the first task (30 instead of 20 min) and I ran out of time to write a third paragraph for the second writing task. But following your brilliant lectures and advice, I did write a conclusion! I didn’t have much time to prepare, and I was extremely relieved when I found your website- it helped me a lot for the reading comprehension (matching headings and T/F/NG questions, which can be tricky). 2-3 days before the exam I bought your lectures on writing and I can only recomment them to anyone taking the IELTS! You explain everything very well and in such a way, as to make things simple and easy to remember. Thank you a lot!
PS I had suddenly such a bad headache after the listening and reading comprehension that it was really hard to concentrate on writing (brainstorming ideas) and speaking (I happened to be in the very fist group, right after the written part). It was annoying not beeing allowed to take a purse, or a chocolate bar, or pills into to exam room. And one doesn’t have time for a break, does one?
Great score – well done 🙂 I’m so pleased you wrote the conclusion in task 2 – there’s a severe penalty for missing it. Thanks for sharing your tips 🙂 I wouldn’t really advise having the speaking test on the same day as your other tests – you need time to rest. But having no break is even worse. Given the conditions, your score was brilliant !! Glad my lessons were useful 🙂
Hello Liz
My test results are as follows:
Listening : 8
Reading : 8.5
Writing : 8
Speaking : 7.5
Overall Band : 8
I would like to thank you for your hardwork you have done in making this website so resourceful.
Well done 🙂
Hi!! Liz
I am utterly devastated with my IELTS scores. This was my Fourth attempt and my scores are
L-8
R-7.5
W-7
S-6.5
My speaking test went well and I answered all the questions including Cue Card appropriately. Just in one or two questions, I asked the examiner to repeat the question.
Do you think this could be a reason to score less. In my last two attempts i got 7.5 in speaking section.
Should I consider re-mark for my speaking section.
Please reply.
What questions on the cue card? There are NO questions on the cue card at all. There are prompts which you do not need to complete and you don’t even need to use them. Certainly you can consider a remark. But if you need to take the test again, you will have to review your understanding and aims of the whole speaking test.
Thanks for replying back Liz. What I meant was that in Part-1 round of questions I asked examiner to repeat the questions twice as I didn’t understand them properly. She was actually not louder. Is that the reason I got less marks? I had already applied for remark. Please wish me luck to hit band 7 in speaking.
Waiting for Revaluation results
There is no reduction in marks for asking the examiner to repeat the question. Understanding is not a marking criteria. In fact, it is a good say to gain thinking time and it is recommended to do this from time to time in the test. Your score is based only on the range of English and accuracy that you produced in speaking – nothing else affects your score.
Hi! I took the IELTS test last 25th of August (with only three days to prepare) in order to fulfill the conditions of my postgraduate studies offer in Counselling Psychology. Here are my scores:
Listening: 9
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 8
Speaking: 8.5
Overall: 8.5
I found myself going quickly through all the tips and tools from your site with the three days I had to prepare. By the way, I am currently a stay at home mother to two young ones—needles to say, it had not been easy finding the time to review!
Very well done 🙂 It’s an impressive score with such limited prep time 🙂 I’m sure your results will inspire other stay at home mothers.
Saw my score today
Listening : 8.5
Reading : 7.5
Writing : 7.5
Speaking : 7
——————-
Over All : 7.5
Not a great score, but Thanks a lot Liz for the video’s. I did subscribe to your paid content and it paid off. Excellent explanation and easy to follow.
Don’t be disappointed – it’s a strong score 🙂
Dear Liz,
I took my IELTS exam on 18.08.2018 in Cracow, Poland. I’ve obtained my master’s degrees both in law and philosophy and I’m preparing for PhD studies in these fields.
My results are as follows:
L: 8.5
R: 9.0
W: 6.5
S: 7.5
Overall: 8.0
The fun fact is that in the real world I write a lot of texts in English, including scientific articles and I am quite good at it, while at the same time I’m not able to understand any English movie without subtitles and in general I have no contact with spoken English (and I haven’t spoken English myself for ages). Still, I got 8,5 in listening and 6,5 in writing, which makes me think that the listening is the easiest part of the test in comparision to the real world situations, while the writing demands quite specific skills and is more about a proper technique than everyday abilities (even in the academic environment).
Anyway, it took my about 6 weeks of quite intensive work to prepare to IELTS and I assume I would get Overall band 7, sitting the test with no preparation. The reading seems to me the only part which can be done with no specific training, but maybe it depends on an individual. I want to thank you for the immense effort you put in this site and wish you all the best in the world!!! Both the real and the IELTS one 😉
Very well done 🙂 And all the best to you too 🙂
Hi Liz
L 8.0
R 9.0
W 7.0
S 8.5
Band 8.0
I have written ielts a number of times and kept getting nothing more than band 7.5. I was introduced to your website by someone I met when I went to pick up my test result. I started following you and read all your tips and in less than a month, I got this result. I am a physiotherapist from Nigeria. Thank you for changing my life. God bless you Liz.
I’m pleased you found my website. Well done with your results 🙂
I appeared in IELTS exam(GT) on July28th, 2018 and used your website extensively for preparation. Here is my result:
Listening: 9
Reading: 7
Writing: 7
Speaking: 7
Overall band: 7.5
Thanks for your free resources! 🙂
Well done 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession.
Hi Liz,
My exam was on the 18th of August.
My scores:
L – 8.5
R – 8
W – 6.5
S – 8
Your website was more than helpful for the 4 skills, it was particularly helpful for writing. I’m quite dissatisfied with my writing score. I already applied for a remark last friday.
The question for Task 2 was, *Some people think that all employees should wear uniform. Do you agree or disagree?”
My introduction was exactly the way I had learnt it on your website, a paraphrased background statement and my thesis statement in which I agreed.
First body paragraph, my main point was that wearing uniform portrayed professionalism and credibilty. Gave examples of airplane crew and the likes.
Second body paragraph, main point was equality among employees and the promotion of team work/spirit when everyone wears the same uniform.
Third body paragraph, main point was that more money will be saved when have uniform. They’d spend less on office clothes, stated further that it will be an added advantage for low income earners particularly does without wardrobe allowance.
I gave my conclusion reiterating my ‘support’ for wearing uniforms.
I made sure to flesh out my body paragraphs with relevant supporting points and examples, and I definitely wrote more than 250 words for Task 2 and more than 150 for Task 1
I also used the little time left to read through both Tasks to correct any errors I might have made. The only thing that might seem an error was that I ended my Task 1 with “Yours sincerely” instead of “Yours faithfully”. Task 1 was a formal letter that began with “Dear Sir”. Buh I dont think this slight error could be so significant to warrant such mark.
I was surprised at the mark, I gave more time to practising writing, and I wrote at least 2 essays a day for about 2 weeks. I was even very confident of a good band score after writing the exam.
I’m awaiting a feedback on the remark. I really hope it’s favourable as I need band score of 7 at least.
