Hi everyone, I'm delighted with my score.

Listening and Reading are your best friends. If you want to improve your overall score, focus on these two, they’re generally easier to score well in.

Also, you’ll likely score better in the actual test than in your mock tests. AI tools are great for practice, but their scoring can be overly strict, especially for Writing and Speaking. So don’t stress. Consider adding around 0.5–1 band to your mock Writing and Speaking scores as a rough estimate.

Ask me anything :)

IELTS exams reflect your English level, not how many tips or tricks you know

I've had a few students ask recently

“I'm stuck at 5.5-6.0. I need to get Band 7.0 minimum for each skill. How do I do it?"

I often feel that with that question there is a slight misunderstanding of what the IELTS exam actually is. The IELTS exam will simply measure your English level. If you're working at B1 level, you'll get around 5.5. If you're working at a strong C1 level, you'll get 7.5.

The key measure every time is your English level. Not tips and tricks that you know or don't know.

If you want to move from 5.5 to 7.5, you need to improve your English level, not become fixated on finding tips, tricks, apps, resources or practice tests. All of those things are good, but they should be used as practice as part of a proper learning plan.

Yes, you can have a bad day in the exam for many reasons, but in general B1 level students get B1 level results and cannot use any special tips to get a C1 level result. English level improvement is key. You can’t practise skills you don’t have.

Posting it again because I forgot to remove my form number. Thanks to the person who reminded me of it. I prepared for a month, mostly solving the Cambridge tests for reading and listening. For writing Was getting a 6.5 in mock and was happy with the results. For speaking i had watched mock interviews of IELTS advantage on YouTube around 41 videos are there. That helped me a lot. For reading and listening only practice tests helps, the more you solve the better you get. In the mock tests I was getting a band 9 for both. But in the final exam the reading was really difficult. For speaking i had practiced using chatgpt go. It was useful for me. I am really thankful for this community, a lot of people helped me. Every time I saw someone's result it inspired me. Knowing there are people like me also struggling, helped me panic a little less. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I want to help others as much as possible.

Got my results 2 days after taking the exam (on a Saturday).

Listening- i was so ready to get an 8 or 8.5 because I dwelled too much on one number that I was unable to listen carefully to the next questions. Luckily, making an educated guess worked well to my advantage.

Reading- i probably got my wrong in the matching headings part, but at least the score I got was more than what I expected

Writing- im just thankful I landed a 7 instead of a 6.5. I haven’t really practiced writing for more than a month because writing just takes too much of my time. I only read band 8 answers 2 says before I took the test. 5 minutes left on the clock and I was still 80% into finishing both task 1 and 2. I had to interpret a line graph and I was just so bad at conveying my thoughts and sorting ideas.

Speaking- i was so nervous with speaking the most because I DONT talk to people. I talk to my teacher once a week for 2 months and I think that’s what built my confidence in talking to people. She always praised my pronunciation and the way I talk. I’ve been listening to podcasts and it helped with how I keep it fluent. On the day, I probably wrongly answered a question in part 1, had a 5 second pause in part 2 and had a difficult time regaining myself, and was probably yapping nonsense in part 3. I kept getting cut off, which was not gonna affect my scores, and the examiner also had to realign my answers because it was going nowhere. But one thing’s for sure, I spoke as naturally and had a good rise and fall in my tone.

I can’t seem to practice speaking that much due to the fact i live alone, i have no one with Ielts experience to correctly grade my speaking.

What are ur recommendations? Are there any websites? Is AI useful?

Hey guys, my name’s Diane, and I’m currently looking for a speaking partner to prepare for the IELTS Speaking test.
I took IELTS two years ago and got 6.5 in Speaking, but I recently took a mock test and got 7.0. I’m hoping to find someone with a similar speaking level so we can practice together, give each other feedback, and hopefully improve our scores! :)
A little about me: I’m a student at the University of Bologna, studying Pharmacy in an English-based program. I also love travelling and meeting new people
If you’re interested, feel free to DM me! 😊

My results came back, im happy with all of my skill except writing. I needed a 6.5 minimum to be able to get in my dream uni, should I take a skill retake? :(

This is my first time trying IELTS test. I just did it without any preparation or idea how it works. I got these results and want to know if they are valid and how long do I have to practice for better results.

https://account.ielts.idp.com/login-initiate

Is this official website for IDP

I have never taken the IELTS test before, so i am excited and stressed at the same time. I have a few questions regarding the test's structure, and I would love it if anyone would like to give their advice.

In reading, I have always practiced highlighting the questions first and then highlighting the keywords inside the passage and then answering. Is there a highlighting option in real test as well? I am taking it on a computer.

For speaking, I had assumed everyone was taking it face to face but I found out there are no in person examiners at the test center I will be going to and it will be a video call. Should I be worried in case of any connection difficulties?

For listening, I always try to find the words before the audio starts because I am able to focus clearly; at least that is what I have seen from my practice. Would this create any problems for me? I saw someone else's test got cancelled because they suspected him of cheating.

Thank you.

Phew I'm glad reading went well, and I sort of panicked during the test (cuz I had to take a bathroom break and around 5 mins were sacrificed). Feel free to ask me anything about the test!

