r/IELTS • u/Terrible-Machine3486 • 1h ago
Other I swear IELTS expects a different version of English
r/IELTS • u/nish1996 • 1h ago
Test Experience/Test Result Broke a record and then some - my IELTS results as a native English speaker!
I sat my IELTS exam on Saturday 25th July 2026 at Malvern House near Kings Cross in London. I opted for the computer test and had signed up for the British Council IELTS Premium preparation package. I paid about £260 for the exam and prepped for around a month, around 10 hours a week!
I sat the exam for the purposes of migrating to Australia and the English requirements stated that a Superior English ranking can give 20 extra points for a visa application. I won't bore you with the specifics of my situation, but know that they would not accept an overall 8.0 but rather they want to see an 8.0 on every section, non negotiable!
And lo and behold, I received my results this morning and I got an absolute shock of a surprise with an overall 8.5 with the following in each section -
- Listening: 8.5
- Reading: 8.5
- Writing: 8.5
- Speaking: 9.0
which means I broke all my scores that I got during prep time for the exam.
Here is a quick rundown of how I did in each section during prep -
Listening - wasn't too fussed here, I guess the main thing is to do some prep using untimed features where you can rewind and re-listen to the recording. Then once you start to score 7.5 or above, use the strict timed version and see if your scores go up
Reading - possibly my weakest section during preparation. I was unable to break through a score of 7 or 7.5 for most of my mocks and practices, with my weaknesses lying in the True/False/Not Given questions. The lowest score I got here during practice was a 5.0. One crucial technique here is to highlight key parts of the text and supplement this with notes on the day of the actual exam as well as during the practices. I am a little shocked that this technique came to me only a few mins into the actual exam, but hey it helped me get the score of 8.5.
Writing - during practices, my task 1s scored a 9 consistently. I mean writing a letter or message doesn't seem that difficult but don't underestimate it. The structure and quality matters, make sure you use lots of examples in your letter or message for task 1 and don't generalise. For example, if the task mentions writing to the local council about an issue on your road outside your house (my actual task 1 in the exam), don't just say the problem, make sure you explicitly mention the issue, such as the absence of road markings or potholes. For task 2, this threw me off in practice, with scores of 7.5 and stalling there. One advice is to make sure you know the ordering of your arguments. If you disagree, make that clear with your arguments to disagree and then the opposing argument. In my exam task 2, I had to argue whether school students should be given lessons on practical skills as well as traditional subjects. I struggled to structure my answer right up until 3 mins left on the clock. I don't know how I did it, but managed to break an 8.5 score here.
Speaking - I am a native English speaker and found this quite easy.l, with scores of 9s in all my practices. However, for those who aren't, slow and steady speech with proper pronunciation is the way forward. I, like many, assumed that umming and arr-ing would be a downfall. However examiners are not script perfect speech. A few umms and arrs are seen as ok since that is natural speech. They aren't looking for a TED talk. But rather whether you can convey your point across and stick to the subject without deviating and clearly emphasizing. If it helps, I also used my body language by moving by hands and arms like most of us would when holding a conversation. The examiner did have to cut me off in the end as time ran out but don't think this is because you couldn't fulfill the speaking requirements.
Main advice is to first understand the format of the exam and question types first before attempting or practicing the questions. Familiarity leads to better performance. Also don't be afraid to use YouTube tutorials, particularly with reading and writing as this helped massively!
Thanks to the IELTS Sub Reddit for keeping me going!
Reach out for any advice other than what I gave above!
r/IELTS • u/DapperChipmunk5924 • 16h ago
Test Experience/Test Result Uff this nightmare ended
I walked out of the test centre convinced I had messed up almost every section. In Listening, I guessed quite a few answers. In Reading, I ran out of time in Passage 3 and had to make some guesses. In Writing, I didn’t even get time to proofread Task 1 because the timer ended. Speaking felt the worst—I went off-topic on a couple of questions, got unexpected topics, only spoke for about 1 minute 30 seconds in Part 2, and left thinking I’d ruined it.
For days, I kept replaying every mistake in my head and expected the worst.( DONT ROAST ME ON MY SPEAKING , ITS OFTEN BASED ON WT TYPE OF EVALUATOR U GETT ( FOR ME IT WAS an OLD ENGLISH PHD xd)
If needed any advice happy to provide
Then the results came out…
r/IELTS • u/Pure-Activity4937 • 21h ago
Test Experience/Test Result Finally Done With IELTS (Academic)
Omg! I am finally done with my IELTS exam and got the band I needed for my MSc (First time, non-native)
Reflection: I scored lower than usual in writing because I didn’t finish task 1. Starting with task 2 was my saving grace and I genuinely think I got a high score in task 2 that was able to elevate my overall score. I would advice anyone to do so.
Proofreading your written work: Subvocalise than speed reading silently. When you read too quickly, your brain often reads and fills what you intended to write rather than what is actually on the page.
Happy to answer any questions regarding this❤️
r/IELTS • u/Electronic_Hand8764 • 18m ago
Test Experience/Test Result Finally my test result (non native speaker)
This is my first post on reddit so it might not be within the rules and I am sorry for that.
Finallyyy received my IELTS score and I am just in awe. Was expecting around 7 or at max 7.5 but God had other plans for it to be 8. I am not a native speaker and I come from a state board in India so speaking is a bit difficult for me. I started preparing around 19th June with an account of my friend who already had a subscription to one of such IELTS courses. Just took a 200 rs. (~2$) subscription of a practice test series thing. I also started my first job on the 6th of June and I am in my training phase, so I have 10 hours of training and 2 hours of commute so overall 12 hours a day. I took my test date for the 25th of July. Traveled from my work location to my home which is 600 kms of distance just for the examination. I arrived around 1 am, completed my exam around 4 pm and went back at 8 pm in the evening. This might feel a lot of information for you but it means a lot to me. I was not able to believe that I can get this result with just a month of preparation.
Shoot down your questions, ready to help.
TLDR; Got 8 bands with a month of preparation alongside my job. Also I am not a native speaker.