What do you think my chances are please?
Do you think I’d get a higher band score, even if it’s just higher by .5?
I’d appreciate your response.
Thank you once again for all the lessons and tips.
God bless.
Well done with your listening, reading and speaking score. About your writing score. You did miss one critical word in the essay question – “all”. This means that directors, managers and vice president as well as cleaners and other staff of a company must all wear uniforms. You didn’t really tackle that aspect of the question. Most uniforms are for people in a certain position and in a particular type company, such as an airline. Anyway, sometimes it’s worth trying for a remark to see if it changes anything. Good luck!
Hi Liz! I got a feedback from the remark of my writing score! My score was upgraded to 7! I’m so happy. Thank you for pointing out the possible errors I made. 7’s the minimum score I needed.
Brilliant news!! Happy news 🙂 Well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I got my my results yesterday and it was as follows :
Module : GT Date 18/08/2018 Overall : 8.5
Speaking : 8.5
Listening : 9
Reading : 9
Writing : 7
I do not know in the world, on how to thank you for the most comprehensive blog on IELTS which I have ever come across. I desperately needed a score of 8 for Listening and three 7s for the rest, for my requirement, and I gave it all to achieve it hook or by crook ! Lol !!!
I was so lucky to come across your blog which I clicked on a YouTube link accidentally. The way you teach and deliver the lectures, reminds me of my Grade 1 class teacher at school, who I adore the most to this date and is one of the best teachers I have ever come across, and you are right up there. Kudos ! 😀
By going through your blog, and browsing the rich content, it is a vivid display of your pure passion for teaching and helping out people to reach their desired IELTS results. Hats off for the effort you’ve put into it and this has definitely raised the bar for certain institutions who conduct IELTS courses for purely commercial purposes.
I also, would like to share some tips and techniques that I used which helped me out and hope it will be useful for others as well 😀
Speaking –
Part 1 : – Qs about my job, travelling outdoor, the impact of travelling overseas on your life experience
Part 2 : – Talk about technology that you use and which you think is useful discovery. I spoke about Wi-Fi technology.
Part 3 :- How have laptops become useful to people? Do you think we have become slaves of technology?
Tips/Tactics that I used –
1. The most hardest and most famous tip for any exam is to RELAX. Trust me it’s easy to say but hard to execute it. So Practice it !!!
2. Go through the speaking topics of Cambridge IELTS books, especially for Part 2. Speaking for two minutes can be hard regardless how fluent you are in English.
3. I did a couple of run-throughs the day before.
Listening –
Tips/Tactics that I used :
1. MCQs – This is a devil ! If a person doesn’t get MCQs which is very rare and is extremely lucky! I got a MCQ in section 3. Underline the keywords in the question and in answers, and form short sentences in your head, because you can’t read the entire sentence while listening. Practice MCQs as much as possible !
2. Maps – Watch out ! Practice this section as well since it can be very tricky! Luckily I didn’t get a question on this.
3. At the Start – When the instructions were given to turn over to section 1, what I did was I straight away went to Section 4, and quickly spot the blanks which should be filled, underlined keywords, circled the verbs (watch out for synonyms) and double underlined the instructions, since the time given to go through the questions in Section 4 is extremely short as compared to Section 1. So it took me around 3-4 sample tests to figure it and try this tactic out since my scores were low in the latter sections. and it worked ! So I started with section 4, 3, 2 (even when the sample answer of the recording was played) and quickly switched to section 1 when the sample recording was about to end! But I advice to do this only if you have plenty of practice and confidence. I did more than 10 listening exams papers.
4. Do not mess up Section 1, it’s easy peasy lemon squeezy !
5. Guessing and common sense – If you missed an answer or is not sure which one is correct of two possible answers, just guess it or use logical thinking, and mostly the first answer you guess can be the correct one and not the second option (this of course depends on the question and test taker!!!). Best example that happened me was at the actual exam, I was swaying to and fro between two possible answers in a table completion question and the last minute I used my common sense and read out the next sentence after the question, which the answer should be filled, just to check whether it sounds right. it was a gamble , but it’s worth it !
5. Transferring answers – Be super careful ! I messed up twice in two practice tests! which I wrote the correct answers in the wrong question columns. Very Silly ! and once in the actual exam, but luckily I managed to correct it. This is very tricky, particularly in, flow charts and table completion questions !. So do not rush in the 10 minutes , use at least 6 minutes to check and transfer the answers accurately and legibly. Speak to yourself softly and read out the question number and the answer when you write on the answer sheet, it helps you to be in your zone and do not worry if others spot you as a weirdo. Let them, because you are here to nail the exam!
Reading –
Tips/Tactics that I used :
1. The usual tips on scanning and skimming.
2. Underlining the instructions
3. Reading the questions first and then go to passage to hunt for answers..
4. Ticking completed questions – I always ticked the completed questions on the paper since, you might accidentally refer to an answer for a question which you have already completed since your answers are written in a different sheet, unlike the Listening test. So this will be a big cost on your time !. Always keep on ticking !
5. Watch out for T/F/NG , Y/N/NG and Matching Headings – I personally
found these questions hard so I invested time and practiced it alot ! Stop praying and hoping that these question would not be in the exam, and practice the technique of conquering it.
6. I was very weak on the reading section so I had to do a lot of work, so practice is the key!
Writing –
Qs –
Task 1 – Formal letter to sports club manager reporting on a problem in the washrooms. (a. State what the problem is. b. State that you have already lodged a complain before and tell what happened. c. What would you want the management to do?)
Task 2 – To what extent do you agree that every employee should wear a uniform at their workplace?
This was the area which I was really scared of, since I did not have enough of time to proof read a single word!, and I was disappointed. I also got to know that the answer scripts are scanned and are sent to the the UK for marking, pulling my confidence level to ground zero. Luckily the result for writing was on the dot. Phew!
When the invigilator, collected Task 2, the answer sheet for Task 1 was right in front
of me and saw a couple of silly grammatical errors in some sentences. So time management is key !
Try not to write too much since it will eat up on your time to re-check your work.Moreover, the marking guides/schemes have got tougher in this section. So it good advice to have it checked by an examiner and always time your work. Practice on a sample answer sheet is very important since it will give you the idea of how much you need to write to fulfill the word requirement.
Having said, I am pretty sure there are plenty of errors in this post as well . Hahaha!!! So corrections are welcome 😀
Overall Tips/ Tactics :
1. Do not take IELTS for granted. It is not the school English language paper. Regardless how good you think your English is you are more likely to fall short. Trust me! I almost fell short when I took the academic module 9 years ago.
2. Invest time on making your own notes and try out different approaches.
3. Go through YouTube videos, but selectively choose which ones are best to follow.
4. Practice sample tests – Do not just stick to IELTS Cambridge 9. I did more than 10 sample tests before the exam including the online materials, IELTS Cam. 9, 10 and 11. I didn’t want to risk it. Practice, Practice Practice
5. Do not listen to people who would say that IELTS is a breeze, because it’s not but it is achievable provided you have the right attitude.
