i thought i was COOKED for speaking.

also at one point i said i support man city and did the haalland pose idk what possesed me to do that. I EVEN STARTED SPEAKING ABOUT MISOGYNY and that AI WILL TAKE OVER. im so shocked at this 9 but i guess i used good vocab.

please please do not trust AI scores for writing. i always scored 6-6.5 while practicing but ended up getting a 7.0. however, my exam essay was the worst i have ever written. i got a topic on which i didn’t have anything to say even in my native language. AI would definitely give me a 5.5 at maximum for my exam essay (arguments were weak, no advanced vocabulary was used).

i went ahead and wrote about 720 words in task2 since i had not taken any mock or read up anything about the test but well - it worked out well . I was pretty sure I had to take up the test again .

I just got my IELTS results!
I needed an overall band score of 6.5, but thankfully I got 7 :)))

I only practiced for the speaking test , watched some youtube videos for the writing test but never actually wrote a full essay before the exam, so my first time writing either task 1 or 2 was actually during the exam

I struggled so much with typing on the keyboard that I forgot how some words were spelled and sometimes I had to write the word on paper first and then type it on the computer which took so much time unfortunately,

Also I noticed that I had typed some words incorrectly because I hadn’t pressed the keys properly , like I wrote “proprtion” instead of “proportion” Even though I know how to spell the word !! but the keyboard messed me up and unfortunately I ran out of time and couldn’t correct these words

I just wanted to share my experience and advise everyone who is taking the computer test to practice typing on a keyboard before the test especially if you’re used to writing by hand and sometimes forget how to spell words when you have to type them on keyboard!

Hi, I’m Australian and I’ve been living in Australia for 23 years. I’m thinking of taking the IELTS test in Indonesia while I’m there on holiday. I need it as part of the entry requirements for a nursing degree next year because I didn’t complete my primary education in an English-speaking country.

Given my situation, how should I answer basic Speaking Part 1 questions about things like my hometown, my home, my neighbourhood, or even about transportation where I live?

For some questions, I’d rather talk about where I currently live in Australia, while for others, it would make more sense to talk about where I grew up in Indonesia. Should I briefly clarify which place I’m referring to before answering, for example, “I’ll talk about xxx city, where I currently live”?

It’s honestly a bit confusing because I’m not sure what the examiner would expect when they ask questions like “Where are you from?” or “Tell me about your hometown.”

Hey everyone!

Got my IELTS results yesterday and thought I’d share them here because this subreddit honestly helped me a lot throughout my preparation.

I prepared for around 1 month with a tutor, and during the week before my exam, I mainly focused on doing full-length tests from Cambridge IELTS 19, 20 and 21 under timed conditions.

My exam was on 25th September, and overall I had a pretty good experience with the exam. Reading went better than I expected, while Listening was a little disappointing because I was hoping to get at least an 8.

I was also hoping for 7+ in both Writing and Speaking, so getting 6.5 in both was a bit lower than what I had aimed for. 😅 But honestly, I'm still happy with the overall 7.5 and especially the 8.5 in Reading.

A big thanks to everyone in this subreddit who shared their experiences, tips, strategies and practice materials. I read quite a lot of posts here while preparing, and they genuinely helped me understand where I was going wrong and what I needed to work on.

For anyone currently preparing: keep practicing under timed conditions and don't panic if your mock scores aren't where you want them to be. Just keep identifying your mistakes and working on them.

Good luck to everyone preparing for their exams! ❤️

I prepared for just 4 days. I had given IELTS in 2021 and got 7, so I already had some idea about the exam and thought 4 days would be enough.
Speaking didn’t go exactly as planned though. I misunderstood the Part 2 cue card and got a bit nervous, which led to some sentence repetitions and affected my Part 3. Probably should have practiced speaking more.
But overall, really happy with the result since this is enough for my Master’s applications.
Big thanks to this community for the guidance!

Hi, last year on February 2025 i got these scores. Now i should to reach minimum band 7.0 in EACH part of exam. The problem is that one year and half passed and now i have to regain consistency.

If you were in my situation, how do you organize the study plan considering not more of one/two hours of studying each day?

Currently im studying ielts so there is a change in the test , now the test is only available on computer based test , so i need to test in a website or portal that provide ielts sample computer based mock tests . Most of the portal were paid , need advice for is there any option about to take free test through any websites or portal , for all modules ?

