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Advice for the IELTS by an IELTS teacher


luckytobehere

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Thanks DanielK.

I had assumed one would get immediate access to the 20 hours of material advertised, but guess one needs to wait until one receives the Test Confirmation email to activate it.

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Hi Wannagonow,

You will receive a mail from the British council about 10 days before the exam date with the subject IELTS Test Confirmation where you will find a LOGIN HERE link which will take you to https://ielts.britishcouncil.org/CandidateLogin.aspx. Within the same email, in the same line where the LOGIN HERE link is you will find your IELTS reference number which should look something like this “ZA001-70153-00416” .

I kicked up a fuss and managed to get hold of someone there, they say that their phone system is broken and being replaced this Friday. Anyway I now have a my status upgraded from "Processing" to "Confirmed". I have also gotten an email from British Council confirming my booking and now when I log into the candidate area I see a link to log into road to IELTS (it wasn't there before I received the confirmation email). So all good now!

I would suggest to all those waiting fro their confirmation of booking to keep hounding them by phone and email until you get an answer!

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They may be the British Council but they sure are working to African standards. I phoned them to see why I have not received my report form yet and I was told the they are only sending them out today (I wrote on the 17th of Jan) due to problems with the photos taken in Cape Town that day. I just hope I get it before Friday, because my chances of getting my skills assessment back from ICAA before the last invitation round for Feb is looking worse and worse at the moment and there are not that many accountant spots left...

Here is to hoping...

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi again. Getting ready to do my test on Saturday morning, the 28th Feb in cape Town, and have been going through some free exercises off the net.

It has probably been covered in this topic already but at haven't managed to pick up it up anywhere... so sorry if its an old question

Is there 'scrap' paper to write notes on, especially for the writing test? Or do we just use the reverse of the answer sheets....? (sorry might seem a lame question but I scribble allot down first before writing neatly as a final draft)

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You can ask for an extra answer sheet for the writing part of the test. No scrap paper is allowed. People had to remove the labels off their water bottles when I wrote last Saturday... They even checked people's spectacles to make sure they weren't Google Glass...

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You can ask for an extra answer sheet for the writing part of the test. No scrap paper is allowed. People had to remove the labels off their water bottles when I wrote last Saturday... They even checked people's spectacles to make sure they weren't Google Glass...

The people in the Eastern Cape with spectacles must look extremely dodgy …….. :whome:

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  • 1 month later...

Good day to everyone. Im writing this on behalf of my wife. We want to apply for the 189 visa. My wife wrote ielts academic five times already. She needs

(band 8 for speaking and listening)

(band 7 fof writing and reading)

She has been for tutoring on all four sections but again on her fifth attempt she did not get the band needed.

We are seeking advice on any good tutors in johanesburg area, or any other classes and study materials that worked for enyone.

Thank you.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Hi All. Thank you for all the info. Please may I ask... Would my husband need to do the IELTS if we are applying for the 457 visa in the hospitality industry? And would this influence the outcome of our Visas? How long does it take to receive the results? How can he prepare for the test?

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  • 1 month later...

Hi All. Thank you for all the info. Please may I ask... Would my husband need to do the IELTS if we are applying for the 457 visa in the hospitality industry? And would this influence the outcome of our Visas? How long does it take to receive the results? How can he prepare for the test?

Hi LeeJ

I am also applying for 457 but in IT. According to my agent my hubby doesn't have to do the test as I am the main applicant.

Only if we were going on the 189 would he need to do it.

Kelli

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Maine how did it go with your wife's next attempt at IELTS? Did she use the www.dcielts.com site? I found it invaluable when I wrote General last year. Used again for Academic but await results. As somebody mentioned what about a re-mark?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all this may be a dumb question but does your overall band score count for something with IELTS? I have an overall band of 8 but I got 6.5 for my writing. As far as i know one needs 7s for all the conponenets to get some points correct??? So i will have to take the test again? Thanks

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all this may be a dumb question but does your overall band score count for something with IELTS? I have an overall band of 8 but I got 6.5 for my writing. As far as i know one needs 7s for all the conponenets to get some points correct??? So i will have to take the test again? Thanks

Hey there, if you get 6.5 for anything you have to redo the test.

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If you got an overall 8 despite having 6.5 in one section, aren't your chances good for getting 8 in each band then? 20 points are quite a catch... You'll have to rewrite to get any points, at the moment. So you might as well aim high, practice and see if you can up that one section ;)

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  • 1 month later...

Hi all fellow emigraters!

I thought I would share my English proficiency test experience.

My goal was to demonstrate 'Superior proficiency' to get the maximum points for Skilled independent visa 189.

Living in Port Elizabeth the only local test option was IELTS Academic. I needed 8 in each test section. The test is held at Nelson Mandela Bay University about once a month usually on a Saturday. Getting set up is a straight forward on-line procedure with credit card payment and passport ID scan and upload process.