6. Time all your practice test using a digital clock. In my exam, they used a digital clock and not an analog. For me the later was easy to check on how many time I left than subtracting the time, so practice using a digital clock. I hope this isn’t a silly tip !
7. Try to do most of the practice tests at the same time as the actual test start. For example, if the actual exam is at 1.00 pm, train yourself to do an exam that start at 1.00 pm, because for me concentration levels depends on the day of the time, especially after a heavy lunch lol!! Condition yourself to the test !!!
8. Meditate – helps you focus on your work. It helped me.
9. RELAX the day before the exam. Don’t stress on doing practice tests. Just watch a movie or something !!!
I hope my post will be of great help!! GOOD LUCK FOR ALL !!!
and Liz, THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN !!!
I hope to do the academic module as well , and until then
Take care and Keep up the wonderful work 😀 ,
Eranga
Very well done indeed – you certainly got well over the score you needed 🙂 I’m so pleased you found my lessons useful 🙂 You’ve got very down to earth tips which show how well you understood the test and were prepared for it. I think people can learn a lot from your experience and your understanding. Thanks for taking the time to help others. Please let me know if you would like these tips published on your own page where more people will be able to read them – here is an example: https://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-speaking/. Well done again – great job 🙂
Hi, thank you for sharing my post Liz, and yes absolutely! Whichever works well to help others 👍🏽
Hi Liz ,
Thank you so much for all the information that you have given through your website . I appeared for the IELTS (GT) Exam on 18th August and following is my score :
Listening : 8.5
Reading : 9
Speaking : 8
Writing : 7.5
Overall : 8.5
This was my first attempt and I followed all the tips from your site. Thank you , your posts are very helpful.
Band 8.5 overall is excellent – well done 🙂
Hello Liz,
I just received my IELTS result yesterday. My scores are as follows:
Listening – 9.0
Reading – 7.5
Speaking – 7.5
Writing – 7.0
Overall – 8.0
As far as my preparation is concerned it took me around 45 days to fully prepare myself ..For the first 15-20 days I got myself acquainted with all the question types and format of paper for different sections. I just followed your website for Listening, Reading , Speaking and Writing. For the last 30 days, I practiced Listening & Reading test daily everyday in the morning, and in the evening I wrote one letter and an essay daily on official writing sheets. This continous practice enabled me to overcome my weaknesses
Well done getting over all band 8 !! 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession 🙂
Hello Liz,
I hope that your health is under control and is improving. I truly pray to the Almighty for your physical well being.
Liz, you are doing an amazing job and your website has all the content that is required by an amateur as well as those appearing again for improvement of band scores in IELTS.
I have been following your website for long and had appeared for the test number of times. I was always scoring above 8 in Listening and Reading but my Writing or Speaking were letting me down by 0.5 points to remain at 6.5
I appeared for the test again on August 18th and am glad to inform that this time my scores are
Listening 8.5
Reading 9.0
Speaking 7.5
Writing 7.5
Overall 8.0
The patience and perseverance has paid off at last 😊
I would like to share my tips here –
In Listening, one needs to practice a bit to understand what to expect in test and look for key words/synonyms when looking for an answer.
Reading needs practice and understanding, for T/F/NG go by what is mentioned in text rather than your instinct, for Matching headlines the answer is always in first one or two sentences or the last one. Key over here is also to look for synonyms.
In Speaking, practice as many topics as you can from this website, speak with confidence. One can stumble a bit under pressure but that is known and consideration given by the examiner as well. From anecdotal experience, I was trying to impress the examiner too much because I wasn’t getting the required band which was my mistake and I went back to easy and simple language, used complex sentences and difficult words for one or two answers to show range but not from Part 1 itself which I believe was letting me down with more grammatical errors or hindering my fluency by thinking about difficult words.
Writing needs knowing the art for IELTS which is very well explained by Liz in website as well as the videos. First and foremost, responding to all pointers is significant in both letter and essays. Please don’t go beyond topic, that counts for a negative. Paraphrasing in introduction , number of paragraphs, each paragraph should present clear views, usage of linking words etc are also very important.
I hope my above tips will be beneficial for all.
Liz, again, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank you for this wonderful work you are doing and wish you stay healthy and keep on helping all who wish to appear and do well in IELTS.
Cheers
Very well done – a great score!! I’m impressed with how you have improved. You are spot on with the speaking test – don’t over think the vocabulary – go with the flow and be more natural. Glad my lessons helped with your writing 🙂 Thanks for sharing your tips – they will certain benefit others 🙂 Thanks also for your wishes for my health – I’m improving slowly – very slowly – I’m learning a lot of patience 🙂
Dear Liz, what happens to you? Good to hear that you are improving, albeit slowly. I have to take the IELTS this coming weekend. Too busy to really prepare for it this time. But I will surely try to enjoy the experience, my first IELTS.
I have already purchased 2 of your writing videos. I will buy the last one to support your and your fantastic web site!
That’s kind – thanks 🙂 Good luck this weekend. Review the “On the day” tips: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-exam-tips-on-the-day/
Dear Liz,
I am a medical student and I took the IELTS on the 18th of August 2018 and I used your website to prepare for it. I am really grateful for your tips, especially for the advanced writing videos – they helped me to achieve the score I needed!
My overall band is 8.5
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 9.0
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 8.0
Thank you so much for providing these helpful tipps, your page made my preparation much easier and it was a great source of motivation! Thank you!
Great score – well done 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession.
Hi Liz,
I would like to say thank you very much, Liz, for all of your tips, content and advanced lessons. They were a great help to me.
I am IT professional working in Canada. I gave my IELTS test in Toronto, Ontario.
My test results:- Overall band score: 8
Listening: 8.5
Reading:8.5
Writing:7
Speaking:7.5
I was so nervous in the test that I only wrote the introduction in first 25 minutes of my writing exam, I finished writing in the last minute. I didn’t get the chance to proofread the writing exam. However, I still got the satisfying result. Once again, thank you for all of your efforts and I pray for your better health.
Well done with your results 🙂 Glad my Advanced lessons helped 🙂 I’m really impressed with your writing score given the time management problem – a great achievement 🙂
Hi Liz
I appeared for IELTS general training test on 18th August 2018 in India. I am accountant by profession.
Thank you so much for wonderfully organized content on the website. I have prepared for my test from your website and it was immensely helpful. Below are my scores:-
Listening : 8.5
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7
Speaking: 7
Thanks a ton for putting up this great website.
Well done with your results 🙂
I took my first IELTS exam on 19/07/2018 and got :
L=7, R=9, W=7, S=7 (overall 7.5)
I was too nervous that I missed countless words and information in listening and also misunderstood the questions of writing part 2.