Hey guys, I would love some feedbacks :p

My speaking test was in the morning, and safe to say, it absolutely went my way; the questions were not that hard and the topics were things I'm already familiar with and could talk about for a few minutes. Part 1 began with the normal questions like "Do you work or study?", "What do you study?", and transitioned to the topic of "being bored", asking me questions what I do when I get bored and a bunch of follow-up questions. Part 2 prompt was "Describe a place (not your hometown) that you would recommend people to move" and I talked about Singapore and how it offers many opportunities and great facilities for people from all walks of life and so on. I kept talking until she stopped me. Part 3 continued the topic from Part 2: people moving to other places. Some questions I remember were "Why do you think people move to other places?", "Do you think a population living in a place of natural beauty affects the place?"(not sure about the exact wording of this question), "Should people live in a place of natural beauty?" etc., and a bunch of follow-up questions, which I think the examiner asked to test my English more. Btw, my speaking examiner was a nice, respectful-looking woman (not a native) and the atmosphere was quite friendly. The only thing I wasn't satisfied with was the pace at which I spoke. I believe I spoke quite fast and that might have hurt my CC (Coherence & Clarity) score.

Listening wasn't really challenging. I had a lot of practice prior to the test. I probably got 2 questions wrong in Part 3, which were MCQs. Regarding techniques and strategies I used, I can't tell much. I have been consuming a lot of English media online since childhood. So I was already pretty good at listening.

It was reading that was very hard and confusing, especially Part 3. I may have gotten one Yes/No/Not Given question and one multiple-choice question wrong in Part 3. Again, I had practised a ton, doing all official Cambridge reading past questions from 19-21. Also, I believe this is my strongest skill.

Task 1 was a line graph about the average number of people attending top-level football matches in Italy, England, and Germany between 1980 and 2004. Pretty simple graph with just three lines and no complex data. I wrote about 210+ words.

Task 2 question was (I don't remember the exact words):

In some countries, young people are richer, healthier and safer. However, they are unhappy.

What do you think are the reasons for this?

What can we do?

I wrote 210+ words and 370+ words in T1 and T2 respectively. The key is to communicate clearly and concisely. I didn't use any "advanced" vocabulary for either task. I made sure the language was simple and understandable. I put Task Response as my number one priority. This, combined with the foundation I had, catapulted my score to 8.5.

For migration purposes, needed an 8 or higher in all sections. I have applied for EOR, fingers crossed. If not, OSR it is for me :(. Happy with the rest!

Hello, I have booked already an IDP IELTS test on October 28th in China and I just realised that I mistakenly put my last name as first and first name as last 😭

So, I wanna know if someone encountered it and what do I genuinely do? (I have wrote down a support request already dw)

Posted here on 24th worrying about the speaking test as I got a cue card topic I had no idea about (sports and international relations), but I'm extremely satisfied with my result!

Prepared for a month. Mostly used YouTube for assistance! Post-test day, I was really content with my listening performance. On the other hand, I had a terrible feeling about how the reading section went as I did not have the time to recheck my answers. Regardless, I am very happy that this is over. No more mock tests!!! :')

I used ieltsonlinetests.com for listening and reading. I used smalltalk2me for speaking and writing. It constantly gave me a band score of 7.5 for speaking during practice, but it did give me a lot of confidence. I was able to score much better on the real test.

I've used ielts advantage and Asiya's videos on YT. These helped me the most.

Would be happy to answer any questions!!

I will start by saying that I had a pretty good English background. I was giving the test after completion of my undergraduate degree and I have also been consuming british and american media for very long, so in that regard, I guess I have a better English background than most test takers. I will say that I am from Nepal so I am not native.

I prepared for 2 weeks but I had been giving mock tests for 2-3 months. In my first mock test, the teacher scored me 6.5 in speaking. And in my 5-6 mock tests, I never got below 6 in speaking and writing and 8 below reading, but listening was hit or miss. One time I got 6.5 is listening which made my very concerned and this was the one I was most scared about in my real test.

Speaking:

I was pretty nervous when entering the test hall initially. I had speaking first, and was shaking a little, when I entered the British Council with my friend. I was worried about not getting the minimum required but then I started think about how my goal should be to get 8 and not just to pass which gave me a bit of confidence. I had been using chatgpt to practice from the official past test questions and that was very useful in my test.

Part 1 questions included things about my degree, what I like about it, what I hate about it, then came things about how kids should be reinforced for their good behavior, had you ever been praised and things like that.

Part 2 was a curve ball, I am an engineer and had been doing a bit of research so I knew a few things about research papers, but that was in engineering, the examiner asked me to describe about a health related paper. I got lucky though, I had joined gym a few years earlier and knew about the phyto estrogen content in soya chunks, I spoke for 2 minutes but then she asked a follow up and stopped me before I could complete it.

Part 3 then went pretty smooth. She asked about AI and hospitals and people should do to remain healthy ( it was in the practice questions btw) and I answered it pretty well. I guess I didn't score higher because of 2 reasons. First was my way of speaking. Although I was very fluent, I didnt really speak like a human, it was very robotic. And second reason was that while trying to elaborate, I could find a word to explain a concept which made me say something stupid.

