Once you’ve decided to take the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam, whether for undergraduate studies, postgraduate work, career, or immigration reasons, your next step is registering. But how do you register for the IELTS? In this post, we’ll walk through IELTS registration step-by-step, so you understand everything you need to know about how to apply for IELTS registration and secure your spot for the test day you want!

How do I register for the IELTS?

First, you’ll need to find the IELTS test date that you want. You should also have a basic understanding of whether you will be taking the computer-based IELTS or the paper exam–both choices aren’t always available at every test center. The same thing goes for the Academic IELTS and the IELTS General Training tests.

Finally, have your payment method (debit card or credit card) ready. The IELTS test price can vary, but costs around $250 in the U.S.A. The test fee in Canada is similar: usually around $319 (CAD), while it runs slightly higher in Australia, at $375 (AUD). In the UK, the price ranges from £170 to £195.

Once you have the information and payment method you need, the next step is registering for your preferred IELTS test date! Here’s how to do that.

1. Go to the official international booking site for IELTS.
2. Under the “Book a Test” heading, click “Select” for “IELTS.” (This is the black “Select” button on the left.)
3. Follow the instructions to select your test location.
4. Click “Book a Test.”
5. Follow final instructions to select a test time, log in, and finalize your booking. (You will need to register for your regional IELTS website to finalize.)

Who can apply for the IELTS exam?

There are technically no limits on who can take the IELTS exam. In other words, there are no IELTS eligibility criteria. The test is offered around the world to people of all ages, genders, religions, and nationalities. While the makers of the test don’t recommend that you take the IELTS if you’re under 16 years old, that age limitation is just a recommendation; you can still choose to take it.

What documents are needed to register for the IELTS?

Because IELTS registration occurs primarily online, you’ll only need your identity document to register. Be careful, though–you will need to ensure that this is the exact same identity document you plan on bringing to the official test. As you register, double-check that you’ve spelled your name, including any middle names, the same way on the forms as it appears on this document.

What constitutes a valid identity document for the IELTS? Your options are limited to a national ID card or passport. However, note that this varies by country. In India, for example, the IDP Education India IELTS test centers accept only the passport as a valid form of ID.

How do I register for the IELTS exam in India?

If you’re planning on taking the IELTS in India, you can use the steps above to complete your registration. However, there is also a specific site dedicated to the Indian IELTS, where you can also complete your registration. Here’s what you need to know about how to register for IELTS exam in India.

1. Visit the IELTS India webpage.
2. Click on “Register for IELTS”/”Book Now.”
3. Enter the test type you need from the different types of IELTS exams: Computer, Paper-Based, UKVI, or Life Skills.
4. Select your preferred test: IELTS Academic Test or General IELTS.
5. Pick your preferred city from the drop-down list.
6. Look at the availability calendar to choose the best date and time for you.
7. Fill out the application form online.
8. Pay the registration fee using your Visa or Mastercard.
9. If you selected the paper-based test, you will need to register for the Speaking section separately.

You will then need to send a copy of your passport and observation pages to an IDP India office.

Alternately, candidates taking the exam in India can also visit IDP branches in person and get guidance on how to apply for IELTS. There, you can either use available computers to complete your registration, then present a photocopy of your passport, or fill out a paper application form. the main difference here is that you have a choice of payment methods if you fill out the paper form, including Demand Drafts, cash deposits, and credit/debit/ATM cards.

Finally, you have the choice to complete your registration by courier with a paper application form. You can find instructions on this option here.

As of the writing of this post, the IELTS exam fee in India ranges from ₹14,600 to 15,750.

What’s next after the IELTS registration process?

Once you’ve completed your IELTS registration, you should receive almost immediate confirmation of your seat by email, as well as on the registration screen. (If you register in person, like at an IDP center in India, staff can help get you this confirmation by entering your information right away). Congratulations! That’s how to apply for IELTS. If you don’t need special accommodations, your IELTS registration is complete! Remember that cancellation or rescheduling the exam is usually possible if something comes up; contact your test center for details.

If you do need special accommodations for the IELTS, contact your local test center as soon as possible. IELTS recommends that you get in touch no later than six weeks before your test date, but keep in mind that it can take up to 12 weeks to make arrangements. In other words, the sooner, the better.

As you make arrangements or wait for your test day to arrive, make the most of your time by starting your IELTS prep! These free IELTS study guides will help guide your preparation, whether you have a week or a month to get ready! And check out Magoosh’s IELTS prep–we guarantee you’ll reach your target band score or get your money back!

Taking a practice test is one of the best things you can do to prepare yourself for the IELTS General Training test. When it comes to writing, though, practice is especially important! In this post, we’ll share an IELTS General Training Writing practice test PDF with answers that you can use to develop your skills before test day. So take a look at the IELTS General Writing Task 1 Practice Test (with Answers) PDF, then come back when you’ve finished your essay for info about scoring!

IELTS General Training Writing Practice Test (PDF with Answers)

Ready to start practicing? In this PDF, you can read the sample questions, write your own essays, and then them to the model essays and scoring advice in the document. Here’s the IELTS General Training Writing practice test PDF for download:

How should I score this practice Writing section?

Once you’ve finished your section, it’s time to score the tasks. First things first: review the band descriptors for Task 1 and Task 2.

Then, take a closer look at your essays, rereading them to evaluate how well they meet the criteria in each of the four categories.

It can be very difficult to score your own essay objectively, so working with a scoring partner is useful here. That said, if you’re scoring your responses on your own, you can ask yourself the following questions to help determine your band level for each criterion:

• Did your Task 1 word count exceed the 150 word minimum, and did your Task 2 word count exceed the 250 word minimum? If not, do not give yourself full points for “Task Response.”
• Did you address each part of the task? Break down the prompt into different parts. Then, match each part of the prompt to part of your essay. If you did not address one or more parts of the task, do not give yourself full points for “Task Response.”
• Does each paragraph have its own clear topic sentence and supporting details? If not, then take some points away in “Coherence and Cohesion.”
• Do the tasks use adequate transitional language to tie paragraphs together and move from the paragraph to the conclusion? If not, do not give yourself full points for “Coherence and Cohesion.”
• Do you use vocabulary clearly and fluently, avoiding serious errors in word choice, and varying word choice to avoid repetition? If not, your self-score in “Lexical Resource” should not be perfect.
• Do you use grammar with confidence and skill, with no serious mistakes? And do you use a variety of sentence structures? If the answer to any of that is “no,” give yourself a less-than-perfect score in “Grammatical Range and Accuracy.”

Additional Practice Writing Tests for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training

Sitting down to complete this IELTS General Writing Task 1 Practice Test (with Answers) PDF is a great first step. However, the key to really boosting your score on this section of the IELTS is regular practice. With that in mind, here are more resources where you can find more sample writing tasks for IELTS Writing!

In our IELTS Writing practice test post, you’ll find the full Academic Writing section in PDF form, another in video form, as well as an additional full General Training Writing section! Keep in mind that while the Task 1 question types differ between Academic and General Training tasks, Task 2 is the same in both versions. In other words, no matter which test you’re taking, all of the task 2 prompts in these links are useful practice.

Magoosh’s IELTS Academic Writing practice test is also useful for the same reason! Again, if you’re taking the General Training exam, skip the first task, replacing it with a GT prompt (such as those you’ll find on the Magoosh blog!).

Additional Practice Questions

If you prefer to go through individual questions rather than whole Writing sections, take a look at the following resources! Keep in mind that their usefulness will vary, depending on which test you’re taking. (Also, some of these questions can be found in the PDFs as well, while others are wholly unique.)

• IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Map With Model Answer — When you need practice with map questions specifically for the IELTS, this sample prompt and answer show you what a high-scoring response look like.




• IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Process Diagram with Model Answer — Process diagrams on Task 1 can scare students, but they get a lot easier with practice!
• IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Line Graph with Model Answer (Band 9)— What does a high-scoring response on this common Academic Task 1 task type look like? Our experts show you here.




• IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Pie Chart with Model Answer — When the test asks you to analyze a pie graph, what should you do? This sample prompt and response will help you prepare.
• IELTS Writing Task 2: Causes/Solutions Sample Essay — How can you get a high score on a causes/solution essay? Take a look at this sample prompt and response to find out.
• IELTS Writing Task 2: Agree/Disagree — We also have a sample question and model response for the common agree/disagree question type!
• IELTS Writing Task 2: Advantage/Disadvantage Learn how to discuss advantages and disadvantages with a question and sample response for this variation of Task 2
• IELTS Writing Task 2: Two-Part Essays — With an example question and an example response, learn how to answer two-part IELTS Writing Task 2 questions.
• The Discussion IELTS Writing Task 2 Question Type — Learn how to discuss both sides of an issue in IELTS Writing Task 2 with a question and example response.

More Resources for IELTS Writing

Finally, make sure you’re prepared for the official IELTS exam by familiarizing yourself with the IELTS, from task types to the question types you can expect to see on the exam! Once you’ve finished the IELTS General Training Writing practice test PDF with answers, take a look at the following to polish your writing even more.

• What do you need to know about IELTS Writing? Make sure you have the basics covered with this overview of the IELTS Writing tasks.
• Taking the Academic test? Here’s your complete guide to IELTS Writing Task 1 (Academic).
• No matter which test you’re taking, make sure you’re prepared for the second task with the complete guide to IELTS Writing Task 2!




• What types of questions can you expect to see on IELTS Writing Task 2? Find out with our guide to Task 2 question types!
• Looking to practice with Academic Task 1? Here are sample Academic Task 1 prompts you can use for this!
• Taking the General Training test instead? Enjoy Task 1 tips for writing a great letter!

Magoosh’s IELTS Essay Scoring Service

Last but not least, you may want to consider getting your essays scored by Magoosh IELTS instructors. Subscription prices and plans can be found at this page for Magoosh IELTS Essay grading.

Before you sit down at the test center to write your essays on the official IELTS Academic exam, what’s one thing you should absolutely do? Take an IELTS Academic Writing practice test! Not only can the test serve as a diagnostic, helping you guide your study, but it can also give you a sense of how close you are to reaching your score goals. With that in mind, Magoosh is thrilled to offer this free IELTS Academic Writing practice test with answers!

Below, you’ll find this practice Academic Writing test, including a PDF version. You’ll also read our scoring advice, then get links to other practice tests and practice questions you can use to get ready for test day.

IELTS Academic Writing Practice Test (PDF with Answers)

When you go through the PDF, try to write your own essays first. That way, you can compare your work to the model essays in the document! And now, without further ado, here’s the sample IELTS Academic Writing practice test:

How can I grade my writing tasks?

So you’ve finished writing the essays—congratulations! Now, it’s time to score them.

To do this, first read through the grading bands for Academic Writing Task 1 and Task 2.

Then, look at the scoring rationales in the PDF (IELTS Academic Writing Practice Test with Answers) for both Task 1 and Task 2.

Finally, turn back to your answer. How do your responses stack up? Here are some questions to help guide your scoring:

• Did your Task 1 word count exceed the 150 word minimum, and did your Task 2 word count exceed the 250 word minimum? If not, do not give yourself full points for “Task Response.”
• Did you address each part of the task? Break down the prompt into different parts. Then, match each part of the prompt to part of your essay. If you did not address one or more parts of the task, do not give yourself full points for “Task Response.”
• Does each paragraph have its own clear topic sentence and supporting details? If there are any problems here, then don’t give yourself perfect marks in “Coherence and Cohesion.”
• Do the tasks use transitional language to tie paragraphs together and move from the paragraph to the conclusion? This also affects your “Coherence and Cohesion” score.
• Do you use vocabulary clearly and fluently, avoiding serious errors in word choice, and varying word choice to avoid repetition? If not, do not give yourself full points for “Lexical Resource.”
• Do you use grammar with great skill and no major mistakes, using varied sentence structure to so that your writing doesn’t sound repetitive? If so, give yourself full points “Grammatical Range and Accuracy.” But if the answer is “no,” take some points away in this category.

Extra Practice Tests for IELTS Writing

Looking for another IELTS Writing practice test? Magoosh can help!

First, check out our IELTS Writing Practice Tests post. Here, you’ll find more IELTS Writing practice, including a list of bonus practice tests!

Next, head over to the IELTS General Training Writing Practice Test. In this post, you’ll find a different type of Task 1, but more practice with the same Task 2 you see in IELTS Academic. Task 2 doesn’t vary between test types, so the IELTS GT practice Task 2 is comparable to what you’ll see on the Academic test on the official exam.

Bonus Practice Questions

If you’re not looking for a full IELTS Writing practice test but just want practice with individual questions, these resources are for you. Some of these questions and sample essays are in the PDFs I’ve already shown you, but some of them are completely unique and new!

• IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Map With Model Answer — When you need practice with map questions specifically for the IELTS, this sample prompt and answer show you what a high-scoring response looks like.
• IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Process Diagram with Model Answer — Process diagrams on Task 1 can scare students, but they get a lot easier with practice!
• IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Line Graph with Model Answer (Band 9) — What does a high-scoring response on this common Academic Task 1 task type look like? Our experts show you here.
• IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Pie Chart with Model Answer — When the test asks you to analyze a pie graph, what should you do? This sample prompt and response will help you prepare.
• IELTS Writing Task 2: Causes/Solutions Sample Essay — How can you get a high score on a causes/solution essay? Take a look at this sample prompt and response to find out.
• IELTS Writing Task 2: Agree/Disagree — we also have a sample quesiton and model response for the common agree/disagree question type!
• IELTS Writing Task 2: Advantage/Disadvantage — Learn how to discuss advantages and disadvantages with a question and sample response for this variation of Task 2.
• IELTS Writing Task 2: Two-Part Essays — With an example question and an example response, learn how to answer two-part IELTS Writing Task 2 questions.
• The Discussion IELTS Writing Task 2 Question Type — Learn how to discuss both sides of an issue in IELTS Writing Task 2 with a question and example response.

More Resources for IELTS Writing

Finally, make sure you’re prepared for the official IELTS exam by familiarizing yourself with all types of the test, from the task types to the question types you can expect to see on the exam! Once you’ve finished the IELTS General Training Writing practice test PDF with answers, take a look at the following to polish your writing even more.

• What do you need to know about IELTS Writing? Make sure you have the basics covered with this overview of the IELTS Writing tasks.
• Taking the Academic test? Here’s your complete guide to IELTS Writing Task 1 (Academic).
• No matter which test you’re taking, make sure you’re prepared for the second task with the complete guide to IELTS Writing Task 2!
• What types of questions can you expect to see on IELTS Writing Task 2? Find out with our guide to Task 2 question types!
• Looking to practice with Academic Task 1? Here are sample Academic Task 1 prompts you can use for this!
• Taking the General Training test instead? Enjoy Task 1 tips for writing a great letter!

Magoosh’s IELTS Essay Scoring Service

Last but not least, you may want to consider getting your essays scored by Magoosh IELTS instructors. Subscription prices and plans can be found at this page for Magoosh IELTS Essay grading.

What is the IELTS CDT?

The IELTS CDT is, in most ways, exactly like the traditional IELTS, only delivered via computer. You’ll encounter the same sections (Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking), except you’ll see them on-screen instead of on paper. The only section that hasn’t been computerized is Speaking, which is still conducted in a face-to-face interview. The marking for the CDT is exactly the same. Both Academic and General Training tests are available in CDT format.

How is IELTS CDT different from the “regular” IELTS?

The main difference is that on the paper IELTS, the Listening section gives you 10 minutes at the end to record your answers on the answer sheet. With IELTS CDT, because you’ve been entering your answers as you go, the section only gives you two minutes at the end to check over your answers.

