Prep for the New IELTS Test with Confidence

The IELTS test checks your level of English in four important areas: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking.

It is used to show that you can understand and use English well enough to live, study, or work in an English-speaking country and/or institution.
There are two types of IELTS exams:
IELTS Academic – for people who want to study at university or college.
IELTS General Training – for people who want to work or move to another country.
Both versions test the same four skills, but the Reading and Writing sections are different depending on which test you take.

The IELTS recently became more flexible and digital:

• You can now take the IELTS on paper or on a computer.
• The Speaking test is still done in person with a trained IELTS examiner.
• BIG NEWS! There is now also an excellent new development: an option called “IELTS One Skill Retake” – this allows you to retake just one section (Reading, Listening, Writing, or Speaking) if you want to improve your score. I can’t tell you how many students whom I have helped to prepare for the IELTS over the past 20+ years are a little bit jealous of this new option!

So, overall, the IELTS test format has not changed much, but these new options make the whole experience a bit less stressful and more convenient, developments that should make you feel more confident.

Here’s what you can expect in each part of the test:

1. Listening (30 minutes + 10 minutes transfer time)

• You will listen to 4 different recordings, including:
  • • a conversation in a social situation
    • a speech or talk using everyday language
    • a conversation in an academic setting involving a maximum of 4 people
    • a lecture (or similar) on an academic topic
• You answer 40 questions.
• You hear each recording only once.
• Questions include multiple choice, form completion, sentence completion, and matching.

Skills You Will Build:

• Understanding spoken English
• Listening for specific details
• Following ideas and opinions in conversation

Tim’s TIP 1: Just as on the TOEFL, train yourself to focus immediately on the audio that you will hear in each of the 4 IELTS Listening tasks. And tell your brain that you are fascinated in the topics that you hear!

Tim’s TIP 2: Use the time you are given before a recording begins to read through the questions and visible answers. This should give you a first understanding of the topic and scope. And get proactive! Target points to listen for will be clearer to you. This will also help you focus on what you hear, and give you increased confidence as you eliminate wrong answer choices, and select correct ones.

2. Reading (60 minutes)

• You will need to decide whether to take the Academic or General Training version (depending on your needs).
• Academic: You will read 3 passages (each 2,150 – 2,750 words) and answer 40 questions. These texts come from journals, newspapers, books and magazines.
• General Training: There will be 3 parts and you will answer 40 questions.
  • • Part 1 contains two or three short factual texts on topics relevant to daily life in an English-speaking country.
    • Part 2 contains two short factual texts focusing on employment-related topics.
    • Part 3 contains a longer, complex text on general-interest topics.

IELTS Reading Question Types:

• True / False / Not Given
• Matching features /sentence endings / headings / information
• Multiple choice
• Completion of a sentence / summary / diagram / flowchart / table
• Short answer

Skills You Will Build:

• Reading quickly and understanding main ideas
• Understanding opinions and facts
• Picking out specific information in long texts
• Identifying scope, topic, and purpose

Tim’s TIP 1: Don’t be controlled by the text. Sometimes you might want to read the first and last paragraphs, then the first sentences of each body paragraph, and dive in and out of the structure of the content to identify the location of important information.

Tim’s TIP 2: As you advance through more practice passages, start to play “the prediction game” – you’ll be surprised how often you can correctly predict which pieces of information in the text are the focus of different question types.

3. Writing (60 minutes)

Two tasks:

• Task 1:
  • • Academic version: describe a graph, table, chart, or process diagram
    • General version: write a letter (formal, semi-formal or informal)
• Task 2: write an essay responding to a point of view or problem
  You must write appropriate responses using full sentences, correct grammar and a range of vocabulary.

Skills You Will Build:

• Brainstorming techniques
• Organising your ideas clearly
• Describing information in writing
• Describing processes
• Giving opinions with good support
• Using informal, semi-formal, formal and academic English

Tim’s TIP 1: When brainstorming for task 2, write bullet-point style, not full sentences, and note down a couple of associated pieces of vocabulary with points that you decide to build your paragraphs around.

Tim’s TIP 2: You get points for structure and logical flow, so memorise academic transitions to help the readers identify the directions you are taking in your thought processes.

4. Speaking (11–14 minutes)

The Speaking test has three parts and is taken in person with a trained IELTS examiner:

• Part 1: introduce yourself and confirm your identity then answer questions about a familiar topic, e.g. yourself, family, studies, or hobbies
• Part 2: speak for 1–2 minutes about a topic (you get 1 minute to prepare)
• Part 3: discuss more ideas with the examiner connected to the topic from Part 2

Skills You Will Build:

• Talking about everyday and academic topics by answering a range of questions
• Speaking clearly, coherently and fluently
• Giving and explaining opinions
• Analysing and discussing issues