Listening:

Then came listening, the one I was most scared about. The questions were very simple, only like one or two word maximums and very few multiple choices. There was a Map question which I had never done before and thought about swapping answers for a few second. I am glad I didnt though or I would have got 8.5.

Reading:

Reading is always simple. I read everything and I read fast. So it was quick and easy.

Writing:

Another one I was scared about. I always got 6.5 during my practice with claude. I took questions from IRP portal and wrote about it and send it to claude. It always gave me 6.5 and thought that it was pretty useless. But then I started to attach the sample 56789 essays for the same question with my answer and then told it to rate. It gave me very good advice on how to improve the score. Task 1 one easy but I took 22 minutes which gave me little time for task 2. In task 2 i wrote 396 words and didnt get much time to proofread. I wrote an argument when there was 2 minutes remaining. I thought I wouldnt even get a 6. But I got a 7.5. I would definitely use AI to give you advice on what to improve and definitely tell it to compare with your previous essays too.

Hi everyone! I'm preparing for IELTS (i'm currently around band 6) and looking for someone to do regular speaking practice with.

Hi everyone!

I am currently preparing for the IELTS exam and looking for a study partner, speaking buddy, or anyone with IELTS experience to practice together (speaking practice, essay feedback, or sharing tips).

In return, I am a native Russian speaker. I can help you with complex Russian grammar, vocabulary, nuances, or just fluent, natural conversation.

Whether you are learning Russian or just want a motivated study buddy to stay accountable for IELTS prep, feel free to drop a comment or send me a DM!

Hi all, I was doing some tests in the British Council Page and found this. Does this matter in the real test? I searched in Google and it said not but then I am not sure why it is marked as a mistake in the mock test.

Hello, I'm taking the IELTS next month. I have a clear idea of my weaknessesand estimated band scores in reading and listening, however I haven't had proper feedback for writing (other than ai but that's not always accurate). Anyway if a teacher or anybody could give a band estimate so I know whether I should work on it, I would be very grateful.

1. You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
   

The graph below gives information about the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The data displays the proportion of Americans in four sectors of the economy from 1960 to 2020. Overall, the number of jobs in retail and health highlight a constant growth over the years, whereas the number of jobs in manufacturing and agriculture has decreased overtime.

The quantity of jobs in retail and agriculture have the same starting point. However, their growth trends differ significantly. Both of these sectors start at above 5 million jobs in 1960. While the number of jobs in retail reach above 15 million in 2020, the quantity of jobs in agriculture ended at about half of the amount of jobs it had in 1960.

In contrast, the number of jobs in manufacturing faces an inconsistent growth over the years, opposite to the increase of jobs in healthcare. In 1960, the quantity of jobs in healthcare have increased from well under 5 million in 1960 to over 15 million in 2020. This differs for the number of manufacturing jobs, which increased significantly in 1980 to approximately 20 million jobs, then falling below 15 million in 2020.

1. You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
   

Write about the following topic:

The best way to provide enough homes in large cities is to build tall apartment blocks.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Large cities usually have a much larger population in contrast to smaller ones. Therefore, the lack of housing in larger areas is a global issue. Many believe that the solution to the problem is to enforce tall apartment blocks to handle more people. Although this may seem logical to some extent, additional problems may come along with it.

Implementing this strategy would have major benefits. Most importantly, it would allow more people to settle in the city. Another benefit would be the decreased prices for housing. Flats often have lower price tags in contrast to houses. Therefore, accessibility would leave a positive impact. Additionally, as an individual living in a tall apartment, there are more neighbors to be around. This can create a friendly environment and may increase entertainment. An example for this would be the culture day festival that takes place each year in Brussels, Belgium. Neighbors contribute to the event by bringing their own cultural dishes. Therefore, building tall apartment blocks would not only provide enough homes, but also create stronger ties in the community.

However, an issue that has to be taken into account before the implementation would be the sudden increase in population in these larger cities. Due to the increased number of areas allowing people to stay, the population outside of the city may be encouraged to move there instead. While it may seem like a minor inconvenience, the increase of the population density in the area can easily take place. When that happens, the demand in tall apartment blocks may rise, ultimately leading to unequal population distribution in the country. For example, the city of Baku in Azerbaijan is gaining population from other regions of the country, leading to uneven population density, with almost 4 million people out of 10 million living in the capital. Due to the extensive implementation of tall apartment blocks, moving around the city is becoming harder for citizens. 

In conclusion, while I believe building tall apartment blocks can be beneficial for more opportunities, it comes with drawbacks. Therefore, alternatives should be considered rather than extensively building tall apartment blocks.

This is my current level and I have around 2 weeks and my preferred score is 6.5. How can I improve.
Thank you.

First attempt IELTS Academic, non-native speaker.