However, in terms of other timing aspects and the content of the test, you’ll find the IELTS CDT is identical to the paper-based IELTS.

What is it like to take the IELTS CDT?

Although the CDT exam content is the same as the paper-based IELTS, it is definitely a separate experience to take a computer-based IELTS! Looking at a screen for an extended period of time will feel different than taking a paper test. If you’re planning on taking the CDT, preparing primarily with on-screen materials will be important in training your mind and body for the official exam. You can use official IELTS CDT problems online to see what this experience feels like and if it’s right for you.

In terms of the test day experience, you’ll find that there are some interesting software features that may be helpful. This includes onscreen note-taking, highlighting, word count, and onscreen timer, as well as the ability to look over and change your answers. If you’re worried about not being able to take notes physically, don’t be: you get a pen and paper to use for note-taking during the test. In other words, scratch paper is available to test-takers.

Should I take the IELTS CDT?

It depends. There are a few factors to consider. First among these is logistics: the IELTS is opening up more and more test centers with this capability, but the CDT isn’t available everywhere yet. You can see the list of countries where it is currently available on the IELTS website and check if it is offered in a specific city or test center there, too.

Secondly, consider your own preferences. Are you a good typist? Do you prefer working on a computer to writing by hand? If so, the CDT may be a good option for you. If not, however, you might be better off with the paper-based test.

Finally, consider your own preparation style and resources. Do you have access to a computer for your preparation? Are you willing to spend time learning about the IELTS CDT software functionality in addition to preparing for the test content? If you do, then this could be a good option for you.

How can Magoosh help me prepare for a CDT?

Because Magoosh is an online platform, it’s actually a great way to prepare for the IELTS CDT. Most importantly, you’ll be able to practice working on a screen for extended periods of time, including taking online practice tests (in addition to all of the other benefits of Magoosh IELTS prep!). Although the software platform is not yet identical to what you’ll see on test day, we’re currently working to make it match the CDT experience even more closely. And in the meantime, the overall experience of working on-screen and typing responses to IELTS questions will provide you with big benefits on test day.

A Final Word

As it grows increasingly popular, it’s normal to wonder if the IELTS CDT right for you. If you’re comfortable working on screens and have the right mindset and materials available to prepare, it may be! But at the moment, remember that the paper-based test is still an option. And no matter which version of the IELTS you decide to take, the most important thing is to ensure that your preparation is thorough and efficient.

Table of Contents

IELTS Rubric: IELTS Writing Band Descriptors

For a lot of students, writing can be the hardest part of IELTS. Part of this has to do with the intimidation of writing: many of us aren’t comfortable writing at length in our first language, much less in a foreign language! However, it’s important to remember that the IELTS is a standardized test. The “standard” part of that means that the fundamental aspects of it remain the same between different versions of the exam, which you’ll see in the IELTS Writing rubric. The rubric contains what are commonly referred to as the IELTS Writing band descriptors, which are the explanations of what you need to achieve on the test in order to earn a certain band score.

The IELTS Writing rubric evaluates four different aspects of your responses: Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Task Achievement (or Task Response, for Task 2). You can view the rubrics at the links below.

• Task 1 rubric
• Task 2 rubric

Scoring Category 1: Coherence and Cohesion

What does it mean for a task response to be coherent and cohesive? This IELTS Writing rubric category has to do with how well your ideas flow together. Does the sequence of ideas make sense? Are your paragraphs effectively organized? Here is the main difference between low- and high-scoring responses on Coherence and Cohesion.

Point 1

How well do you organize your ideas into paragraphs?

Low vs. High Coherence and Cohesion Scores: Overview

Low-scoring responses show that the writer had significant problems organizing ideas into paragraphs logically, and/or that the writer had trouble expressing those ideas clearly.

High-scoring responses have ideas that are clearly organized into paragraphs, each with a clear main point and a logical connection to the rest of the essay.

Here’s what that looks like on each of the IELTS Writing tasks.

Low vs. High Coherence and Cohesion Scores: Task 1

When you approach Task 1, remember that you are not writing a standard essay like you would in English class or even for other tests. Task 1 is more like a report than it is like an essay. You should not put your personal opinion in Task 1. Luckily, no thesis is required, so you won’t need to present your opinion.

A high-scoring Task 1 essay will have three to four paragraphs:

Paragraph 1 should be a very basic description of the visuals—the charts, graphs, or other images—included in the question. If you don’t know where to start, remember that it’s often possible to simply paraphrase information from the prompt and the headers on the visuals in one to two sentences. Just make sure that you are paraphrasing and using different vocabulary as much as possible.

Paragraph 2 should provide an overview of the key information from the visuals. You still don’t need details from the visuals in this paragraph, so forget about specific numbers for now. Just provide a general overall description of the two or three most interesting pieces of information shown on the visuals.

In Paragraphs 3 and 4, it’s time to include key details from the visuals. To do this, return to the visuals and find numbers that directly relate to the points you made in paragraph 2.

While you don’t need a thesis statement (and shouldn’t have one in this task), each of these paragraphs should separately be organized around one main, controlling idea. For example, you could write: “The charts show that attendance for musical events grew much faster than attendance for sporting events over the last 10 years.” The remainder of each of these paragraphs should each focus on a controlling idea that includes details (these details are usually descriptions of the numbers) from the visuals that demonstrate the main idea.

For even more on IELTS Writing Task 1, check out Magoosh’s Complete Guide to Task 1.

Low vs. High Coherence and Cohesion Scores: Task 2

For Task 2, you can use a standard 5-paragraph essay structure. In this structure, the first paragraph is an introduction, followed by three body paragraphs and a conclusion.

For IELTS essays, keep your introduction pretty short. This is one place where it’s easy to overwrite and then run out of time for the rest of your essay! Keep it simple: two or three sentences work well. Your thesis statement (you will need one for Task 2) should be clearly stated within those sentences.

The most important thing to focus on in Task 2 is developing your body paragraphs. Each of these should have a topic sentence that clearly states the main point the paragraph will make. The rest of the paragraph should set forth the evidence supporting that main point. Then, a paraphrase of that main point and a transition to the next paragraph work well to end each paragraph.

The advice for your introduction also applies to your conclusion: don’t overthink it! Here again, two or three sentences are fine. This is another place to restate your thesis and, ideally, summarize how the points you made in the essay support it.

For even more on IELTS Writing Task 2, check out Magoosh’s Complete Guide to Task 2.

Tips for Improvement in Coherence and Cohesion

If you’re wondering how to get a good score in IELTS Writing, Coherence and Cohesion work is a good place to start. This is one area where editing and revisions can really pay off, even if you don’t have a teacher guiding you.

However, you’ll need to be critical of your own work if you don’t have a teacher guiding you. Here are some self-editing questions you can use to mark your own task responses.

• Do I have the appropriate number of paragraphs for my Task 1/Task 2 essay?
• Do my paragraphs each contain one controlling idea that I discuss throughout the paragraph?
• Is there information that is out of place because it does not fit the main idea of the paragraph containing it?
• Are there places where I should break one paragraph into 2 or more paragraphs because I move from one main idea to another?
• Do my Task 2 body paragraphs relate directly to my thesis statement?

Point 2

Are your ideas easy to follow? Do they flow logically from one to the next?

If this point sounds familiar, that’s probably because it is! We mentioned the same point for IELTS Speaking, and it applies equally to your IELTS Writing band score. In case you missed it, here it is again (and it’s worth repeating!).

Low vs. High Coherence and Cohesion Scores

Low-scoring responses in coherence and cohesion have gaps in logic. In other words, ideas may not be connected in a way that makes sense (or a way that is clear). This is particularly true for longer responses. IELTS responses that are low-scoring in coherence also tend to overuse connecting words. They use the same transition words and phrases repeatedly.

