IELTS Exam Preparation Tips

Are you looking for an aspiring career or education in an English-speaking country? Cracking IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is the first step before applying for your job or higher studies abroad. Preparation of IELTS exam requires consistent academic reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in the English language. IELTS is a must-possessed qualification to make your living in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. How to prepare for IELTS exam? Let’s take a brief outlook section-wise to help your preparation.  

Two Types of IELTS

The IELTS exam is of two types based on the purpose of people willing to migrate. The two divisions of the exam are,

• IELTS Academic
• IELTS General Training

Though they are divided into two categories, the major aim of the exam is to assess your skills in the English language. The syllabus remains the same for both exams with slight differences. Get the best IELTS preparation guide by enrolling yourself in IELTS Online Coaching. It can help you with starting up your preparation for a better future.

IELTS Academic 

For applying to higher studies or professions in English-speaking countries, one must pass the IELTS Academic examination. The main objective of the exam is to check whether the candidate can manage to learn or get trained in English. In less than 3 hours, the exam would assess your English skills in writing, speaking, listening, and reading. 

IELTS General Training

The general training of IELTS is for people who want to migrate for survival or education below a degree. The reasons can be a secondary school education, a training program, or job experience. The aim of this exam is to assess the candidates’ survival skills in a broad workplace and social setting. 

IELTS Exam Pattern

Knowing the exam pattern and syllabus well before starting the preparation for any exam is the first step to success. It helps you to channel your hard work into the correct pattern to break the exam. Preparation of IELTS exam can be made interesting by joining the IELTS Coaching in Chennai. It might help you to plan your preparation strategy according to your strengths and weaknesses. The coaching will also be helpful as they give numerous IELTS training tips. 

The exam takes place in four major sections – Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking. IELTS Examination is scored based on a band scale of 0-9 for each section. The results will be announced after 13 days from the day of the examination. Below is the standard IELTS exam pattern with exam durations, mark allotments, and contents.

SECTION	NO. OF QUESTIONS AND DURATION	CONTENT	ALLOTMENT OF MARKS
	40 Questions from 4 Recordings 30 Minutes with 10 Minutes for Transfer Time	Four recorded monologues and conversations	1 mark per question
	40 Questions 60 Minutes	Three passages which can be analytical, descriptive, factual, or discursive.	1 mark per question
	2 Questions 60 Minutes	Task I – A writing of a minimum of 150 words Task II – An essay of a minimum of 250 words	Both the tasks are evaluated independently. Task I carry less weight when compared to Task II.
	3 Questions 11-14 Minutes	Section I – Questions and Answers Section II – Speaking in detail on a preferred topic Section III – Structure Discussion	_

You can take up the Spoken English Online Course to train yourself to speak more fluently in standard English. This might make your preparation of IELTS exam easier for you. Moreover, it can also help you with the listening section as you can better understand the Spoken English of the voices in the audio clips. A minimal IELTS preparation guide is provided here with learning strategies and tips. 

IELTS EXAM SYLLABUS AND STRATEGY 

Listening

Listening section is always the first section in the IELTS examination. The section is further divided into four parts. Audio clips will be provided for all four parts of the exam. The IELTS syllabus of this section includes the following, 

• Conversations based on social contexts.
• Monologues about social issues of everyday life. 
• Conversation on education among 4 people.
• A monologue on an academic subject.

All the four audios will run for a duration of 30 minutes and will be played only once during the examination. MCQs, short answers, note completion, and other similar questions will be asked from the audio clips. The questions will be asked in fill-in-the-blanks format or as multiple-choice questions. You have to note down the answers while listening to the audio notes. 10 minutes will be given at the end of this section to transfer your answers to the answer sheet. 

Listening Strategy

• Always try to score more than 35 out of 40 in the listening section. 
• Try to take up mock tests that are as hard as possible and complete them as fast as you could. This will help in the exam as the audios will be comparatively slower. 
• Make a self-review of your practice sessions and focus on your weakness. 
• In the maps section, note down North, East, West, and South with directions to help you while listening to the audio. Because the audios will have pointers like west of the lake or in the north compartment 
• In the MCQ section, the speaker will mention all three answers and you have to choose the most appropriate from the first. 

Enroll in the Spoken English Classes in Bangalore if you find trouble understanding the English in the audio clips. They’ll train you the language effectively and build your confidence. 

Listening Tips

• Skim all of the questions before listening to the audio clips. 
• Practice with British and American English as few pronunciations differ at times.
• Focus on finding the answers from the audio clips rather than trying to understand the entire audio. 
• Writing all your answers in capital letters is recommended. 
• Mark the answers and make notes on the question paper, while listening to the audio. 
• Proofread your answers for grammar and spelling errors before you submit the answer sheet. 
• Part 1 and Part 3 of this section involve multiple speakers and you can take up TV drama or shows to practice it. 
• Part 2 and Part 4 of the section have only one speaker lasting for 5-7 minutes. So, you can take up any short lecture videos of the same time length for practice. 
• Watch English movies, web series, and TV shows without subtitles. 