Then I sat the exam again on 18/08/2018 and got :
L=8.5, R=9, W=7.5, S=7.5 (overall 8)
Besides watching Liz’s videos about writing part 2 and making it clear how to organize the ideas in writing part 1, I did nothing more to prepare for the second exam.
Many many thanks for Liz’s videos and various kinds of useful materials! Also I would like to point out that it is important to stay calm when taking exams. If you find it really difficult to calm down like me, you can trying registering for more than one exam. Then you will feel less pressured each time and are able to show your real language proficiency 🙂 And time permitted, please spend time practicing the speed of writing. I have to admit that I didn’t manage to finish two passages until the last few seconds in both exams…
Well done with increasing your score 🙂
Hello Liz,
Thank u for all the tips for IELTS on your website. I appeared for the IELTS ( GT) Exam on 18th August and used the information given by you on your website. My score area as follows :
Listening : 8.5
Reading : 9
Speaking : 8.0
Writing : 7.5
Overall Band : 8.5
Thank you for all the tips , it was very helpful.
Very well done 🙂 Glad my website was useful 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession.
hi liz,
Thanks a ton for the tips given.
i scored listening 9,reading 8, speaking 7.5 writing 7….
Well done 🙂
Dearest Liz,
I am Gargié, age 23. I am a Doctor by profession.
I would really like to thank you for your excellent tips and training material.
My score is: Reading 8.5
Listening: 8.5
Writing: 8
Speaking: 8.5
I literally studied for just 3 days owing to my busy schedule and I am truly grateful to you for helping us all!
To get that result in just three days is excellent – well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
Thank you for all the practice material and tips available on your website, it was extremely useful. Following are my score details:
Overall Score: 8 (8.5, 7.5, 7.5, 9 for Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking respectively)
Exam Date: August 18th 2018
Writing:
1. Letter to the hotel manager complimenting one of his staff members for something good he/she did for you during the stay
2. Role of sports in unifying and separating the people based on their nationalities and races, discuss both views and express your opinion
Speaking:
1. General Introduction
2. One topic in my life on which I changed my decision
Thanks again for the videos and tips, it helped me tremendously in honing my English skills thus leading to better score overall.
Best regards,
Divya
Great speaking score !! Very well done 🙂
Hi liz, thank you so much for all the great lessons i finally somehow achieved my targeted score.
Listening-8.5
Speaking-8
Reading-7
Writing-6.5
Overall band 7.5
I followed your indicated steps thoroughly but unfortunately i missed a point in part1 writing and by then i had time shortage. Writing score is not what I aimed for but still it’s acceptable by the governing body. Thank you so much once again. You are an extremely humble person. Loads of love
If your score is enough for your next step – it’s all great news 🙂
Hello Liz,
I finally got my desired score.I had my first attempt july 28th and got L8 R 9 S7 W6 and i was frustrated.However,i came to your website,watched all the videos including the paid videos within a week and did IELTS agian on august 18.My result came out today and i had L8.5 R 8.5 S7.5 W 7.5.
Thank you Liz
Well done increasing your score – good job 🙂 Glad my lessons helped 🙂
Hi Liz,
I’m a Project Management Professional and sat for IELTS GT exam on 18 August, 2018 in Nigeria.
I just received my results (with an overall band of 7.5) and they’re as follows:
a. Listening: 8.0
b. Reading: 7.5
c. Speaking: 7.5
d. Writing: 7.0
My heart is filled with joy as I got the minimum scores needed for each test. Thank you Liz! Your blog was very helpful during my preparation for the exam. Again, thank you very much Liz and keep up the great work!
I’m so pleased for you 🙂 Well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I appeared for IELTS GT exam on 18th Aug, 18 . I am quite disappointed by Listening score. I need some tips how to improve my score as I am aiming for 8. However, I am nervous to appear again for the second attempt.
Here is my result:
Listening – 7.5
Reading – 8
Writing- 7
Speaking – 7.5
Overall Band – 7.5
I extensively used your website for writing resources for the exams as I was unsure about my writing skills .
Thanks for this wonderful website and I need some tips for the second attempt.
Well done with your results 🙂
Hi Liz,
I appeared for the exam on 18th August and got the result today.
Overall : 8
L:8.5
R:9.0
W:7.0
S:8.0
This was my second attempt at IELTS for gaining marks in writing from 6.5 to more than 7. Although I scored 7 this time but I believe I could have done better if I hadn’t been a victim to the silly mistakes I did which j realized later after coming home from the venue.
But thanks a lot for your videos and inspiring talks that helped me score well overall.
Thanks a lot, Liz.
Keep up the good work.
I’m so pleased you hit band 7 in writing 🙂 Well done 🙂 Don’t forget to let me know your profession.
Scored 9.0 in reading & listening!!
Hi Liz,
Thank you so much for your website and videos. I scored 8.5 overall with a 9.0 in listening and reading (General Module)
Listening: 9.0
Reading: 9.0
Writing: 7.0
Speaking: 8.0
Very well done with your listening and reading 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession.
Hi Liz,
Thanks for the great materials you are sharing here to support IELTs students. I have taken massive advantages of it and here are my band scores. I sat for the exam on 2nd August and got my results exactly 2 weeks after. I have posted results once here, but seems it was not approves or not displayed. I am a Software Engineer.
Listening- 9
Reading – 8.5
Speaking – 7
Writing – 7
Overall – 8
I was aiming for 8 band in each and have to take the exam again. For the speaking I found out that I use “so” unnecessarily many times and did mis-pronounce few words. That must have lead to the score 7. As for writing, I actually cannot think why I did not got 8 band…anyhow I will practice more and more. I would me much thankful for any help/tips you could provide to increase my band from 7 to 8.
thanks and regards,
Sathya
Very well done with your score 🙂 I think you are not clear on the aims of the speaking test and the writing test. For example, it is completely natural to repeat a word such as “so” many times in speaking. The speaking test is informal and it is a natural way to speak. Many native speakers use the word “well” again and again – it’s fine. So, your band 7 score is not due to that. The score for pronunciation is based on your overall performance which means that the odd mistake has no impact on your score. Again, this tells me you are not focusing on the right things in speaking. For writing, my suggestion is to get my Advanced writing task 2 lessons – you will soon learn what you are doing right and what you need to change: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/
Hello Liz,
I just wanted to say thank you for the incredible website, I had only 3 days to prepare and I was really stressing out!. Thankfully, I was able to score very well on my IELTS exam, and got what I needed for my application.
Speaking: 8
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7
Listening: 8.5
Overall band: 8
Great score – well done 🙂
Hello Liz,
My scores are as follows:
Listening: 9
Reading: 9
Writing: 8.5
Speaking: 8.5
Thank you for all the tips and tricks for the exam. It did really help.
-Sheekha Singh
That’s fantastic!!! Band Score 9 !! Very well done indeed 🙂 I hope you have celebrated your success 🙂
I did! 🙂 I had never expected Band 9, but having a target does help.