High-scoring responses in coherence and cohesion use a variety of cohesive features and discourse markers with ease. These are features that help communicate ideas clearly and logically, and without any noticeable gaps.

Tips for Improvement

• Add transition words/phrases to your repertoire. By not repeating the same connecting words, you’ll make your response more coherent; the more you practice with different connecting words, the greater you cohesion will become. If you’re not sure where to look, this is a helpful resource for transitions.
   
• Coherent responses use “referents” to connect ideas. A referent is a word that refers back to another. For example, you might write, “I get along well with Jim. I find that he has a lot to say about politics.” Notice that this appears more cohesive than “I get along well with Jim. I find that Jim has a lot to say about politics.” If you find that you’re repeating words a lot in your responses, that’s a sign that you should work on using referents. Mastering pronouns can help you with this; start your study here.

   
  What does this look like in practice? Here’s another example, incorporating two referents this time.

  • Low-scoring for coherence and cohesion: Adam’s roommate was upset because he didn’t wash his dishes after dinner last night. Adam often forgets to wash his dishes.
  • High-scoring for coherence and cohesion: Adam’s roommate was upset because he didn’t wash his dishes after dinner last night. This is common for him.

Scoring Category 2: Lexical Resource

The IELTS Writing rubric has Lexical Resource as its own category. In short, this rubric category evaluates your vocabulary. What will examiners be looking for? They’ll assess your ability to use words appropriately (in the right context) and accurately (with the correct meaning and grammar). It’s true on every section of the exam, and it’s equally true here: IELTS Writing rewards test-takers with large vocabularies.

Point 1

Do you have sufficient vocabulary to respond effectively to the question?

Low vs. High Lexical Resource Scores

Low-scoring responses frequently repeat words or use words that mean the same thing (creating redundancies) through the response. In addition, the overall message may be unclear or imprecise due to limited vocabulary.

High-scoring responses use a wide range of vocabulary precisely (showing your understanding of their meaning), appropriately (demonstrating your understanding of context), and accurately (illustrating that you you’re your grammar).

Tips for Improvement in Lexical Resource

• Seek variety in the reading and listening materials you use to study. You can’t know beforehand what your task will be: you may be asked to write about a social topic, education, raising children, the environment, or something completely different in Task 2. You should be studying varied reading and listening materials that discuss similar topics.
   
• Study successful IELTS essay responses. It can be difficult to know exactly what a high-scoring IELTS essay looks like until, well, you read one! Magoosh includes exemplary essays with its practice questions. Most textbooks provide sample responses as well. You can learn a lot of useful vocabulary and phrases from these essays to include in your own writing.
   
• For Task 1, study words and phrases that you can use to describe visuals and make comparisons. This includes describing increase/decreases over time; describing increases/decreases of various sizes/degrees (“slight,” “drastic,” “huge,” “minor,” “significant,” etc); and describing time (“over the last 5 years,” “during this period,” “by 2016,” “from 2012 to 2015,” etc.).

Point 2

Do you make errors in word choice, spelling, or word formation?

Low vs. High Lexical Resource Scores

This one’s pretty simple: Low-scoring responses make many errors. High-scoring responses don’t.

Tips for Improvement in Lexical Resource

• Improve your diction (word choice). If at all possible, get feedback from a native speaker about your word choices. Dictionaries are often insufficient—they don’t provide the full range of appropriate/inappropriate uses of a word. Sometimes a word may sound like precisely what you want to say, but actually have associations that you don’t want to make. Also, keep in mind that there are many “false friends” in English, which may sound like words in your native language but mean different things. For this reason among others, direct (word-for-word) translations from your native language to English tend to lead to inaccuracies. Try to formulate your ideas directly in English. This takes some practice, but it’s worth it!
   
• Improve your vocabulary. It’s hard to improve your word choice if you don’t have the words to choose from! Luckily, we can help you out there: study Magoosh’s guide to vocabulary to help maximize yours.
   
• Improve your usage. If you’re not sure whether you’re using a word correctly, study how native speakers use it. A simple online search for a word will often reveal some instances in which it is used. You can also use what’s called a “corpus.” If you search for a word or phrase in a corpus, it will provide you with a list of example sentences in which the word or phrase is used. Remember, too, that usage can and does change depending on whether you are using American or British English. Here’s an excellent corpus for American English, and one for British English.

Point 3

Do you use idioms and collocations (with accuracy) in your writing?

Low vs. High Lexical Resource Scores

Low-scoring responses contain hardly any idioms or collocations, or if they do, use them with frequent errors.

High-scoring responses use idioms and collocations accurately and naturally across a wide range of topics.

Unfortunately, idioms and collocations are one aspect of learning a foreign language in which there are few shortcuts. You learn idioms naturally through consistent exposure to a foreign language, as well as frequent communication in that language.

That’s not to say that there is nothing you can do, though! You can certainly learn idioms and collocations, then work them into your communications; just make sure that you have a native speaker double-check your usage!

Tips for Improvement in Lexical Resource

Spend time studying useful resource lists and attempt to use what you learn as you practice writing:

• Collocations Resource
• Idiom List
• Phrasal Verbs Resource
• Another Phrasal Verbs Resource

Scoring Category 3: Grammatical Range and Accuracy

This is another category that might look very familiar to you. Your Grammatical Range and Accuracy is also assessed on IELTS Speaking. In case you missed it, here’s what you’ll be evaluated on.

Point 1

Do you use a wide range of grammatical structures, including grammatical forms that are considered “advanced?”

Low vs. High Grammatical Accuracy Scores

Low-scoring responses for grammatical range and accuracy can have a variety of issues. Assess your recorded responses. Do you notice either of the following patterns?

• Relying mainly on simple sentence patterns (subject + verb).
   
• Overusing the BE verb as the main verb of a sentence (am, is, are, was, were). It is not incorrect or necessarily bad to use BE as a main verb. Even non-native speakers tend to overuse it. However, it does lead to a lot of repetition, and actively trying to limit BE verb use can be a fantastic language development exercise. BE is very limiting as a main verb for several reasons. Not only do you lose the descriptive possibilities of other verbs, but sentences also tend to follow one pattern: Subject / complement. Furthermore, overuse of BE does not permit adverb or adverbial phrases/clauses, leading to an overreliance on nouns and adjectives for description.

High-scoring responses for grammatical range and accuracy use a wide range of sentence patterns and grammatical structures accurately and appropriately. There are a lot of word types and structures to master. As you work on your IELTS Writing band score, evaluate how well you use structures like these with ease:

• Connectors like transition words/phrases
• Coordination
• Subordination
• Gerund subjects
• Passive voice
• Noun, adverb, adjective clauses
• Modal verbs
• Irregular verbs
• Transitive vs. intransitive verbs
• Pronouns
• Verb tenses

The important thing here is to evaluate, rather than spend a lot of time studying, each area. When studying for IELTS, it’s not a good idea to spend a significant amount of time studying tenses that occur rarely in the course of regular interactions, like past perfect progressive or even future perfect. It is a much better use of time reviewing the complexities of the most common verb tenses. Not sure what those are? Here’s a quick refresher:

• Simple present
• Simple past
• Present continuous
• Present perfect
• Past continuous
• Future simple
• Future continuous

Tips for Improvement in Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Study and review grammar as you prepare for the exam! Here are some resources I recommend.

• Recommended Grammar Textbook for Self-Study
• Transition Words and Phrases
• Noun Clause Resource
• Adjective Clause Resource
• Adverb Clause Resource
• Modal Verbs Resource
• Passive Voice Resource

Point 2

Do you make frequent grammar errors when you write?

Low vs. High Grammatical Accuracy Scores

Low-scoring responses for grammatical range and accuracy make consistent “systematic” errors. These are errors that reveal you’re having problems with a particular feature of English grammar–let’s say adjective clauses or verb tenses. In other words, they are repeated errors in the same grammatical errors.