Preparing for the test was easy in that there is a mountain of learning material available on-line for free.

Tips for studying:

1. Practice each section. The listening test requires a lot of getting used to. The reading test also has a pattern of answer types that they typically repeat. Writing section is particularly tricky in that it is not clear what they actually want to see in each essay. There was quite a lot of contrasting opinions on-line as to what structure to use. Speaking section was easy since I am a Native English speaker.

2. Focus on essays the most.

3. Get an early night the day before the test. It is a 3 hour test and you need a clear head.

Day of the exam I was surprised by the tedious biometrical ID process that seemed to waste a lot of time before the exam. I also found writing in pencil and using an eraser for mistakes really time consuming.

Tips for writing:

1. Dont waste time looking for a answer if it is NOT GIVEN.

2. Dont waste time counting words in your essay. Rather download a blank essay answer sheet and use it in practice to see how many words you can fit onto each side of the page. This way you wont have to count each word one by one when you write the exam.

Results are available on-line about two weeks later. My result was Listening 9, Reading 9, Writing 7.5, Speaking 9.

After this disappointment I pondered a re-mark to see if I could get an extra 0.5 in the writing section. You have six weeks to decide and then can wait for up to 10 weeks for the result at a cost of over R1000. I battled terribly to get through to the British Council with phone calls and emails and eventually abandoned the idea of a remark. Instead I booked for another IELTS test as well as a Pearsons academic Test just for some insurance.

Pearsons academic test required a day off work and a flight to Cape Town (which is why I tried IELTS first) which is effectively triple the cost.

Pearson Study tips:

1) Little option other than to buy the online study pack and test. It cost about R700 but because Pearson's is a computer program based test you have no option other than to bite that bullet to familiarise yourself with the tempo and question types you will encounter. In any case it is a lot cheaper than sitting the test again.

2) Practice essay and paragraph writing sections on a computer. Not everyone can type quickly so this takes practice.

3) Practice speaking into microphone within allotted times. Make sure you know how long you have got to say what you need to and finish what you want to say.

Found it hard to motivate to study for second IELTS. Second test I found noticeably more difficult than the first one, especially the reading section. Results were Listening 8.5, Reading 8, Writing 8, Speaking 8.5. while waiting for Second IELTS results I sat the Pearsons test in Cape Town. Results were available 12 hours later! Results were Listening 90, Reading 90, Writing 90, Speaking 90.

I found Pearsons Academic easier.

Reasons:

Less messing around before and during the test with scripts and exam papers etc.

The computer counts your words automatically which saves time.

Paragraph editing is far more efficient (cut,paste,insert etc. vs pencil and eraser)

Although it is a computer based test they do allow a pen and paper in for note taking which I found essential.

Much shorter passages in the reading component vs IELTS.

I was successful in the second IELTS test in getting 8's for each component but had to wait 2 weeks for the result during which time I had completed Pearsons and received my results.

How I improved my IELTS writing score:

Studying for the second test I TYPED a few of my practice essays. This way your computer will inform you of any of your reoccurring SPELLING ERRORS. Practising in long hand is helpful to replicate test conditions but you will never know if you are making spelling mistakes.

I kept things more simple second time around.

Question 2 I did first with introduction paragraph containing heading statement, opinion and two reasons why I thought so, in one compound sentence. This was followed by two body paragraphs expanding on each reason in the same order using specific examples. Conclusion paragraph.

Question 1 I did second and changed my approach in the second IELTS test. I expanded the introduction paragraph. First sentence contained what the diagram represents. Then a second sentence i wrote describing the general trend/s and anomalies visible in the diagram. This I followed with the body paragraph which relates the data visible in the diagram. This was the key to my higher score.

Good luck to you with your test and hold thumbs for tomorrows next round of invitations.

JandBwithR

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  • 5 weeks later...

My husband is writing this weekend and we received the email with all the details for the test - the email had a spelling mistake on! Not good for an English testing facility.

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Hi everyone, I did the IELTS exam this past weekend. Anyone else wrote at the Bordeaux office this weekend?

I must admit, even as a native English speaker I found a fair bit of ambiguity throughout the test.

As for the listening, I found one of the conversations to be quite unrealistic and a bit verbose.

I found another listening conversation lacking in expression and this is my own e.g.

Speaker 1: "I like red. I like blue."

Speaker 2: "You also like green too."

Speaker 1: "Yes I do."

Question:

Which colour does Speaker 1 like?

A - Red

B - Blue

C - Green

Well that is just the way it sounded to me :-)

All in all I found the staff at the centre very helpful and adequately organised.

It is a bit of a process on exam day, so the recommendation to be early is one that should be heeded.

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  • 1 year later...