On an another note, in the official test score form, you know how they include the picture which they take during the test day? The thing is, my hair is extremely afro-y, and since I was a bit swamped the last two weeks with uni stuff I couldn't take proper care of it and I looked hidious (it usually looks pretty nice otherwise). It took like 10mins for them to properly capture a picture of me cuz my hair was all over the place.

Has anyone had this sort of problem before?? It really was annoying as hell and gave me lot of anxiety before the start of the test, I was worried it might mess up my flow. For an international organization you'd expect them to have a good camera software atleast.

In the end, they managed to take one after me flattening my hair down to reveal more of my forehead, and the picture is just appaling pls. This might feel like such an unprofessional question but surely these universities don't judge people based on appearance? I hope not? I'm really panicking here 😭😭

So, basically I had been dreading to give Ielts exam since months, and then I finally booked my IELTS around 20 days before. Technically, with consistent practice, that time is sufficient. But I struggle with poor planning and following up with my schedule. I also tend to go blank under pressure. So, I forgot that we have to show a range of vocabulary, linking words during speaking.
The day I sat for my exam, it was like sitting without any preparation. My brain is so rotten at this point that I could not figure out which is the correct spelling, Thursday or Thrusday. After the exam, I was dreading where should I bring another $224 dollars from. I wasted this much money and its all due to lack of my effort. Luckily, I got this score.

So i have to apply for a university and have to submit my ielts result for that aswell and rn am starting to prep for the exam and i have a total of 10days to prepare , and i haven’t done any prep for ielts before this so is it possible for me to get overall of 7.5 band and an aggregate of 6.5 in each if i prepare in a structured manner ? Also i think am good in listening and reading as i attempted some listening and reading mock for the sake of trying and got almost full everytime

Hello everyone, I've been prepared for 3 months, during this period I solved a lot of tests, analyzed them and my reading score are always the same (I did more than 20 tests with analyzation, a lot of strategies from IELTS liz, IELTS advantage and etc.). I decided to ask somebody for help because my exam is in one month. Part 1 - 2 wrong, part 2 - 2 wrong and part 3 is always the part I loose the point. I need 8 at least. I know some tricks like highlight the key word, I need some steps to understand how to improove. I read BBC articles also, had 3 repetitors during that period and have 1 speaking partner. So, I dedicate at least 3 hours per day.

Hello everyone! I just want to ask if the predicted IELTS questions are true?

Most of you might think that I should be over the moon because of my score. Unfortunately, I need an 8 for speaking for migration purposes.

Planning to get an EOR, how likely is it that they’ll give me a higher score?

Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone,

Last Saturday I did my IELTS exam for the first time and this was my score. I would like to admit I get nervous at my speaking task and everything failed down. I would like to hear some advices to improve to get an overall of 7.5. I only have 30 days and I work Mon-Fri to take it again.

I recognize I didn't study hard, and got overwhelmed by personal situationship.

Dear all,

My exam is scheduled in second week of September. I am very confuse from where to prepare. I am not native. Should I prepare from cambridge books or the mock test I got from british council while booking the exam. I have less time so want to go through only most effective material. Please share your suggestions and tips especially for writing and speaking.

Hi everyone, im from Pakistan and this was my second attempt. Last one expired. I'm happy to answer any questions and willing to help as much as I can. Please ask specific questions so I can help you.

I prepped for 2-ish weeks sporadically. Because I had given it before I knew my weak areas were writing and speaking. I was getting a very bad score in reading while doing practise (6.5) but during the actual test i finished with around 18 mins remaining and fixed a couple of my responses as well. During listening I zoned out for a second and maybe did 1 question wrong?

For speaking it was my first time with an in person examiner. The last was with a very angry british lady through a video call in centre. This lady was much more nicer, was smiling and acknowledging my answers. She even asked me a question in cue card part because i did seem a little freaked out at that. My speaking wasn't perfect, but I had stories and experiences to share with her. My motto was this: i will YAP. and i did that lol.

I needed a 7 with none less than 6.5 for my PhD admission. Prepared 1.5 month, only for almost an hour a day (when my baby slept). My son is 14 months old which made the situation worse as he wants me near him 24/7, plus he is the worst sleeper… along with that, he was teething exactly during my Ielts preparation which made things worse. On the test day I got very bad migraine headache and was very sleepy. So the results I got are way more than what I needed and expected.

For preparation:
I watched tips on youtube
Solved mock exam on different websites along with Cambridge book
I practiced writing with chatgpt and claude
Didn’t practice speaking just watched a few videos on YouTube

Hey all! I prepared for the IELTS for just one month using free online resources, with no coaching or paid courses. I focused on the test format, practiced regularly, and reviewed my mistakes. Ask me anything!

Hey everyone, I got my results but wasn't happy, so I applied for EOR (speaking & writing). Has anyone recently applied and how many days does it take for EOR?

My parents put me on an english school when I was 7 years old, and now, with 24, at Brazil, I’m seeking my future on a better place with my wife, and I’m SO happy cause I had 7.5 as my target… and what a surprise.

I’m also on intensive French, so I didn’t prepare for the test lol. 2 days before the test I started taking a look at the IELTS premium materials made available by IELTS, and that’s the result.

Oh, and when I saw a freaking NINE on Reading?!? I went to the moon and back!

Just wanted to share! I’m so, so happy.