High-scoring responses for grammatical range and accuracy can have occasional grammar mistakes! Making a few mistakes doesn’t mean that you can’t still score very high for grammar in the writing section. However, the mistakes should be isolated, not revealing general gaps in your grammar.

Top Tips for Grammatical Range and Accuracy

If you have grammar problems, consider signing up for a class or working with a tutor if that is an option. This can be the best way to discover and fix your grammar problems. If that is not an option, you’ll have to find ways to identify your own errors when you write. Here’s what I suggest:

• Record your responses.
   
• It is likely, even without the help of a native speaker or teacher, that you will be able to identify grammar mistakes you make. For example, you probably learned very early that in simple present tense, subject/verb agreement requires you to add an “s” to the end of a verb. However, even though you may know this rule very well, it is still one of the most common mistakes students make (even very advanced English students)!
   
  The biggest issue in this case is not finding the mistakes…it’s about finding them and then correcting them. It’s likely you will be able to catch many other similar mistakes when you listen to recordings of yourself. If you can limit these kinds of errors, especially if they show a pattern of errors, you can boost your grammatical range and accuracy score.

So you’ve found a mistake you make consistently. What can you do about it?

1. Identify it: What is the mistake and what is the rule that’s giving you trouble?
2. Practice it: Find some exercises in a textbook or online to practice the rule.
3. Performance: Try to incorporate what you learned/practiced in your IELTS Writing responses.
4. Repeat!

Scoring Category 4: Task Achievement and Task Response

In this scoring category, you are assessed on whether or not you completed the requirements for the task. The “Task Achievement” part of this IELTS Writing score category applies only to Task 1, while “Task Response” applies only to Task 2. Remember, Task 1 is more like a report, which is why you are evaluated on “Task Achievement,” or how well you achieved the goal of reporting all the main information. Task 2 requires a response from you, thus the label “Task Response.”

Point 1

Did you respond fully to all parts of the task?

Low vs. High Task Achievement and Task Response Scores

In this category, low- and high-scoring responses are separated by two qualities.

Low-scoring responses do not meet the minimum word requirement and/or do not meet all of the requirements presented in the prompt.

High-scoring responses do meet both the minimum word requirement and the requirements presented in the prompt.

Tips for Improvement in Task Achievement and Task Response

How can you write more in response to Task 1? If you are not meeting the word requirement, you must find ways to write faster. There are a few strategies that can help you do this.

First, reduce the time you spend brainstorming before you write. For Task 1, aim for no more than two minutes planning your responses. For Task 2, this increases—but not by much. Plan on spending no more than three to four minutes planning.

Second, write faster. Some people write slowly with pencil and paper. If this is you and you will be takign the paper-based IELTS, you may need to build more speed drills into your practice. The problem is that writing practice takes a lot of time (an hour for 2 full IELTS essays). On the computer-delivered IELTS, of course, maintaining a good typing speed will be key. In either case, it’s important set a realistic target for the number of mock writing tests you can complete.

You should also be doing (much shorter) daily writing practice exercises. Choose an IELTS-like topic (such as one of these) and write about it for 10 – 15 minutes only. Try to spend very little time brainstorming (30 seconds) and write as much as you possibly can in 10 – 15 minutes. Most students find that they can increase the amount they write for these mini-responses with practice—but remember, it takes time!

Point 2

Are the ideas in your essays fully developed?

Low vs. High Task Achievement and Task Response Scores

Low-scoring responses leave out required information from the prompt.

High-scoring responses satisfy each part of the question.

Tips for Improvement in Task Achievement (Task 1)

• Practice paraphrasing information from the prompt for your introductory paragraph. It’s worthwhile practice to simply write Paragraph 1 without completing the remainder of the essay every time. Why? Because Paragraph 1 is straightforward: you simply need to put the information from the prompt and the labels on the visuals in your own words. It has its own challenges; paraphrasing requires strong vocabulary skills. But the more you practice it, the easier it becomes!
   
• Task 1 responses almost always require you to make comparisons between two visuals that are at least somewhat related. Many students lose Task Achievement points because they struggle with this requirement. Instead, they simply report about the visuals separately, in separate paragraphs. Your goal should be to do some synthesis. Find ways in which the information on both visuals relates.

Tips for Improvement in Task Response (Task 2)

Make sure that you answer the question posed in the prompt! That sounds funny, but you’d be amazed at how many students lose Task Response points because they haven’t answered that question. It’s a common problem.

Let’s look at a sample question:

Increasingly, people choose to shop online instead of in stores. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this trend for shoppers and communities?

To get full points for this question, you would absolutely need to address all the points in the prompt. Therefore, at a minimum, you would need to include a discussion of:
1) The advantages and disadvantages of online shopping for shoppers
2) The advantages and disadvantages of online shopping for communities

Very frequently, test-takers only address (or fully develop) one of the ideas, either because they run out of time, or they don’t realize they need to cover all of these points.

An even bigger problem is when test-takers fail to respond directly to the main assignment. In this case, that’s to discuss advantages and disadvantages. You might wonder how this happens, but, for example, it’s fairly common to see essays that discuss why a writer does most of his or her shopping online. This is related to the essay, but it doesn’t directly answer the question when presented in this way.

If you’re missing Task Response points on Task 2, slow down! Spend some time (10 minutes or more) planning your essays before you actually start writing them. Really think about the question and how you will respond to each of its parts in a direct way.

If you’re stuck, find a sample essay and really study it. What is the main point of each paragraph? How does the main point relate to the thesis statement? How does the writer use details to support the main idea of each paragraph? How do all of these cover each required point in the essay prompt?

How to Increase IELTS Writing Score: A Final Word

IELTS Writing tasks can be intimidating, but the best way to make it less scary is to look at it systematically. Each IELTS band descriptor category evaluates a particular aspect of your writing; by addressing that aspect, you can improve your overall IELTS Writing band score. That’s not to say that every aspect is easy to improve. Some, like learning idioms, take more time than others. However, with hard work and practice, you can level up on IELTS Writing to get the score you need! A great next step in your practice, by the way, is to check out the resources in our complete guide to IELTS Writing.

Interested in improving your score for the other parts of the IELTS? See our accompanying posts on the band descriptors for Speaking, Listening, and Reading.

Improving your band scores for each section of the IELTS is the only way to boost your overall IELTS score, which is an average of your four sectional scores, so you’re off to a good start by working on your reading. Luckily, we can learn a lot from the IELTS reading rubric and IELTS reading band descriptors provided by the IELTS test makers.

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IELTS Reading Band Descriptors

IELTS Reading is scored in bands from 1-9, and includes half bands (for example, 4.5 and 5.5). There are 40 questions overall on IELTS Reading, meaning that if you want to move up to the next full band, this means that you’ll have to answer up to 6 more questions correctly. This can seem daunting, particularly if you have just taken the test and expected to score in a higher band. However, a lot happens during the IELTS exam, and understanding how you performed can help you reach a higher band the next time.

What does this look like? Here’s an overview of the IELTS band scores, straight from the official test-maker.

Consider what happened during the exam that may have had nothing to do with your preparation, English skills, or approach. Is there something you can improve upon among these factors that could give you a boost next time?

• Did you just have a bad day?
• Was your stress level too high?
• Was there a particular reading passage that caused you significant problems?

Once you know what caused your lower-than-desired IELTS band score, you can start to find strategies to raise it.

(If you aren’t sure what your current IELTS Reading level is, take a look at IELTS Scores, How to Estimate Your IELTS Score, and What Is a Good IELTS Score? for IELTS Reading band descriptors.)
 

How to Get a Good Score in IELTS Reading

After analyzing your performance on test day, it’s time to get started and find the best ways to raise your score!

Was timing an issue for you during IELTS Reading? Not having enough time to read and answer questions is the #1 problem students report to me about the Reading paper. And actually, traditional reading patterns don’t work very well on the IELTS. Reading the passage from beginning to end before answering questions does not work for most people. One would have to be a very fast reader to approach the test this way and get a high band score!

