Learn Grammar for IELTS in 10 Weeks: IELTS Study Material & Schedule

At Magoosh, we get a lot of questions from students wondering how they can improve their band scores and English grammar for IELTS. Of course, one way is to learn about the test—how it’s scored, how to approach the various question types, how to strategize for each section, etc. For students who only have a short time to prepare for the exam (six weeks or less), this is the best approach.

However, if you have more time to study, a second way to make significant improvements to your score is quite simply to improve your English. If using classes or tutors isn’t possible or desirable, you can still improve your English skills on your own with the right kind of practice. In this post, we will teach you how to study for the IELTS by yourself, at home, with an IELTS self study schedule.

How to Prepare for IELTS at Home with our Language Development Study Schedule

With the Language Development Study Schedule in this post, you can see how to prepare for IELTS at home with IELTS study material, nine types of IELTS practice material designed for all four sections of the test, and weekly study activities.

Completing this 10-week study plan will help you improve your English in the following ways:

• You will learn relevant IELTS vocabulary
• You will learn and practice advanced grammar for IELTS
• You will gain exposure to a wide variety of IELTS-like reading and listening topics
• You will practice listening to different English accents
• You will practice speaking and writing about a wide variety of IELTS-like topics
• You will develop more fluency when speaking at length about a topic
• You will write clearer and more accurate sentences more quickly

Do you have fewer than 10 weeks before you take the IELTS exam? You may want to consider our 1-week or 1-month IELTS study schedules instead.

Study Schedule Table of Contents

• How to Use This Study Schedule
• IELTS Study Material
• Reading Resources
• IELTS Practice Material: Explanation of Weekly Exercises
• 15-Minute Writing
• 2-Minute Speech
• Vocabulary Journal
• Magoosh IELTS Flashcards
• Azar Grammar Book
• Magoosh Grammar Videos
• Current Events Listening
• Variety Listening
• Variety Reading
• Your Weekly Schedule to Improve your Grammar for IELTS
• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6
• Week 7
• Week 8
• Week 9
• Week 10
• A Final Word

How to Use the IELTS Language Development Study Schedule

Following this schedule is like training for a race or practicing for a musical concert. You will complete weekly training activities that help you refine your skills for all four sections of the test.

Below, you will find a description of the IELTS practice material you’ll encounter each week, followed by 10 tables (one for each week) with these weekly activities. The tables are organized as checklists so you can keep track of your progress. You have the freedom to decide how to spread out the activities over seven days. You can even do the activities in a different order than they are listed in, if you’d like. Just check off exercises as you complete them!

Finishing all of the suggested activities each week can require a significant time commitment. Depending on your speed, it may take 5-10 hours. If you have more than 10 weeks before your exam, I recommend one of the following options:

1. Spread out the activities in this schedule over more time.
2. Begin (and possibly complete) this schedule before you begin studying intensively for the IELTS exam itself.

In both cases, you may wish to supplement this schedule with more activities. The best way to do this is to add more reading and listening practice. In the IELTS Study Material section, you will find a list of reading resources. And the weekly study checklists include listening resources with an almost endless supply of content.

IELTS Study Material

Most of the IELTS study material contained in this schedule is available for free online. Just click the links included in each weekly study checklist!

The exception is the grammar development portion of this study plan. There are many grammar resources available online. However, there are very few with high-quality explanations and exercises that will help you make real improvements to your grammar for IELTS while studying on your own.

The book I recommend for self-study is Understanding and Using English Grammar. This book contains the advanced grammar concepts you should know in order to boost your IELTS band scores, especially in writing and speaking. It also includes many helpful exercises and explanations that you can use to correct your own errors.

Additionally, Magoosh IELTS Prep students have access to the grammar videos that are linked in the grammar section of this study schedule. These videos review key concepts dealing with grammar for IELTS.

IELTS Study Material: Reading Resources

New Scientist: New Scientist is an international science magazine from the 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 practice material.

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

IELTS Practice Material: Explanation of Weekly Exercises

In the study schedule below, there are many valuable learning exercises that you’ll do every week. Before you start, read this overview of the types of IELTS practice material you will encounter.

15-Minute Writing

Goals:

• Increase your writing speed
• Think about how to respond to IELTS-like writing questions more quickly
• Improve the grammatical accuracy of your sentences
• Improve the focus and clarity of your writing
• Expand the vocabulary you use to write

The Exercise:

Here’s what you should do for each 15-minute writing exercise:

1. Write with pencil and paper like you will on the exam (unless you’re taking the computer-delivered IELTS).
2. Read the prompt provided on the weekly schedule.
3. Give yourself no more than one minute to think of a response.
4. Set a timer for 15 minutes and begin writing.
5. Here’s the challenge: try to keep your pencil moving the entire time. DO NOT use a dictionary as you write. Your goal is to JUST WRITE for 15 minutes and see how much you can produce. Over time, you should try to write more and more.
6. Review: This is an essential part of this exercise! When you finish, spend 5-10 minutes reviewing what you wrote. This is the time to consider whether your word choice and grammar could be improved. Keep track of consistent mistakes. If possible, share your writing with a native English speaker to get some feedback! Finally, once you are completely done with your initial writing and feedback, use your dictionary and look for places in your response where you had trouble expressing your ideas. NOW you can use your dictionary to search for words that would have improved your response. Add these words to your vocabulary journal, so you can remember them and use them in future writing.