-Sheekha
Hi Sheekha
well done your band score 9 👍
would you mind if you share as your tips that need to follow?
thanks
Hi Liz,
I took my IELTS General Training test on 8/2. My score is as follows:
Listening – 9
Reading – 7.5
Writing – 7.5
Speaking – 8.5
Overall – 8
I referred to your website many a times for my preparation and watched almost all your videos.
Great content you have there!
Some tips from my experience:
– In Writing module task 1, do not spend more than 20 mins. I spent 25 and found myself struggling to complete task 2.
– Do give yourself 5 mins for spell check in Writing task 2. I know I lost at least half a band since I did not leave enough time for it.
– For the speaking module, be confident and speak naturally. I have seen many 8 or 9 band videos on youtube using prepared answers and not so common vocabulary. Native speakers don’t speak like that and that is not what the examiner is looking for. Fluent and natural sounding answers will get you a better score than practised complex ones.
– Listening is all about attention. You lose focus for a second and you lose a band.
– T/F/NG and Y/N/NG can be a bit tricky in Reading. I never got 8.5 in my practice exams but goofed up on the actual one. PRACTICE.
Very well done your results 🙂 You’ve certainly grasped IELTS techniques well – thanks for sharing your tips 🙂
Hello Liz,
My name is Maggie and I took IELTS exam on August 2nd for immigration purposes. However, I received my score which I believe is obviously wrong: I got listening 8.5; reading 9; writing 5.5; speaking 8.5 and overall 8.0.
I believe it’s simply impossible to get 5.5 for my writing because English is my second first language and I’m an ESL teacher myself. I believe I wrote more than enough words on both tasks and clearly stated my points. I took IELTS last August and got listening 8.5; reading 8.0; writing 7.5; speaking 8.5 and overall 8.0.
My question is that should I have my score remarked? I read somewhere if one of your other skills is two whole bands higher, you will get an automatic remark in your local test centre. This means that an examiner and a senior examiner have already assessed your test and it is unlikely that a third examiner will have a different opinion… Do you know if this is true? I’m in the middle of immigrating to Australia and really don’t want to spend the extra $200 remark fee if I can avoid it.
Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Maggie
Your writing test will already have been marked by two examiners separately and they both agreed on band 5.5. You could have prefect English and have great essay writing skills and still not get a good score in IELTS writing. This is because there are very specific requirements for IELTS writing and you need to learn them. You posted this comment with an email address. Is that the correct email for you? I will email you an offer of free consultation on your writing if you confirm your email.
Hello Liz,
My results are out. I scored
Listening 8.5
Reading 9
Speaking 7
Writing 7
Thanks alot to you. Your videos, tils, tricks helped me a lot. Especially, the advanced ielts writing videos helped me get 7. I was stuck in 6.5 and finally cleared it. You are an awesome lady!!
Well done with your results 🙂 I’m so pleased my Advanced lessons helped push your writing score up to band 7 – that’s great 🙂
Hi Liz!
I had frequently visited your site for tips and tricks for my IELTS exam. I took the IELTS UKVI Academic Module on 28 July 2018 here in Manila Philippines via IDP and here are my scores:
Listening 8.5
Reading 8.0
Writing 7.5
Speaking 7.5
Overall Band 8.0
I am a licensed nurse working in a national university hospital here in Manila. Evidently, as a frequent visitor to your site, it has greatly helped me get good scores from the test. Thank you so much for your passion in helping others achieve the scores they need. Keep it up! I had limited time to prepare for the exam though, about 5days before the exam, i finally had the will to schedule for the exam. And voila, with your help, thank youuuuu!!!! I hoped for better scores, but this shall suffice.
Well done with your results!! As long as you hit the score you need for your future, it’s a success 🙂 i’m glad my website was useful to you 🙂
Hi Liz,
My IELTS exam (GT) was on 28th July 2018. I am a software engineer.
My result is as follows;
L :9
R:8.5
W:7
S:7
Overall band : 8
The tips provided on your website helped me a lot. Thank you so much. 🙂
That’s a great score – very well done 🙂 Glad my lessons were helpful 🙂
Hi Liz,
A big thanks to you for your tips on this site about IELTS all sections. I have been a regular follower of your site since last ten months and finally I have achieved my desired score after so many attempts. I was failing in writing and speaking for clb9.
Date of test: 28/7/2018(GT)- British Council
RESULT:
Listening 9
Reading 8.5
Writing 7
Speaking 8
Overall band: 8
I am Assistant Professor in Mathematics, from Noida (India).
I must say that I have followed your pattern of essay writing in my exams as well as in my preparation. This time also I got discuss both sides and give your opinion and I followed the same structure as yours.
It is like an achievement for me to get this score as I was stucked atLRWS-8,8.5,6.5,7 always. My first score in IELTS was L8,R6,W6.5,S6.5. But your site helped me all. To be honest, I have searched through so many websites on Google ,but I found http://www.ieltsliz.com as the best one. I recommend this site strongly to everyone who is preparing for IELTS. I have read each and every page of your site for my preparation.
Thank you so much Liz. God bless you always.
Very well done with your results 🙂 I’m glad you found my site and could benefit from it 🙂
Hi Liz,
I got my result on 8/10/2018, IELTS centre – Indianapolis, US
L-9
R-9
W-7.5
S-8.5
I work as Quality Manager in Manufacturing company.
This was my first attempt. I watched most of your videos on developing testing skills.
I gave 5-6 practice test available online but never scored more than 7 in listening and 7.5 in reading, so this result was definitely above my expectations.
Your videos in different type of questions really helped me.
Thank you
Glad you scored above your expectations – well done 🙂
Hello Liz!
I got my IELTS – General results yesterday and here they are: L = 8.5, R = 8.5, S = 7.5 and W = 7 with an overall of 8. I owe a lot to your videos and this website! I work as an External auditor.
Again thank you!
Well done 🙂 Glad my website was useful 🙂
Hello Liz, I just want to thank you for your free materials and advanced writing lessons. My result came out on 10/08/2018 and I got the scores I need. It is rare to find a person like you who is generous and helpful. May God bless you with unshakable health.
L:8.5
R:8.5
W:7
S:7
overall=8
I am a petroleum engineer.
That’s a great score – well done to you 🙂 Thanks for your support 🙂
I have given my exam here in the USA On Jul 28. I have a 1-year-old kid so it was quite difficult to concentrate, and I git my score today, and also am not fully satisfied as it doesn’t fulfill the eligibility criteria for me to study abroad. Liz please give me some tips to score more next test which I have booked for sept08.
my score is as follows-
L-7.5
W-7
R-7
S-6.5-
overall score-7
In speaking I PRONOUNCE A WORD WRONG AND REPEAT ONE IDEA IN CUE CARD. as far as I remember, which must go wrong.
how I can improve my speaking, am really worried and wants to get improved band this time.
