How to score in IELTS?

READING TIPS

1.       Skim (general idea) and scan (important points) through the passage before answering your questions (underline or highlight important points).

2.       Skip questions that take too long to answer and get back to it once you’re done with all the questions (saves time, increases focus and reduces time pressure).

3.       If you can’t seem to get the answer for the difficult questions, skim and scan through the passage again, as many times as you can until you understand and get an idea of the best answer.

4.       If you finish early, make sure to check all your answers and make sure you have answered everything. (double check if you have extra time, you don’t want to end up with careless mistakes).

LISTENING TIPS

1.       Underline possible key points from the question before listening to the audio.

2.       Focus focus focus (LISTEN not just hear).

3.       Don’t panic when you miss one question because that will cost you repetitive missed questions. Move on immediately to the next question and make sure not to miss any for the second time, or third time.

4.       Enjoy and be keen on listening to the audio as if you’re listening to a story because that’s how you can understand better. (it’s not just about answering questions, it can be new knowledge for you as well) 

SPEAKING TIPS

1.       First impression is important – Be confident but not overly-confident, there’s a huge noticeable difference in between those two and trust me when I say it’s obvious, because it is.

2.       Relax and speak clearly – make sure that your pronunciation is clear and understandable, don’t talk too fast and don’t talk too slow, talk at your normal speed (this will make you look comfortable and professional).

3.       Take your time answering the question, don’t force yourself to answer straight away (if you don’t take your time to think, you will end up with a messy structure of sentences and you will stutter a lot as well).

4.       Try to talk more but refrain from talking too much – do not answer the question with a one-sentence answer, elaborate more but not overly, focus on the key points of the questions and make sure you don’t just talk about this and that without answering the question.

WRITING TIPS

1.       Read the instruction, understand the question and answer them accordingly (don’t go astray from the topic) – read the question very thoroughly and make sure you highlight or underline the important points.

2.       Make a draft of your introduction, body and conclusion (bullet points) – It’s better to think first and gather all the ideas in your mind then lay it out on a piece of paper so that you will have a picture on how to arrange your points and how to start and end your essay before you start writing.

3.       Make it four or five paragraphs, different paragraph for different point – it’s important to make sure that you write just enough, not less nor more than enough because the moment the examiners catch a glimpse of your essay, they can tell the quality of the essay by the length and organisation of the paragraphs.

4.       Read through your essay at least twice to make sure there is no error – take a closer look at your grammar and your vocabulary to make sure that there is no grammar or spelling error. Then read your essay again to ensure your sentence structures and usage of words are appropriate.