Reading 

The reading module contains three parts of 40 questions, mostly MCQs with a time limit of 60 minutes. You have to read the given passages and answer the questions. It is all about concentration and speed in this section. The question format includes, 

• Multiple choice questions
• True/False/Not given
• Match the columns
• Match the headings
• Fill in the blanks

Identifying data, writer’s attitude, completion of sentence or summary, and matching list or phrases are the few areas assessed in this section. The only difference in the module between the two types is, that the source for the passages is usually journals, newspapers, books, etc. for the IELTS Academic. On the other hand, the source for IELTS General is taken from company guidelines, brochures, advertisements, etc. Below are the IELTS training tips and strategies that might help you in the effective preparation for the exam. 

Reading Strategy 

• You would not be given extra time to copy your answers at the end, so write the answers straight on the answer sheet as soon as you spot the answer. 
• In the matching section, you will be asked to find details in the form of reason, example, comparison, description, explanation, and summary. 
• The main task is to understand the meaning without listening to each and every word. 
• IELTS would contain bombarded vocabulary, but don’t pay attention to it, rather try understanding the overall meaning with the other words in the sentence and its context. 
• You dont have to answer the questions in the same order. You can first fill in the answers for easy questions and save your time for tricky questions in the last. 

Reading Tips

• Skim and scan the passages as you dont have much time for reading line by line. 
• Carefully go through the graphs, figures, or any images in the question and focus on minor details. 
• Use capital letters for giving answers.
• Check your answers to be grammatically correct and to the point. 
• Avoid skimming in the headings list though it takes more time. 
• Self-assess your practice sessions and work on your weakness.
• Learning new phrases, words and practising paraphrasing might help you in the preparation of IELTS exam.
• Read the questions well before starting to read the passages. Try highlighting the keywords in the question to save time. 

Writing

The main aim of this section is to evaluate the fluent writing skills of the candidate in a short essay or a general report. The candidate will be given 60 minutes to complete the two parts of this section. 

• Part I is given with a diagram, table, or data and the candidate has to explain it in their own sentences of up to 150 words. 
• Part II consists of point of view problems or arguments. Candidates have to write their opinion, ideas, justification, and shreds of evidence to support their answers in 250 words.   

For IELTS Academic, candidates have to elaborate on the data or diagram and write an essay on it. Whereas in the cases of IELTS General, the candidate has to write a letter for a given situation. It may be formal, personal, or semi-formal. Further in the second part an essay should be written supporting the letter or citing other relevant instances. 

Writing Strategy 

• Avoid taking more than 15 minutes for the first part because the second part carries more marks.
• Have the habit of reading newspapers for structure formations and to elevate your vocabulary. This is one of the best IELTS training tips from expert trainers. 
• Be formal and write like the textbook paragraphs that have been read during school days.
• Make sure you don’t write less than the word limit. Also, you will have to wind up the answer not exceeding the word count. 
• An extension of 30 words will be allowed after crossing the word limit. 

Writing Tips

• Make a plan of effectively using the 60 minutes by dividing 40 minutes for Part II and 20 minutes for Part I.
• Give a conclusion for Part II.
• Avoid redundancy and repeating the same word and phrase. 
• Practice paraphrasing with newspaper and magazine articles. 
• Keep all of the information focused and relevant to the topic.
• Use active voice and try your maximum to avoid the passive voice. 
• Write to the point and be crisp. 
• Don’t use spoken English in writing. 
• Proofread your writing before submitting it. 

Speaking

The last section of the IELTS Exam is the speaking section. The section has 3 different parts of oral questions and answers. No IQ or GK-related questions are asked in the speaking section of the exam. Only questions related to education or profession and other general questions are asked in the section. Usually, the speaking section is conducted on a different date from the rest of the three sections.

Join Spoken English Classes in Chennai to upgrade your speaking skills in English. They will help you with impromptu speaking, effective communication, and public speaking. Laying a strong foundation in these will help you in this section of the IELTS examination. 

Speaking Strategy 

• Record your own speech and self-evaluate your practice sessions to find your weaknesses. 
• Work consistently on your weakness to overcome it. Practice speaking in front of a mirror in order to gain confidence. 
• The examiner will look for IELTS speaking structure and not for perfect English. So, go through the first page of the Cambridge speaking part to know what to do. 
• Negative marking will be given for a rehearsed speech. Concentrate on practising tuning, sentence formation and vocabulary. 
• Examiner will provide pen and paper to prepare for Part II. Structure your speech and you will exactly be evaluated for what you speak and not for what’s on the paper. 

Speaking Tips

• Listen to the questions carefully and give answers to the point. 
• Speak fluently as well as slowly. 
• Give only relevant answers. 
• Be confident when you speak. 
• Don’t unnecessarily ask the examiner to repeat the questions. 
• Give importance to vocabulary, sentence formation, and grammar.
• Don’t take long pauses and avoid using fillers like aahh, err. Mmm, etc.

Consistency is more important when it comes to the preparation of IELTS exam. Your IELTS score has the power to change your life! Join IELTS Coaching in Coimbatore to get trained by expert IELTS trainers and get a band score of 7+. Put in your maximum efforts and live the life of your dream!