IELTS Reading Techniques

So what can you do to get faster? Learning strategies that are specific to IELTS Reading is key. It is essential to master these skills through repeated practice. Importantly, it’s essential to master skimming and scanning. When you skim, you strategically read different parts of the text to get the gist of the passage. Scanning, on the other hand, involves strategically looking for key words. The following method helps many students succeed, but takes some time to master!

1. Spend about 3-4 minutes carefully skimming the text.

• Read the first sentence(s) of each paragraph.
• Skim the remainder of the paragraph, underlining or highlighting key words as you go. What key words should you focus on? Look for the names of people, dates, concepts, terminology, and/or steps in a process.
• Overall, try to get the gist of the passage as you skim.
• Try to label each paragraph (2-3 words only), identifying the main topic it contains. This helps you to locate that paragraph quickly when you answer questions. It is also a good mental exercise because finding enough information to apply a basic label to a paragraph shows that you are skimming purposefully and effectively.

2. After scanning, answer questions by scanning. This is challenging. It can be very time consuming to scan for answers in a text of more than 800 words (that you haven’t read carefully).

The solution: Don’t answer questions in order. In each question set, some answers will be easier to find in the passage than others:

• As you look over the questions, you might remember where a topic is discussed in the passage. Start with that question!
• Capitalized names, dates, numbers, etc. stand out among other text when you scan. That information might be easier to find than other information.
• When you skimmed the text, perhaps you found that the text (or a part of the text) was organized in some kind of sequence (chronological, steps in a process, etc). This can be a critical clue about where to search for an answer.
• One of the major benefits of scanning for answers by starting with the easiest (to find) answers in the text is that it is very likely that you will find answers to other questions in the process of searching for these easy-to-find answers.

Reading Vocabulary

Veteran IELTS test-takers may have noticed that IELTS Reading rewards a large vocabulary. You can benefit from this knowledge by learning 10-15 new words every day and keeping a vocabulary journal. In fact, Magoosh can help you with mastering these words; check out our IELTS vocabulary flashcards!

Question Types

IELTS Reading questions also become a lot easier once you are familiar with the question types that appear most often on the exam. How can you do this?

First of all, become familiar with each question type with our free guide to IELTS Reading Question Types. If you subscribe to Magoosh; we have detailed lessons that cover strategies for each question type, and guided sample questions (within the lessons) that show how to apply the strategies discussed.

English Reading for IELTS Reading Mastery

Finally, if the test format itself is not the challenge, improving your English skills by building reading into your daily schedule is a fantastic way to boost your IELTS Reading band score over time.

You don’t need to read for hours and hours each day to improve reading comprehension. Students who spend 15-30 minutes reading IELTS-like material each day will see improvements over time. This isn’t a shortcut, but it is the best way to improve reading comprehension over time. Here is a list of appropriate reading resources:

Reading Resources List

• New Scientist: New Scientist is an international science magazine from UK. Some New Scientist articles, such as one called Flawed Beauty: the Problem with Toughened Glass, can be found in Cambridge IELTS books and past IELTS exams.
• Scientific American and American Scientist: Scientific American and American Scientist are two popular American science magazines. They also include health and education articles, which are very similar to IELTS Academic Reading passages. What is more, Scientific American offers hundreds of 60-second science podcasts, which are great for IELTS listening practice!
• BBC News: Get the latest news from different parts of the world in English. There are many kinds of reading materials on BBC News that work great for IELTS prep.
• The Economist: The Economist is another common source for IELTS reading passages. Many articles from past exams were taken from this magazine.
• National Geographic: National Geographic contains articles about geography, animals, culture, the environment, travel and adventure, which are common topics for both the Academic and General Training Reading exams.
• History Extra and History Net: History Extra and History Net are two great history magazine websites with podcasts, articles and reviews on a variety of events.
• Choose articles from any of these major newspapers:
  • The New York Times
  • The Telegraph
  • Australian
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Globe and Mail

Common IELTS Reading Mistakes to Avoid

In this video, Magoosh’s IELTS expert Eliot explains how to avoid the top five mistakes he commonly sees students making on the IELTS Reading section. With these tips under your belt, you’ll be well on your way to a great IELTS Reading score!

How to Get a Good Score in IELTS Reading: Final Review

While moving up one or more IELTS Reading bands doesn’t often happen overnight, it is absolutely possible! It will take time and commitment; it will also take a series of great resources (such as you’ll find at Magoosh!). But at the end of the day, don’t get discouraged! As the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race.

For a quick review, bookmark this page and scroll down to these tips to remind you of exactly how to keep your practice at its most effective!

Here’s how to get a good score in IELTS Reading…

1. Practice skimming and scanning techniques that will help you move more quickly through the test
2. Improve your English vocabulary
3. Become familiar with IELTS reading question types
4. Understand the Reading band descriptors
5. Practice reading IELTS-level material
6. Study online with Magoosh online prep!

Now that you know how to get a good score in IELTS Reading, perhaps you’re interested in how to improve your score for the other sections of the IELTS. See our accompanying posts on the band descriptors for Listening, Speaking, and Writing.

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Reflect on Your Current IELTS Listening Score

You may have gone into the IELTS Listening exam anticipating a higher score than you actually received. That’s okay! First of all, you can improve your score. Second of all, keep in mind that a variety of factors may affect your performance on the IELTS. We’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating here: if your IELTS Listening score is low, you need to evaluate what happened on test day.

Consider what happened during the exam that may have had nothing to do with your preparation, English skills, or approach. Is there something you can improve upon among these factors that could give you a boost next time? For example…

• Did you just have a bad day?
• Was your stress level too high?
• Was there a particular reading passage that caused you significant problems?

Watch the video below to learn about the top five mistakes mistakes students tend to make on the IELTS Listening section–and how you can avoid them!

For low IELTS Listening band scores in particular, there is also another possible issue to consider. Did you encounter a listening passage in Parts 3 or 4 that was about an academic topic that you know very little about? In theory, IELTS does not require specialized knowledge of any particular subject areas. However, in reality, everyone has strengths and weaknesses in certain academic areas. We’ll talk about how you can prepare for this without reading every textbook you can get your hands on!

Why is it important to identify the above issues? Well, they can certainly affect your Listening band score. Maybe they combined with other, content-based issues to give you a band score that you know you can improve. In short? Once you know what caused your lower-than-desired IELTS band score, you can start to find strategies to raise it.

It’s important to remember, as well, that not all of the above issues will apply to everyone. If you feel that you understand the test well and that your strategies are sound, it may be that you need to put in time and effort to improve your understanding of spoken English. No matter the case, we’ve put together our top tips to help you level up in IELTS Listening!

Review: IELTS Band Descriptors

If you haven’t seen them before (or even if you have!), you’re probably burning with curiosity to see exactly what those descriptors are. Well, wait no more! These are the general IELTS band descriptors. Combined with your scores from other parts of the IELTS (Reading, Speaking, and Writing), your IELTS Listening score will place you in one of these more general bands.

IELTS Band Descriptors

How to Get a Good Score in IELTS Listening: Eliminate Basic Mistakes

So now that you know (or remember) exactly what each IELTS band means, how can you improve your Listening score to bring your overall band score up? Here’s how!

First of all, eliminate basic mistakes. Make sure you’re getting the “low-hanging fruit” (that’s a great idiom for your collection, by the way!). What does this mean? It means to be sure not to miss questions on the easier part of the test, Part 1 and Part 2. When students miss questions in this are, it’s often because they’re making basic mistakes. Review your IELTS Listening test strategy. Does it help you prevent these mistakes?

