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Simone Braverman

Simone Braverman is the founder of IELTS-Blog.com and the author of several renowned IELTS preparation books, including Ace the IELTS, Target Band 7, the High Scorer's Choice practice test series, and IELTS Success Formula. Since 2005, Simone has been committed to making IELTS preparation accessible and effective through her books and online resources. Her work has helped 100,000's of students worldwide achieve their target scores and live their dream lives. When Simone isn't working on her next IELTS book, video lesson, or coaching, she enjoys playing the guitar or rollerblading.

IELTS Results competition winners in November 2021

November was a very productive month for many test takers, and in particular for the 7 high scorers who won in our IELTS results competition. One question we hear quite often is whether it is possible to get Band 9 in IELTS – and today we have solid proof that it is, because that is the score Sarthak Sachdeva got in his exam!

Here comes the complete list of winners:

Academic Module

  • 1st place – Alejandro Daniel Lifsitz from Argentina, Band 8
  • 2nd place – Elisa Maria Fiorino from Italy, Band 7.5
  • 3rd place – Sprem Verma from India, Band 6.5

General Training Module

  • 1st place – Sarthak Sachdeva from India, Band 9
  • 2nd place – Rohit Kumar Thakur from India and Omolade Ruth Faminigba from Nigeria, both got Band 8.5
  • 3rd place – Nisna Thirunilath from India, Band 8

Congratulations! Now your lives are not on pause any more, and you are one step closer to your dreams. These great IELTS scores mean you are free to study or work in a country you have chosen, and give yourselves and your families a better future. To mark this happy occasion we are sending your certificates of achievement to your email addresses. Winning IELTS results will be displayed in the IELTS-Blog hall of fame – so if you won, please feel free to show them off to your friends!

How did they score so well?

We’re always trying to find out from the winners how they did it. So far we discovered that Alejandro Lifsitz (Band 8) used many books from the “High Scorer’s Choice” series in his preparation, and Elisa Fiorino (Band 7.5) studied from the book we recommend, Target Band 7. It feels really good to be able to contribute to their success!

But what about all the other winners? Please be kind to the other test takers who are still preparing for their IELTS exams. Do share your stories and tell us how you studied, and what helped you do so well in IELTS. Any useful tips will be shared on IELTS-Blog.com, so everyone can use the same technique and get a better score in their own exam this month.

Did you know? IELTS results competition runs every month, and everyone is welcome to participate. Learn how to enroll here.

IELTS Report, topic: Table and pie chart describing day and overnight stays in public and private hospitals in Australia (from IELTS High Scorer’s Choice series, Academic Set 2)

This is a model response to a Writing Task 1 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.

Set 2 Academic book, Practice Test 8

Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The table below shows the numbers of same day and overnight stays in public and private hospitals in 5 Australian states for last year. The pie chart below shows percentages of same day and overnight stays in public and private hospitals in the same 5 Australian states.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

You should write at least 150 words.

Table and pie chart describing day and overnight stays in public and private hospitals in Australia (from IELTS High Scorer's Choice series, Academic Set 2 book)

Sample Band 9 Report

The table and the pie chart both show last years’ visits to hospitals in Australia. The table shows the number of days that patients stayed at either public or private hospitals, while the pie chart shows the percentage of patients that stayed overnight or left the same day. Both charts present information for the same Australian states, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.

The table shows the number of days patients stayed at general and psychiatric hospitals in the public and private sectors. The public general hospitals had far more patient days than public psychiatric hospitals for every state, with New South Wales having the highest general hospital patient stays at 5,816 days and South Australia having the fewest at 1,495 days. New South Wales also had the highest public psychiatric hospital patient stays at 281 days, although Victoria had the fewest at 59 days.

Patient days at private general hospitals were highest in Victoria (2,047 days) and lowest in South Australia (560 days). Patient days at private psychiatric hospitals were highest in New South Wales and Queensland at 213 days each, and lowest in South Australia (57 days).

Total numbers were highest for New South Wales (8,323 days) and lowest for South Australia (2,209 days), in line with their population sizes.

The pie chart divides the stays of the patients into overnight stays and same day stays for both private and public hospitals. From the chart it can be seen that the majority of the stays were in public hospitals both overnight and same day stays, both of these taking up 30% each of the hospital stays.

Go here for more IELTS Band 9 Reports