See this page for all my IELTS speaking free tips and model answers. Take your time to read through the model answers and assess the content of both vocab and grammar: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-speaking-free-lessons-essential-tips/
Hello Liz,
My wife is a procurement officer; she just checked her results and she got 9 in listening, 9 in reading, 7.5 in writing, and 8 in speaking; overall band 8.5.
Thank you Liz for your tips and help. I hope to do well too when I take my test soon.
Well done to your wife – a great score 🙂 And good luck to you 🙂
Hello Liz,
I received my score today for the General Exam on 07/28. This is the third time i appeared for the exam. I needed a 7 in writing and in my previous 2 attempts i had gotten a 6.5 in writing. All other aspects of the test were always good for me.
My experience:
In the first attempt I had an impression that i just had to get a decent score in IELTS and that there was no threshold. I was overconfident about my English skills and thought i could easily score good points. Hence, i only prepared for around 10 hours total with no practice in writing. When i finished my exam i was super confident that i would get over 8 bands in all 4 sections. I had 7-8 paragraphs in my task 2 with word count of approx. 600. I had no clue on the format of writing since i assumed it needed to be addressed in a generic manner with a good flow.However, i was surprised when i received my score. It was R:8.5 L:9 S:8.5 W:6.5. I was embarrassed with my writing score and even asked for the remarking of the score. There was no change in the score. Moreover, i realized that i had to get a 7 or more in all the sections and 7.5 in listening to get qualified for Canadian immigration.
In the Second attempt: I practiced for 2-3 days in writing and no practice for other sections. This time i was very cautious for the exam. Although i had scored well for other sections i was still a bit nervous, because one lack of judgement can ruin your score. I followed a few video tutorials on Youtube for writing practice. To add to the lack of practice i got sick just a day before my exam. Since it was too late to cancel i decided to appear for my exam. In the writing section i was not confident in the manner i answered the tasks. I thought i was short on words for Task 1 and for Task 2 (whether stay at home mothers should be paid by govt. or not, Agree or disagree) I was not confident on the counter argument. My results for that exam asserted my fears and i Got L:8.5 R:9 S:8 W:6.5. Again, i was short by .5 points in Writing.
For the third attempt i started preparing early. I did no prep for any other sections. Just writing. I started writing 1-2 essays a day and reviewing all your videos on writing, especially task 2. I didn’t do much practice for task 1 until the last night. This time i was more scared than confident. My listening and reading sections were fine and for writing i decided to do Task 2 first (Reviewing online, agree disagree). I was happy with my intro and arguments, however, i knew my conclusion was not strong. For the letter (garbage/dirty streets) i spent around 15 min. I was happy with my response. This time i made sure i had 5 min. to review my mistakes, since, i had noticed earlier that in the process of writing fast i tend to make simple spell errors, punctuation errors ( i mark a period sign, but its not dark enough). To be honest i was still not confident on my writing and was constantly thinking about it. Finally, i received my scores today and i got L:9 R:8.5 W:7 S:8.5. I think i must have scored 7 in task 1 and 7 in Task 2 to get me this score. Regardless, i was very relieved on getting this score.
In summary, for the folks who are fluent with English and use them regularly, please stress more on Writing. Practice no matter how confident you are because on exam day you may run out of time, words etc. You should also review the structure and format of the tasks.
Liz, i want to take this opportunity to thank you for all the videos you have provided. They were helpful and during my final attempt the only material i used to practice were your videos and website. Hope you feel better.
Hitesh
I’m so pleased you finally hit band 7 in writing. I know IELTS can be frustrating and exhausting at times but perseverance certainly paid off for you. Well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I got my results today, 10/08/18 and I did far above my expectations all thanks to God and you. I was very scared of writing because I always go blank on ideas whenever I see a topic but going through your blog gave me all the tips i needed. However ,i was too scared to even practice it but i was confident with the tips i got here and was ready to face my fears. My speaking too, I missed a question cos I didn’t hear the examiner well.
LRWS : 8.5, 8.5, 7, 8.
Module: GT
Occupation :Banking
Country: Nigeria.
Thank you so much and keep up with this great selfless work.
That’s a great result!! Now you can relax – it’s all over 🙂 Well done 🙂
Hi dear liz.Today(10/8/18) i got my ielts result.I am so thankful for your advanced writing lessons.Thank you so much for your great advice
IELTS ACCADEMIC
L 8
R 8.5
S 7
W 7
I am a nurse by profession and i m from india
You’ve got a strong score – very well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I was preparing IELTS for immigration purposes and my test was on 07/28/2018 in the United States. I got my result as follows:
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 7.5
Overall: 8.0
I am not getting enough words to thank you for all the useful material and tips you have shared on this page of yours. I really thank you from the core of my heart and am sending a tight virtual hug from here 🙂
I hope you get whatever you wish for in your life. Stay Blessed! <3
That’s a great score – well done 🙂 Hug received 🙂
Hi Liz,
I had appeared for IELTS on the 28th of July, currently working as a Quality Analyst with Altisource pvt ltd. and below are my results:
Listening: 9
Reading: 8
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 7
I followed your website for all tips and strategies and that helped me immensely.
Thanks a ton !!
Well done with your results 🙂
Hi liz
I am a software professional from india. My scores are
L 8
R 8.5
W 6.5
S 8
Over all 8
Do you think i should apply for remark. Please advise.
Well done with your results 🙂 Here are some things to consider before deciding on a remark for writing:
1. You need to have written over the word count in both task 1 and task 2
2. You must have written a clear overview in task 1 and a conclusion in task 2
3. You must be sure you didn’t fill your essay with sentences or phrases you memorised
Dear Liz,
Greetings of the day!
I just received my IELTS test scores – overall band score 8.5 (L – 8.5, R – 8.5, W – 7.5 and S – 8)
I really wish to express my gratitude to you. I had no idea about IELTS when I registered for the test on 24 June; however, your website proved to be such a huge help. I am genuinely pleased with my results and most of the credit goes to excellent teachers like you.
Much love and best wishes coming your way Liz.
I’m really pleased to see your scores – well done 🙂 Don’t forget to let me know your profession. Glad my website was useful 🙂
Sorry, there was a typo – speaking score was also 8.5. I am an HR professional and planning to pursue higher studies abroad. Honestly Liz, I can’t thank you enough. I wish I could meet you someday and thank you in person. You’re really helping so many people.
It’s my pleasure 🙂
Great job in speaking ! You deserve to be a HR professional 😄
Hi Liz,
Hope, you are absolutely well now and in pink of your health.
Snehal Patel – Involved in Chemical Manufacturing (B.E. – MECHANICAL)
I am honestly thankful to you for your WONDERFUL videos, tricks and techniques for IELTS preparation.
I appeared first time in IELTS – GENERAL MODULE & scored exceptionally well with blessings of Almighty, my parents, my tutors including you too.
I got overall 7.5 Bands and individually,
Listening: 7
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7
Speaking: 7
Thanks once again to you for your persistent guidance which is really invaluable at all.