If not, here’s what you should keep in mind: the IELTS Listening test requires serious concentration. You listen to a passage only one time, which is part of what makes taking practice exams so important: often in language classes, teachers will play a recording more than once. That won’t happen here. What that means for you as a test-taker is that you should spend most of your time listening. As a consequence, there isn’t much time to mark your answers as you listen. The recording keeps going! Another way this should shape your test-day behavior is by making you move on to the next set of questions the moment you finish one set.

How to Get a Good Score in IELTS Listening: Don’t Get Lost During the Recordings

Remember that each question set has a new set of directions. The word count for the different short answer questions will change, so be aware of this and stay focused on listening for what they are. This is a good reason to become very familiar with each question type! You don’t want to miss easy questions because you weren’t sure how to answer a particular type of question. If this happens, you will waste time trying to figure out what the question itself means, when you could have used that time to analyze the prompts before listening.

This is another skill that comes with practice. Even if you don’t have time for full-length IELTS practice tests (make time! It’s worth it!), make sure you’re practicing with full-length IELTS Listening sections so that you can practice these transitions. For a lot of students, the transitions cause major losses when it comes to their IELTS Listening band scores. As you practice, and particularly on test day, make it a habit to circle or underline word/number count limits for each set of short answer questions. This will remind you to double-check word/number limits when you transfer answers from your question booklet to your answer sheet.

Raising Your IELTS Listening Score: Proofread

What you do right after you write your responses can have a huge impact on your IELTS Listening band score. One important step is double-checking your spelling. This can impact your score, particularly when it changes meaning. For example, imagine that the first sentence of this section read, “What you do write after you right your responses”? It would make a lot less sense!

In addition to your spelling, check your grammar and logic. Specifically, check that your short answer responses make grammatical and logical sense within the surrounding text in the question prompt. What do I mean by that? Take a look at the following example.

Question prompt:
 
“Make sure to eat 12 healthy _____________” (Answer: “meals”)

In this case, the singular form “meal” would not be a correct answer. For “meal” to work, the question prompt would have to read, “Make sure to eat a healthy _________.”

The speaker would say “meals” in the recording, but the “s” is difficult to hear. Double-checking grammar is one way to avoid this kind of mistake when you transfer your answers to the sheet.

How to Become a Better IELTS Listener

Of course, let’s not forget about the actual act of listening itself! That is, after all, what your IELTS Listening band score measures.

First of all, don’t get lost during the recording. It’s important to remember that the speakers provide answers to the questions in the same order they appear in your test booklet. For example, the correct answer for question #3 will be given by the speaker(s) before the answer for #4 is spoken. This can make IELTS Listening an exercise in multi-tasking. It is essential as you listen to focus on the current question AND maintain at least some awareness of what to listen for in the next question.

You may miss an answer or two during the Listening paper, especially in parts 3 and 4. First of all, know that this is very common. Those are difficult tasks and a lot of students end up missing answers during them. It won’t have a huge impact on your IELTS Listening band score unless you let it affect your work going forward. If you realize you’ve missed answering a question just shrug (on the inside) and say (to yourself), “Well, I’ll get the next one.” Then, keep an eye on the next question and move on. The most important thing is to stay calm and don’t panic. Find your place within the question set and do your best from there. You have not just ruined your IELTS Listening band score—but panicking won’t help it!

How to Get a Good Score in IELTS Listening: Develop Your Vocabulary

As we mentioned earlier, a lack of knowledge about a particular academic topic can hold you back. But it’s not a working knowledge of that subject you need—it’s the vocabulary that goes with the topic. Lesson? Develop your vocabulary! Like all of the IELTS sections, IELTS Listening rewards a large vocabulary. How can you benefit from knowing this? Improve yours! Learn 10-15 new words every day and keep a vocabulary journal. This is another place where Magoosh can help out: with our IELTS Vocabulary App!

How to Get a Good Score in IELTS Listening: Listen to English Regularly

Getting into an academic mindset is also important. Listen to academic discussions and lectures regularly. Try to earn some extra points in Parts 3 and 4 of the test. There are few shortcuts to improve in these sections, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to improve your Listening band score! It just means that you’ll have to increase your comprehension of difficult and academic subject matter. The best way to do this is to regularly listen to similar content. There are a few good places to find this type of content: TED Talks are great for practice, as is talk radio from the BBC, NPR, CBC (canada), Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Radio New Zealand.

How to Listen During IELTS Practice

• Try to listen to 15-20 minutes of content each day.
• Aim for variety: don’t just stick to topics that interest you.
• Most programs/talk shows have written material on the website related to the stories being discussed. Use that material to help you understand the discussion. If you’re having a lot of difficulty understanding the speakers, read the content before you listen to get some background on the topic.

How to Get a Good Score in IELTS Listening: A Final Word

Improving your language skills can be a long process. Luckily, you can bookmark this page and return as often as you need to! For reference, here are the most important steps to raising your IELTS Listening score and meeting the IELTS Listening band descriptors.

1. Eliminate basic mistakes, especially in the easier parts of the test (parts 1 and 2)
2. Don’t get lost during the recording
3. Develop your vocabulary
4. Listen to academic discussions and lectures regularly (and listen well!)

By incorporating those steps into your regular practice, you’ll give yourself the best possible shot at leveling up on IELTS Listening. And while you’re doing that, make sure you also take advantage of Magoosh’s free Complete Guide to IELTS Listening, which gives you additional tips and tricks.

Interested in improving your score for the other parts of the IELTS? See our accompanying posts on the band descriptors for Speaking, Reading, and Writing. And for advice on choosing your target score, check out our article “What is a Good IELTS Score?“

Teaching the IELTS can present a variety of challenges: the IELTS tests English skills that students will continue to use and build long after the exam. Because of that, your role in the classroom is dual-purpose. You’re not only preparing your students for the exam itself, but you’re also teaching them a new language. (No pressure!)

It’s a challenge, but it’s definitely a worthwhile one! To help you and your students on your journey, we at Magoosh want to point you in the direction of the best free teaching resources for IELTS. You can use these IELTS teaching resources in a variety of ways, incorporating them into your own IELTS teaching lesson plan, using them as additional IELTS classroom resources, or simply using them to expand your own knowledge.

Ready to take a look? We’re excited to share with you the best of Magoosh’s IELTS material…so here it is!

IELTS Teaching Resources

This table contains all of the resources mentioned in this post in one organized place. Use this as a reference, or read on to get ideas for how you can incorporate all of these IELTS teaching resources into your lesson plan.

Intrigued? Keep reading to find out how you can best use these materials in your IELTS lesson plans!
 

Teaching IELTS for the First Time?

If you’re teaching IELTS for the first time, your big question is probably…how to teach IELTS. Don’t worry! Take a look at the following resources and wrap your mind around how you want to use your classroom time to your particular students’ advantage. As you go through the IELTS teaching information here, think about how you can use these IELTS teaching ideas to make your own IELTS teaching lesson plan that will really help your students succeed, based on their strengths and weaknesses.

IELTS Lesson Plans for Teachers Aren’t One Size Fits All: What Do You Need to Teach IELTS?

If you’re new to teaching IELTS, you may have come to this post looking for a fully formed lesson plan. The thing is—every classroom is different and no one knows your students as well as you. IELTS lesson plans for teachers are not only incredibly important, but also very unique to both the instructor and the material. Our goal here is to provide you with resources that can be used to suit any IELTS teaching lesson plan for any teacher and any class. We provide all the pieces, but leave it up to you to arrange them to your liking. If you get stuck or have any questions, just drop us a comment at the bottom of the page and we’ll get back to you!

Beginning Students and Vocabulary

Many of you are teaching IELTS to students who are very new to the test and are probably wondering how to teach IELTS to beginners. Trust us—it’s not as scary as it sounds! Even though you may be facing a classroom of students at varying levels, there are a variety of resources and strategies you can use to help each and every student succeed.

