Skip to content

IELTS preparation tips from winners

IELTS high achievers share their secrets

Student success: how Sainattee passed the IELTS test with flying colours

What you’re about to read is a very inspiring story. It began in October 2012, when Kevin and Sainattee H, a family living in Thailand, needed to prepare for the IELTS test to move to Australia.

Kevin spoke English all his life, but his wife Sainattee, who is Thai, never had formal training in English after finishing high school. She learned English all by herself while working in the hospitality industry in Thailand, and it was fine for everyday use – but taking a formal English test was quite a scary prospect.

Looking for IELTS materials to help him coach Sainattee, Kevin came across IELTS-Blog.com and subscribed to our free daily tips. A couple of weeks later he decided to put his trust into our book
Ace the IELTS – and never regretted this step, because… this book helped him prepare his wife and just one month later she passed IELTS “in one go, with flying colours” – those are his own words!

Here is what Kevin says about their IELTS journey:

Passed IELTS in one go“I wanted to write to you to thank you for all the great work and effort you are doing by providing all these tools, tips and recommendations available for people who have to prepare for their IELTS test.

For myself the target score was never in doubt but for my wife who is Thai this was a very daunting target to achieve. But thanks to all your collateral, recommendations and book we bought she was able to pass the test in one go.

Although her English is very good for a daily conversation use, practising it in test situations is a completely different thing. She learned English all by herself after she left high school by working in translation offices and hotel receptions, as English was at that time only taught on a very basis level in Thai public schools. When I met her many years ago her English was already quite good and she was not shy to use it in daily conversations. But then to raise the level of her English knowledge up to the next level to be able to use it in a real test situation I was not sure if she could handle the stress of the IELTS test.

But thanks to your book, test samples and other collateral and my guidance she nailed it in one go. My wife has also learned a lot about English language grammar and structure thanks to your book and we have asked our daughter to use it as a guide to improve her English writing skills.

So there you go, a big thank you from 2 happy campers and I will recommend your collateral, books, sample tests and recommendations to anybody I know.

There is a lot of IELTS clutter out there, but your site captures all the relevant and required tools to pass the test so I think this should be known to those who have to take the test.”

Can you get IELTS Band 7.5 after only 10 days of study?

It’s no secret that these days everyone is leading a very busy life, which affects the amount of time we can dedicate to our goals. Even to very important goals, such as passing the IELTS exam with a high score. This is why many people end up with just 10 days left for IELTS preparation. Only 10 days … can it possibly be enough?

Some time ago we published a case study about a Malaysian student who managed to prepare in 10 days and get Band 7.5. Since history tends to repeat itself, today you will learn about another student, and how he managed to get ready in just 10 days and achieve Band 7.5 in IELTS.

Band 7.5 in IELTSMeet Ram Kumar – a 20-something young man from India, who speaks Telugu. Here is what he wrote about his IELTS experience:

“I am very happy to let you know that I have secured a band score of 7.5 in IELTS. This is my FIRST attempt and I had only 10 days to prepare and the credit really goes to …
Target Band 7. The book is really superb. I would suggest it to everyone.”

When Ram Kumar won our monthly results competition, and we asked him to share his best tips for success with other test takers, here’s what he said:

“I am very much grateful to the team of IELTS-Blog for their constant input and updates. Finally, I am extremely grateful to Simone for introducing me to one of the finest books, “Target Band 7”. Frankly speaking, I had 10 days to prepare for the exam and I just went through the book and grasped those strategies.

I come from a university where the medium of instruction and communication is strictly English. This has helped the cause very much. But when it comes to an exam things are quite difficult. There are a few things I would like to suggest the freshers who are taking IELTS exam:

1. Familiarize yourself with the pattern of the exam. It is the most important thing I have done.

2. When you are practicing, take it section by section. Have practice tests and have as many as possible so by the end of those sessions you should see improvement.

3. For the speaking part, while you are practicing, I think its better to have an mp3 player, for recording your voice. That gives a clear picture of where you stand. You can improve the modulations and pronunciation.

4. For the Writing part – I think it will be very good to familiarize yourself with the style and pattern of writing. It would be nice to have at least 2 practice tests.

5. Finally, it doesn’t matter how many days you have on hand, it’s only a matter of your commitment. So I think 10 days is a good deal of time. If I can do it, anyone can pull it off.

ALL THE BEST GUYS 🙂 “