{"id":852,"date":"2016-10-13T15:03:28","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T22:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/?p=852"},"modified":"2019-01-31T15:05:18","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T23:05:18","slug":"ielts-pitfalls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/ielts-pitfalls\/","title":{"rendered":"IELTS Pitfalls"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Before using any study material or answering any questions, you should know the common IELTS pitfalls that may lower your band score. Most of them can be avoided if you read this blog and keep them in mind when you are practicing or taking the test. Let\u2019s take a look at the frequent mistakes to get higher scores!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-853\" src=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2016\/10\/shutterstock_392771923.jpg\" alt=\"IELTS pitfalls-magoosh\" width=\"1000\" height=\"624\" srcset=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2016\/10\/shutterstock_392771923.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2016\/10\/shutterstock_392771923-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2016\/10\/shutterstock_392771923-768x479.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Lack of preparation<\/h2>\n<p>Some candidates have good English communicating skill in social situations, so\u00a0they believe that they can get high scores on the IELTS even if they don\u2019t prepare a lot. However, taking a test is different from using the language in your daily life because the IELTS tests your overall English ability in social and academic settings. You should do adequate preparation to get familiar with the test format and content.<\/p>\n<h2>Memorizing answers<\/h2>\n<p>It is a bad idea to memorize answers for the speaking and writing test. There is only a little possibility to meet questions which\u00a0you have prepared. Even if you are lucky enough to receive a similar question to what you have memorized, the examiners can easily spot it by asking you more questions.<\/p>\n<h2>Not following instructions<\/h2>\n<p>If you don\u2019t follow instructions, you will definitely lose important marks. Though it seems easy to follow instructions, some candidates are likely to ignore them. Read instructions carefully before answering questions and keep them in mind. Pay attention to word limits for form\/table\/sentence completion questions.<\/p>\n<h2>Running out of time<\/h2>\n<p>You need to allocate your time wisely during the test. You will run out of time if you don\u2019t pay attention to the timing. Some questions take more time to answer, so you have to leave more time for them. In reading test, questions on the last passage usually take more time to think than the others. Therefore, if you don\u2019t know the answer to a question, just move on to the next and come back to it\u00a0later. In writing test, you should finish the first task in 20 minutes. Otherwise, there won\u2019t be enough time for you to complete the second task.<\/p>\n<h2>Saying\/writing too much or too little<\/h2>\n<p>I suppose that you know you will receive lower scores if you say\/write too little. You should also know that longer answers don\u2019t mean higher scores. Instead of making answers longer, you should improve your answers on the content, structure, vocabulary and grammar. Also, you should always stick to the topic. Never go off-topic.<\/p>\n<h2>Grammar and spelling mistakes<\/h2>\n<p>Many candidates lose valuable marks on simple grammar and spelling mistakes. You can avoid these mistakes by checking answers. Check your spelling carefully. Check singular, plural and past forms before the test ends.<\/p>\n<p>Check out out posts on <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/5-common-grammar-mistakes-ielts-writing\/\">common IELTS writing mistakes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/common-mistakes-ielts-speaking\/\">IELT speaking mistakes<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/ielts-listening\/\">IELTS listening mistakes<\/a> to learn detailed IELTS pitfalls in these sections. You can get higher scores once you know these pitfalls and keep them in mind!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before using any study material or answering any questions, you should know the common IELTS pitfalls that may lower your band score. Most of them can be avoided if you read this blog and keep them in mind when you are practicing or taking the test. Let\u2019s take a look at the frequent mistakes to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3995],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[5084],"class_list":["post-852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ielts-resources"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>IELTS Pitfalls - Magoosh Blog \u2014 IELTS\u00ae Exam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Before using any study material or practicing any questions, you should know the common IELTS pitfalls that may lower your band score.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/ielts-pitfalls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IELTS Pitfalls\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Before using any study material or practicing any questions, you should know the common IELTS pitfalls that may lower your band score.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/ielts-pitfalls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2014 IELTS\u00ae Exam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-13T22:03:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-31T23:05:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/files\/2016\/10\/shutterstock_392771923.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kuangyan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kuangyan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/ielts-pitfalls\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/ielts-pitfalls\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kuangyan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#\/schema\/person\/24d8ad54eb078e91414791a4923af4e8\"},\"headline\":\"IELTS Pitfalls\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-13T22:03:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/ielts-pitfalls\/\"},\"wordCount\":492,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"IELTS Resources\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/ielts-pitfalls\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/ielts\/ielts-pitfalls\/\",\"name\":\"IELTS Pitfalls - 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