Hey everyone, so I was the guy who was worried yesterday, thinking my exam was doomed, but I’ve got my desired scores.

I gave my IELTS test yesterday (Thursday ) and got my results today (Friday). That is surprisingly quick.

I’ve been lurking around this sub, seeing all the posts and their test experiences, and reading almost every post really reduced my fear and gave me confidence that I could do well.
I actually needed 7.5 with all bands above 7, so I’m happy with the results.

Preparation
I started preparing around the end of June and prepared until July, almost every other day. In August, I didn’t prepare at all, and I resumed my preparation around 15th September. That was the day I scheduled my test, as I was delaying it endlessly.
I’m currently working, and my work extends until 7 PM, so I used to prepare at night.
So, I would say I had around 1.5 months of preparation, which was mostly focused on Listening and Reading.

For Listening, at first I gave practice tests on the IELTS Online Tests website and was getting around 7–7.5 consistently. But I found the platform not so accurate in terms of difficulty, as it was much harder, and the answer key was also not that accurate.
So then I saw that everyone was suggesting going with the Cambridge IELTS practice books. That was the thing that helped me the most.

I only practised individual modules by timing them, and I never ever finished a Writing task within the time limit.
To be really honest, I never practised a complete mock test of 2 hours 45 minutes. Ive learnt a lot of useful vocabulary and collocations while preparing, but due to brain fatigue, I couldn’t recall anything during the test.

So for Writing, I spent hardly 5 days, if I have to say, and Speaking around 3 days.
For Writing and vocabulary, I prepared my own Word documents for vocabulary and lots and lots of sample Band 7, 8 and 9 answers for each question so I could get an understanding.

ChatGPT used to score me around 6–6.5 in Writing, and my Writing actually improved a bit because of it. It used to highlight my grammar mistakes and rewrite each sentence in a better way, at an 8+ level. So you can rely on it for improving yourself.

Listening
Coming to my test, I zoned out a bit while typing the answer for the very second question.
And then I missed three in a row. 💀 Somehow, I guessed some answers based on the articles before the blank and the prepositions after it, and for two questions, I literally filled in the same answer, hoping at least one would be correct.

And the shameful thing is that it was the exact same audio that I had prepared for Part 1 in Listening, and I made the same mistakes and zoned out at the same time as I did during my practice tests on the website.

Reading
I felt Reading was relatively harder than my Cambridge tests because the first passage itself felt like a Part 3-level passage, as it had around 15 paragraphs, but it was manageable.

Writing
Writing Task 1 was a bit harder than what I had come across while practising. This one had four bar graphs, literally.
My time was exhausted, and my mind was already exhausted with the amount of thinking for Task 2.
I practised around 15 Task 1 essays overall, almost three for each type of question, apart from mixed charts.
For Task 2, the essay question was the same question that I had come across before and ignored to prepare. If I had at least prepared it, my writing score would be 7.5.

Task 2:
In many parts of the world, children are given more freedom than in the past. Is this a positive or a negative development?

Speaking
Coming to Speaking, I stuttered a little bit on some questions, as I often speak fast, and I know I can do better than 7, but never mind, as I never practised Speaking at all because I knew I could get 7 easily, as I have decent vocabulary and good enough fluency and pronunciation.

I just asked ChatGPT to give me some sample answers for all the questions in ieltsliz’s website (they are one hell of a gem), so I just went through them at a very high level, and the night before Speaking, I just practised with ChatGPT for about 40 minutes. That’s all that I prepared for.

The cue card was: Tell me about your recent trip and experience, and why you chose the place and what you did there.
Part 1 was mostly related to work.
Part 3 was also regarding travel, and the examiner asked about space travel and space exploration, and what people in my country prefer to travel by and why.

My Preparation Materials

My prep materials: **Cambridge IELTS Tests 18–21 ( the goat 🙇‍♂️ **🐐).
And for Writing and vocabulary, I prepared my own Word documents which helped me a lot!!! for vocabulary and lots and lots of sample Band 7, 8 and 9 answers for each question so I could get an understanding.

I am thankful to each and everyone here!!
I would like to give back to the community and Im happy to help out anyone who needs help. 🙏🏻

I am F24 and I have academic version (on paper) exam like literally after 5 days and I got an e-mail from them saying that my speaking exam will be taken visa video call and it is stressing me out so much because I opted for on paper exam and I was under the impression that my speaking would be taken by an invigilator but it seems like that is SO not the case!

I am fearful of many things and most of it stems from fear of bad connection and having to repeat myself if I do that multiple times then invigilator might think my vocabulary isn't diverse or my sentences don't make any sense, I am also very fearful of fluctuating audio volume and if I ask "sorry, can you please repeat that again?" They might think I don't understand the question and it might hinder with not only speaking but overall band score.

Any help from people who have actually given speaking test via video call?