2-Minute Speech

Goals:

• Speak more fluently about a wider variety of topics
• Have an easier time speaking for 1-2 minutes (important for Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test)
• Expand the vocabulary you use when speaking
• Improve the focus and clarity of your responses
• Improve the grammatical accuracy of your responses

The Exercise:

Here’s what you should do for each 2-minute speech:

1. Read the prompt in the study schedule.
2. Give yourself no more than one minute to think about what you want to say. You may write notes if you wish.
3. Turn on your voice recorder and respond. Use this recorder if you need a way to record yourself.
4. Review: This is an essential part of this exercise! When you finish, listen to your speech at least once. Think of ways you could have responded more clearly, or in a more organized way. Try to catch grammar or vocabulary mistakes and keep track of regular errors. If possible, ask a native English speaker to review your response and give you feedback! Were there ideas you wanted to express but couldn’t because you lacked the words? Use your dictionary and find vocabulary that could have helped you articulate your ideas. Add these to your vocabulary journal.

Additional tip: Try your best to speak without stopping, and AVOID starting over from the beginning if you make mistakes. Each time you practice, your goal is to make it from the beginning to the end of your response without repeating yourself or getting lost. With repeated practice, you will get better and better at answering these questions with lengthy responses (like IELTS Speaking, Part 2!).

Vocabulary Journal

Goals:

• Master new words
• Create a personalized resource for regular review

The Exercise:

1. Add new words to your vocabulary journal each day. Since it’s probably unrealistic to work on your journal seven days per week, this study schedule sets the weekly goal at 50 words per week.
2. Each entry should include:
   -The new word
   -A short and simple definition (or synonym) in English
   -A sample sentence that will help you remember the meaning
3. Spend a few minutes reviewing words from prior days as well. It is much better to spend a little time reviewing your journal each day (5-10 minutes is good!) than to spend long chunks of time trying to memorize a lot of words in one or two sessions. Simply scan your list and slow down on the least familiar words. Read the definition and sample sentence and then move on. Over time, you will master all the words on our list with enough repetitions.

Magoosh IELTS Flashcards

Goal:

• Master difficult words that occur frequently on the IELTS exam

The Exercise:

Use Magoosh’s IELTS vocabulary flashcards as a supplement to your vocabulary journal. On days when you do not add new words to your vocabulary journal from other exercises like reading or listening practice, study your flashcards to ensure you’re learning 10-15 new words each day.

Azar Grammar Book (recommended)

Goal:

• Review (or learn for the first time!) and practice advanced English grammar for IELTS, that will boost your score in the Writing and Speaking modules in particular

The Exercise:

Study the chapter(s) of Betty Azar’s Understanding and Using English Grammar listed in the weekly checklists. It’s fine to skip over topics that you’ve already mastered. Do as many of the practice exercises as you have time to complete each week. You do not need to complete them all. Make sure to leave enough time to review your incorrect answers.

Magoosh Grammar Videos

Goal:

• Grammar review

The Exercise:

These short videos are excellent for supplemental grammar review. Magoosh IELTS Premium students can click the links in this schedule to access the videos. Alternatively, Magoosh IELTS students can go to their Magoosh dashboard and select “Lessons” at the top. The Magoosh grammar videos are listed for you along the right side of the resulting page.

Magoosh English also offers (free!) instructional videos on the grammar concepts listed in this study schedule. Sign up and search for the videos by title.

Current Events Listening

Goals:

• Exposure to challenging listening material covering a wide range of IELTS-like topics
• Increased comprehension of various English accents
• Exposure to new vocabulary
• Increased ability to comprehend discussion of complex topics

The Exercise:

For this exercise, you will listen to the news for 20-30 minutes three times per week. Here’s what you should do:

1. Click on the provided link in the “Current Events Listening” section.
2. On the resulting page, search for stories that look interesting to you. Many of these channels also allow you to “listen live,” in order to hear whatever programming is playing at that moment.

Perhaps you can do this exercise when you’re getting ready for school or work in the morning, or possibly on your commute. Whenever it suits for you, just listen and try your best to comprehend what you hear. The radio news outlets linked in these exercises will expose you to accents from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the United States, and New Zealand.

If you’re having trouble comprehending the stories, you can most likely find a written article about the topics discussed in the program on the homepage of the radio station you’re listening to.

As always, make sure to write down new vocabulary. Most stories you hear are recorded (not live), so you should have the ability to pause and play the the program if necessary to write down new words.

Variety Listening

Goals:

• Exposure to advanced IELTS-like listening content
• Increased comprehension of various English accents
• Exposure to new vocabulary
• Increased ability to comprehend discussion of complex topics

The Exercise:

The passages linked in this section of the study plan are excellent practice for Part 4 of the listening testie, which is the most difficult section of the exam. You will gain exposure to a wide variety of topics and speaking styles. Most of the recordings offer transcripts or supplemental written materials, which can help you if you’re struggling to understand what you hear!

Variety Reading

Goals:

• Increased comprehension of challenging reading materials
• Exposure to new vocabulary

The Exercise:

Three days per week, you should choose one or two articles from the “Reading Resources List” provided below. Your goal is to read for 30 minutes a day.

Read actively:

• Take notes
• Underline words you don’t know
• Try to comprehend the passage as a whole. Can you articulate the main idea of each paragraph after you read it?

When you finish reading, don’t forget to add new words to your vocabulary journal.

Additional tip: Don’t just read articles on topics with which you are already very familiar. It’s likely you already know a lot of vocabulary in this area. Push yourself and read about new things! Keep in mind that IELTS Reading covers a wide range of topics. It’s impossible to predict the specific subjects you’ll encounter on your IELTS exam. Your best bet is to prepare by reading widely!

Weekly Study Schedule to Improve Your English Grammar for IELTS

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

A Final Word

Congratulations! If you made it this far, you’ve worked to improve your English grammar for IELTS, and completed a very rigorous self-study English course. By now, your English skills should be very sharp.

Relax, be confident, and do your best on the exam. Good luck!