Very well done with your results 🙂 Glad my lessons were useful 🙂
Thanks to you , Liz!!!!! These are my results
L-9
R-8
W-7
S-8
Overall band score-8
I may ask for a remark of my Writing. Overall, I think I did well.
Well done 🙂 If you feel you want to try a remark, it’s certainly possible with your scores.
I got my score today
Test Date: July 28, 2018
Center: Philadelphia, USA
General Training
Overall
8.0
Listening
8.5
Reading
9.0
Writing
7.0
Speaking
7.5
Thanks for your tips. They really helped me.
Listening:
It was a bit easy. Test center does not have headphones available. At first, I was a little worried. Luckily I was seated in the first row. Voice was loud and clear. My tip would be to get information about headphones from your test center. If they are not available, I strongly suggest practicing 2 or 3 using speakers, just to get used to it
1st section was a phone call conversation about customer requesting hotel details
2nd section, I don’t recollect
3rd section was about a 5K run sort of map with details about building locations
4rth one was about artists in medieval age and work produced along with its significance. Towards the end of this section, I knew I did one question wrong because my pencil nib broke a couple of times while answering previous questions and lost concentration
When in doubt I wrote 2 answers down. I finalized my answer in the last 10min
Reading:
This one was a bit for us. We all got lucky to not have to face so many T/F/NG.
There were only 4 in the 1st section.
1st section is about License tests and stages to get actual permit. I strictly followed Liz’s tips for T/F/NG.
2nd section was about looking for jobs I believe
3rd section I don’t remember
4rth section was about some excavation and prominent figures detailing his achievements. Like practice tests, the wording was tough. I read whole paragraphs to understand and answer better, although some people suggest skimming through them. Know which one suits you better with practice.
One more thing is I was looking at the clock after each section and at 35 min into this test, I finished 3 sections and filled answer sheet. I spent 15 min answering the last section and rechecking all sections for 5 min
Writing:
Letter to authorities on garbage left on the roads
Review ratings and opinions about products and services on the internet. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? State your opinion with examples that you faced and heard from (Something like that)
I spent 25 min on the 1st letter (should have spent 5 min less). Stupid pencil broke off many times. If you ask me, 20min for letter and 35-40min for the essay would be ideal.
Speaking:
I was not clear before stepping into the test room, what is an ideal way of speaking. I listened to 50 topics available on youtube for 2 min talk (should I say TED TALK :)). Speaker in those videos is Asian. His viewpoint is a little off from my thinking. Anyways, I gathered the sequence and pattern he follows.
On the day, I was asked to take a seat (I forgot to close the door and she asked me politely to close it behind me to which I apologized)
1st few questions were
Do you live in a house or apartment?
Which room is your favorite?
About rains? Which one do you prefer winter or dry?
and more 4 or 5
Cue card was about a place I would like to visit to enjoy the silence. Which place? Where did you hear this from? Why do you want to go there
Follow up questions
Do you think neighbors should keep sounds low in an apartment?
Do you think there should be laws to be followed while living in an apartment?
I froze for about 15-20sec in cue card session. I wrote down something on the piece of paper to construct wording as I speak. I honestly thought I have to repeat the test speaking.
My suggestion, go with your natural flow but remember some strong adjectives which might come handy during the session
Thanks, Liz to you and many platforms that exist to help with tips
Very well done with your results 🙂 Your tips are great 🙂 Keeping an eye on the clock for reading is great. Yes, a natural flow of speaking is essential in the Speaking test. You also highlighted one point which many forget – pencils can easily break – make sure you are ready for this, particularly if it is during your listening test!! Thanks for sharing your experience 🙂
Hi Liz,
I appeared for IELTS GT in San Francisco on July28th. Thanks a lot for your resources it was of great help. I am a software engineer by profession.
Listening 8.5
Reading 7.5
Speaking 7.5
Writing 8
Overall 8.
Great results – well done 🙂
Academic. British IDP qatar
Profession Nurse .
Hello got my results today
I wasn’t confident with my writing because my task 1 was maps but thankfully got my desired results
R-8 L-8 W-7 S7
I’m dissapointed with my speaking I felt i did well but anyways I only needed 7 and above
So I am very happy and relieved
Thaks for all your help. Really recommend this website! More power
That’s a strong score – well done 🙂 Don’t be disappointed with your speaking score – hitting band 7 is great 🙂
Hey Liz,
I got my IELTS result today and got a band of 7.5. I just cannot express how happy I am. This score has really boosted my confidence.
I am very thankful to you. Your videos have made IELTS journey very easy for me.
I’m pleased for you – well done 🙂 Glad my videos were helpful 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession.
Mam,thank you.
Hi Liz,
I am an IT profession. My IELTS -General Training exam was on 7th July , 2018.I followed all the tips you provided across the sections .My score :
L – 8.0
R – 8.0
W – 7.5
S – 7.5
Overall band score – 8.0
I found your website immensely helpful and user friendly.Thanks for providing such a great content.
Would definitely recommend this to all the IELTS aspirants out there !
Well done with your results 🙂 Thanks for recommending my site 🙂
Hi Liz,
I appeared in IELTS exam GT module on 7th July 2018. I am a Dentist and Oral Pathologist by profession and this was my first attempt at IELTS. I used your website extensively for my exam preparation and got desired result also. My result is;
L : 9
R : 9
W : 7
S : 7.5
Overall Band score : 8
Thanks for all the tips and suggestions. It was really very helpful.
That’s a great score – well done 🙂 I pleased my tips were useful 🙂
Hello Liz,
Your videos were extremely helpful, thank you!
This was my first attempt at IELTS (General Training) and my results are L9, R9, S8, W7. Overall band score is 8.5
I’m an architect.
Band 8.5 is excellent – very well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I recently appeared for IELTS (GT) on 7th Jul. This was my 5th attempt as I always faltered in Reading and Writing modules by scoring 6.5 in each. I am so glad to inform you my results that were out on 20th Jul.
L-9
R-8.5
W-7
S-7
I am bit disappointed with my Speaking result as I was very confident of scoring well in it. Nevertheless, I am very happy with the overall outcome and can not thank you enough for the various tips and tricks you have posted on your website. I had bookmarked it and applied the methods during my exam!
I read your health has deteriorated in the last few years. I pray to God for your speedy recovery so that you continue doing the fabulous work here. You are a wonderful teacher!
Best wishes,
Manoj Mishra
Well done with your results 🙂 I know IELTS can be frustrating, but your story shows that it is possible to hit the score you need if you approach IELTS in the right way. I’m glad you found my site. Your results also show your determination and ability to understand IELTS 🙂 Thanks for your wishes for my health – I’m keeping my fingers crossed this year 🙂
Hello Liz,
Thanks to you for such a helpful blog and the YouTube videos! This was my first IELTS general training attempt. I studied with the help of your videos and scored well. Thanks again! My score is-
Overall band- 8.0
Listening- 9.0
Reading -7.0
Speaking – 7.5
Writing- 8.0
Band 8 overall is a great score – well done 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession.