I am new to the forum and so glad I stumbled across this website! Thank you for this advice. I sit the IELTS exam next month and need 8's on all modules - am pretty nervous!

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4 hours ago, Lindz709 said:

I am new to the forum and so glad I stumbled across this website! Thank you for this advice. I sit the IELTS exam next month and need 8's on all modules - am pretty nervous!

All the best @Lindz709. We have all traveled through this road. 

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Hi all

I am also fairly new to this site and the information posted here helps a lot.  I am also writing my Academic IELTS next month.  I have paid for practice tests from Road to IELTS which set me back R700.  Plan is to get all 8's for a superior score!  But having gone through with some of the practice tests, it is really a daunting task.  Just when you think you have done well in one area and you click to check your answers, you can keel over and die when you actually check what you wrote in is not exactly what they want.  For example, in the section NOT MORE THAN THREE WORDS/NUMBER, if the answer is actually three words and you don't write out the three words, you get it wrong:  eg. the little boy as opposed to little boy.  I'm not sure if being a teacher of English is making my brain go nuts with this IELTS.  Another reading practice test was about the left and right brain and the passage was all about the right brain being active in a certain aspect.  In a question relating to left brain of the same activity, I answered "inactive" as that is how one would think the opposite of that would be (academic test and all)...but guess what, the correct answer was "quiet".  My question is:  how should we approach this then...if this was a test of using English proficiently and an academic one at that too, wouldn't my answer be a more correct one than having to say "quiet"?  Just asking...

Anyways, just going to cross fingers/toes and whatever else to get all 8.  Need that superior score otherwise I would not get enough points!

Still such a long way to go with the process of immigrating and age is not on my side!!:cry:

@Lindz709 all the best.

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11 minutes ago, March2 said:

Hi all

I am also fairly new to this site and the information posted here helps a lot.  I am also writing my Academic IELTS next month.  I have paid for practice tests from Road to IELTS which set me back R700.  Plan is to get all 8's for a superior score!  But having gone through with some of the practice tests, it is really a daunting task.  Just when you think you have done well in one area and you click to check your answers, you can keel over and die when you actually check what you wrote in is not exactly what they want.  For example, in the section NOT MORE THAN THREE WORDS/NUMBER, if the answer is actually three words and you don't write out the three words, you get it wrong:  eg. the little boy as opposed to little boy.  I'm not sure if being a teacher of English is making my brain go nuts with this IELTS.  Another reading practice test was about the left and right brain and the passage was all about the right brain being active in a certain aspect.  In a question relating to left brain of the same activity, I answered "inactive" as that is how one would think the opposite of that would be (academic test and all)...but guess what, the correct answer was "quiet".  My question is:  how should we approach this then...if this was a test of using English proficiently and an academic one at that too, wouldn't my answer be a more correct one than having to say "quiet"?  Just asking...

Anyways, just going to cross fingers/toes and whatever else to get all 8.  Need that superior score otherwise I would not get enough points!

Still such a long way to go with the process of immigrating and age is not on my side!!:cry:

@Lindz709 all the best.

@March2 It's so re-assuring to know I m not the only one feeling this way! As it is more about technique then anything else, I have decided to register for a workshop before my test on the 8th July! I need those 8's!!  The IELTS website tips suggest not reading the passage but rather skimming through it yet the specific level of detail required in certain questions as you have highlighted, necessitates reading the darn passage thoroughly!  Best of luck :-)

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@Lindz709 I am also writing on the 8th. My husband is doing the general test on the same day as well. How far are you with the whole process?  All the best for your test too?

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On 15 June 2017 at 5:51 PM, March2 said:

@Lindz709 I am also writing on the 8th. My husband is doing the general test on the same day as well. How far are you with the whole process?  All the best for your test too?

I wrote the test a few years ago and got the 8. But as I (and by this I mean my hubby) dragged my (his) feet, the certificate expired. I subsequently found out that if my school or uni confirmed that I was taught in English I could get my English points. My hubby got his points because he has a British Passport. We have our Visas now and I feel I wasted my time and money doing the Ielts.

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  • 1 year later...

Those who registered for the IELTS workshops, how helpful were they?

 

I have bought two Udemy courses as they are on sale, and was wondering if it was worth doing the workshop as well. The practice test they have on the IELTS site for reading and listening was real easy, but reading some of the comments here makes be think that not all of them would be?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi all,

I am applying for a skilled working visa 189. 

It is based on points - I says I need to get over 8 for each subsection but I scored only 6.5 on the written section and 8.5/9 for the other sections.

 

Could anyone advise me if I should try rewrite a different English proficiency exam or try for the IELTS again? Such as the PTE/ Cambridge.

I found it quite challenging (as many of you have written) and am worried maybe I won’t score any higher?

 

Please send tips🙏

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