Let’s start by talking about vocabulary: Students should try to learn 10-15 new words each day. For most students, this is a manageable number; if a student balks at vocab study, be sure to point out that they can use “dead time” (on the bus, waiting in line) to learn these words and then reinforce their understanding in everyday conversation or during class. Point them in the direction of the IELTS vocabulary PDF for at-home study, while they may find the IELTS vocabulary flashcards are more helpful on-the-go.

How to Teach Each Section of the Test

The IELTS exam tests a lot of skills, and each test is very different. Rather than give you a bunch of general resources and tips, we’re going to break our IELTS teaching tips into the same sections as students will come across on test day: writing, speaking, reading, and listening. Let’s start with writing.

How to Teach IELTS Writing

Before you can teach IELTS writing—or even come up with your IELTS writing lesson plan—you’ll need to learn or review the format of the section. You can find official information here, while Magoosh’s experts have come up with a detailed overview of the exam format here. It’s helpful to see how the exam is scored, as well, before going any further. Here’s the official resource, and here’s our answer to that ever-occuring question, What is a good IELTS Score?

Once you have the general format down, dig a little deeper. We can help you there, too, with Magoosh: Complete Guide to Task 1 and Magoosh: Complete Guide to Task 2. These will help you guide students to their best scores through focusing on the specific requirements for each task (you can see the rubrics here, Task 1, and here, Task 2 Rubric).

Now that students know what the exam is asking them to do, they should work not only on practicing exam sections, but also on the skills needed within each of those exam sections. Key amongst these is learning how to paraphrase. There’s a great Purdue OWL paraphrasing explanation here, while Magoosh’s experts explain how that translates to the IELTS more specifically: Magoosh: Writing Task 1 paraphrasing video; Magoosh: Writing Task 2 paraphrasing video. In fact, these latter two videos give you a great exercise you can work with in class, using different questions.

The hardest thing about IELTS writing for most students will be learning to write well while also meeting the minimum word requirement within the time limit. For this, I recommend timed writing exercises. These are short 10-15 minute exercises in which students:

1. Answer one prompt with a timer running. Task 2 prompts work best for this exercise.
2. Attempt to write without stopping the entire time (i.e. no dictionary checking or outlining. Students should just write).
3. Students should focus on filling the page with details. Make a point and show what they mean with reasons, examples, illustrations, etc. This is often a weak point for non-native English speakers and a big reason they have such difficulty hitting the word-count minimum. Many students list main point after main point without fleshing out their message.
4. When time is up, students should spend some time editing their own work or a partner’s.

There are a few things you’ll want to focus on that are task-specific and extremely important. Now that you and your students are familiar with what’s expected, guide them towards mastery of the following.

Task 1

• Writing about numbers (dates, times, decimals, percentages, money, etc.)
• Learning how to describe the various Task 1 visual types
• Discussing trends and patterns in data
• Using analytical / objective language

Task 2

• Pre-writing
• Brainstorming
• Learning to outline very quickly before writing
• Essay organization
• Know the 5 types of Task 2 essays (see the Magoosh complete guide for Task 2, paying particular attention to the charts at the bottom)
• Learn how to write an introduction
• Learn how to write body paragraphs
• Learn how to use supporting details
• Learn how to write a Task 2 conclusion (1-2 sentence paraphrase of the thesis is recommended).

That’s already a lot to cover…but there are still a few more things that will help your students perform well on both writing tasks. They’re small but worth doing!
 

Finally, if your students are taking the paper-based IELTS make sure that your students practice Writing with pencil and paper. I don’t have resources to suggest here; this is just a skill that students should be practicing as they work on IELTS writing! It’s all the more important now that we’re so laptop-dependent. (Although the good news is that if your students have access computer-delivered IELTS testing, laptops may actually be a good thing.) Spelling counts on IELTS, so work with students on getting their spelling to a high level, as well.

How to Teach IELTS Speaking

Before creating your specific, tailored IELTS speaking lesson plan, make sure that you know the format of this section (the Magoosh: Complete guide to IELTS Speaking can help you out here!). Another important resource you should consult is the Official Speaking Rubric, which sets forth how students will be scored.
 

Of course, you’ll also want to draw your students’ attention to the requirements of each part of the Speaking section. So how to teach IELTS Speaking Part 1 (or 2 or 3, for that matter)? Here are our experts’ recommendations regarding what students should practice. N.B.: The Magoosh Speaking topics PDF is great for this.

Here’s what students and teachers should anticipate in IELTS Speaking.

Part 1: Speaking about oneself
Fluently discussing personal topics related to such things as:

• Hometown
• Habits
• Family
• School

Part 2: Monologue responses
Students should practice:

• Brainstorming monologue responses in 1 minute
• Answering each part of a Part 2 response fully
• Using supporting details
• Using transition words and other markers to indicate main ideas and shifts in the discussion

Part 3: Personal Perspectives
Expressing personal perspectives on complex topics with no clearly correct answer.

• The 500 NYT Writing prompts listed above work great for this!
• Work on discussing a wide range of topics (education, government, technology, history, the environment, etc.)
• Let’s face it: It’s difficult to predict Part 3 topics in advance, but these questions commonly focus on topics that one might expect to read about in the news or study in school. The best way for teachers to help students is to expose them to many topic areas with opportunities for discussion. Students should be encouraged speak at length about their personal perspectives as much as possible, since this is a basic feature of Part 3.

How to Teach IELTS Reading

If you’ve read through this post so far, you probably know what we’re going to recommend in terms of IELTS teaching tips…learn the format (Magoosh: Complete Guide to Reading)! Here, though, we’ll take it one step further and say that students should also study each question type and its directions in detail, since there are more types of “tasks” in this section than any other on the IELTS. There’s a pretty good official resource to help with this (Official: Question Type Descriptions).

Once you and your students have these basics down, the basic strategy is this:

1. Pre-reading (skimming a text)
2. Scanning for answers

That’s it!

Well, okay…not quite.

Here’s the thing: on the exam, students do not have time to read the passages carefully and complete all the questions. That’s why the approach Magoosh promotes is:

• Take less than three minutes to do some pre-reading:
  • Read title / headings
  • Read the first sentence or two of each paragraph
  • Skim the remainder of each paragraph quickly. Underline or highlight key words / information
  • Write very short notes in the margins (1-3 words max), labeling the topic of each paragraph if possible.
• Then, go straight to the questions. Read the questions and scan for answers. Correct answers usually paraphrase the text.

How to Teach IELTS Listening

Don’t assume that just by being in your class, students will hear enough English to make IELTS Listening a breeze! (And don’t try to incorporate imitations of accents into your IELTS listening lesson plan…trust us, it’ll just get confusing, mate.) So what should you do?

You guessed it! Learn the format of this section to teach your students. Can we help you? We definitely can: Magoosh: Complete Guide to IELTS Listening. Then, understand each question type and its directions. IELTS will help you and your students there: Official: Question Type Descriptions.

Because, as veteran teachers know, IELTS Listening isn’t really like listening to a normal conversation, students should practice analyzing IELTS Listening questions early. They’ll need to work in the time provided before the speakers begin talking (30 seconds). This is described fully in the Complete Guide to IELTS Listening above. Then, students should make predictions about possible correct answers (i.e. can part of speech be determined? Are there context clues in surrounding questions?)

Finally, make sure that your students get exposure to both the “form” (accent) and “content” (subject matter/material) of IELTS speaking by having them listen to academic discussions and lectures for comprehension; the better TED talks are great for this, if they don’t rely too heavily on visuals. Students should also get used to listening to a variety of accents. Thanks to the Internet, radio programs and podcasts from the U.K., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States are easily accessible online (thanks, Internet!)

A Final Word

The IELTS can seem overwhelming at first to teachers and students alike. That’s why advanced preparation is absolutely key. And while you don’t need to have your IELTS lesson plan finalized down to the last second before the first day of class (you’ll want to adapt based on your students, of course!), knowing the test inside and out—and how you can help your students succeed on each and every section—is a great way to prepare. Congratulations on the job—and good luck!