Hello liz
I am very much pleased to state that your website really helped me to achieve more than I wanted, specially in writing. I was getting 6.5 always. But now after watching your lessons and reading model answersi scored over all 8 in General Training.
Here is the score
L: 8.5 R 8.5 W 8 S 7
Once again thanks a lot. Many more can benefit from your website.
Balveer
That’s an impressive improvement – well done 🙂 It goes to show how important it is to understand more about the test 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession.
I am not working at the moment. I took test for immigration purpose.
You are such a saviour.
Thanks.
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your suggestions and this great website. I missed my desired score in writing first time, I took you advanced IELTS lessons and it helped me improve my writing score. My test date was 7/7
my score is
Listening 9
Reading 8
Writing 7.5
Speaking 8.5
Overall 8.5
Once again, thanks for your help!
Very well done 🙂 I’m so pleased my Advanced Lessons helped your writing score 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession.
I am a Network Architect by profession. I have one request/suggestion, can you make an advanced lesson for cause/effect or cause/solutions type of essay? Your advanced lessons covers all other type of essays except for this model, although it’s not hard to figure it out, but I think it may be more beneficial for others if you include a model essay.
I plan to make Advanced Lessons for all aspects of IELTS writing as well as speaking, listening and reading. The problem is that my health collapsed and for the last 2.5 years I’ve been too unwell to make videos. It’s really frustrating because I know how useful they are for you all. Hopefully I’ll see improvement in my health this year. As soon as I am feeling ok, I’ll start making videos again 🙂
I am sorry to hear that. I wish you a speedy recovery and good health.
Get well soon !!
Hi liz,
Thank you so much for the tips on your blog. My test results are as follows;
Overall – 8
L-9
R-8
W-8
S-7.5
This is all because of your blog.
Profession – Electronics Engineer.
For all the test takers i suggest you to all visit this amazing blog.
Thanks once again:)
That’s a really good score – well done 🙂
Hey Liz
My results have come and here are my scores:
Listening :9.0
Reading : 9.0
Speaking: 7.5
Writing : 9.0
Your advanced lessons were extremely helpful and the only way I improved from 7.5 to 9 is due to your lessons. I am so happy with my score as writing was something I wanted to improved.
Thank you once again.
I am a chemical engineer.
Regards Govind
Very well done getting band 9 in writing !!! I know you worked really hard to achieve that. If you take the test again, it will be time to learn more techniques for speaking 🙂 Anyway, be proud of your score 🙂
Hi Liz… Thanks for the wonderful site u’ve got. Was really resourceful to me. I’m a registered nurse, sat for the ielts academic module on 7/7/18
Overall 7
Listening 7.5
Reading 7.5
Writing 6
Speaking 7.
The scores might not be great but I achieved the desired results.
As long as you got the score you needed, it’s great! Well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
I want to thank you from bottom of my heart for creating such an amazing and free website with all the great tips and videos. I work full time and due to an unexpected project could not devote any time for preparation.
I literally studied couple of hours Monday through Thursday for my exam on Friday July 7th. With no prior experience or prep, I luckily came across your website as my first google search. I loved your style of teaching and decided to only followed your instructions.
Here are my results:
Speaking:8.5
Listening:8.5
Reading:8.5
Writing:7.5
Overall:8.5
I don’t know if it matters but I am not a native speaker but residing in USA for the last 5 years.
Once again, thank you for your time and efforts for creating this immensely helpful website.
Very well done with your results – it’s a great score 🙂 Glad you found my site 🙂 Don’t forget to share your profession.
Oh yes, I am a biomedical engineer working for a multinational company and helping our clients (hospitals) with their medical equipment needs.
Hi Liz,
Firstly, I would like to thank you for your help and hard work in teaching and spreading your knowledge.
I am an Electrical Engineer and I gave the General Test (First Time) on 6/30/2018 in Hawaii. Here are my scores:
Overall Band: 8.0
Listening: 8.0
Reading: 8.0
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 9.0
I would say, your web page helped me polish my writing skills and achieve a good band. I hope you continue your good work and help many others get close to their goals.
Thanks
Ram
Very well done 🙂 Band 9 in speaking is a rare achievement 🙂 Glad my website was useful 🙂
Hi Liz. I gave exam on 30th June, 2018. Test module GT.
My scores are:
L : 8.5
R : 8.5
W : 7
S : 7
Overall Band Score: 8
After multiple attempts i was finally able to achieve my desired results all thanks to your website. In previous attempts i was able to score 7 and above in all sections except for writing, where i was stuck at 6.5 but then i discovered your website and followed all your writing tips and finally got a 7! Thanks a lot Liz! 🙂
That’s great – I’m glad you finally hit band 7 in writing!! Well done 🙂
Hi Liz,
Test module: GT
Date: 30th June,2018
Location: Ahmedabad, India
Profession: Pharma marketing
I have achieved my desired band in first attempt. Thank you for wonderful tips, practice tests and lessons about minor mistakes which can impact majorly on band.
My overall band: 8
Listening: 8.5
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7
Speaking: 7
I would recommend your website to all my friends who are preparing for Exams. It is really helpful to me specially in writing and listening modules. Consistency is the key to achieve target band.
Thanks Liz😊
A great score with only one attempt – well done 🙂
Hey Liz,
My name is Talbia Jamil. I am a computer professional. I appeared in IELTS exam (General Training) held on 30-06-2018 in Pakistan and fortunately I have scored
Listening 8.5
Reading 7.0
Writing 7.0
Speaking 7.0
Overall band 7.5
I have subscribed to your youtube channel and it really helped me during my preparation specially for writing and reading. I am very thankful to you.
Regards
Talbia Jamil
Well done with your results 🙂 Glad my lessons were helpful 🙂
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your wonderful website, it’s a great source of knowledge for cracking this peculiar exam I’m an IT professional. I took my exam on 30th June and below is my score
L: 8.5
R: 9
W: 7
S: 6.5
I’m totally shocked to see that low in speaking. I think my communication went really well and I never fell short of words and i fluently answer all the questions. Being in IT industry I work with clients from US, Europe and almost have daily conversations with them (Native speakers) so I always have the confidence to do well in this section and I think it went well (i think it was atleast 7.5 – 8 performance). Do you think i should go for EoR for my speaking as i need 7 in it to get my desired score.
Thanks for your help in advance.
Regards,
Anurag
Well done with your score 🙂 Your speaking results are not strong. Speaking is all about expanding your answers at all times. Did you do that? Did you also make sure that you showcased the past forms, future forms and conditional forms of English grammar? Did you pay attention to that? If you feel that you did use each question to showcase your English in a natural way, then it is possible to consider a remark – but there are no guarantees of success.
Got a overall band 8!
L : 8.5
R : 7.5
S : 8
W : 7
Thanks Liz for all your amazing help!
Great score – well done 🙂 Don’t forget to mention your profession.