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IELTS preparation tips from winners

IELTS high achievers share their secrets

IELTS preparation tips from Band 8.5 achiever

Bhaskar from India received Band 8.5 in IELTS and felt like sharing. Here is his advice to fellow IELTS candidates:

“I achieved 8.5 bands in my IELTS exam. And most of all I am grateful to myself for making the extra effort required in achieving this wonderful score.

To many of my friends, who always ask as to how to prepare best, I wish to tell:

1. Practice thoroughly, there are no shortcuts.

2. You must make the necessary effort to speak out in public regularly to improve your speaking. This is one area where most lack and by far it is the easiest section of IELTS.

3. You must read newspapers and magazines regularly, since it enhances one’s reading and writing skills while also adding new words to one’s vocabulary.A nd not only read, but also try to understand the use of every word.

4. Getting in conversations with others primarily in English is one of the best approaches to improve your listening and speaking skills. Also it would enhance your knowledge which would prove beneficial for the writing exam.

5. And remember to practice.

Good Luck!!!”

I’d like to thank Bhaskar and invite other high achievers to share the secrets of their success. Please leave a comment on this post or if you’re subscribed to IELTS-Blog – reply to my email and tell me, why did you get the high score. I’d love to hear from you!

IELTS tips that helped Donmarl get Band 8.0

Our latest winner, an IELTS candidate from the Philippines, Donmarl Camua explains what he did to achieve Band 8.0 in his Academic exam.

MY ADVICE

Coming from the Philippines, a country where English is the second official language, I do certainly have some advantage in taking the IELTS. However, in IELTS – just like in any exam – preparation is always the key.

I may be fluent in English, but if I didn’t take time to do homework, attend a class or do online exercises, I may not have the score that I need for my Immigration Application.

If you want to get high scores, dedicate enough time to studying.

WHAT I DID

Prior to taking the exam:

I did some research. I searched and downloaded reviewers and e-books on the Internet. I gathered all the reviewers I could find. I made sure that I do at least one reviewer a day.

I subscribed to the IELTS-Blog.com. I thank the creators of this website, because it helped me a lot during my review. The “overview of IELTS Exams” shared by blog subscribers, helped me plan what to practice.

I took a review class sponsored by the test center, the IDP Philippines, to get tips from the actual examiners. We were given some tips on what the examiners look at in the written exams. We were taught how to do skimming and scanning in the Reading exams.

Again, if you want to be successful in IELTS, make time to prepare.

And when you prepare, prepare to WIN.

Simone says: I would like to ask all the people reading this post – if you achieved Band score 7 and up in IELTS and have tips to share – please click here and let me know.