Remember my student Baina? She made an incredible leap in her IELTS scores, and I just had to share her story with you!
Baina increased her Listening score from a Band 4.5 to an impressive 7.5! Her Writing score also jumped from a Band 6 to 6.5 – in just a month. This is a remarkable achievement, and I know many test takers are striving for similar success.
I recently interviewed Baina to uncover her strategies and insights so you can apply them to your own preparation. Here’s what she had to say:
My IELTS Journey to a Band 7
“I started preparing again after my test when I didn’t get the score I needed. I later bought two very popular IELTS courses, none of which helped me, because anytime I emailed them that I’m hearing impaired and needed their help, they always told me they have no solution for hearing impaired students. I became frustrated and nearly gave up when your email popped up in my inbox asking if writing wasn’t my only problem. I decided to message you even though I thought the reply will be the same like the other IELTS teachers, so I wasn’t expecting anything good. But you replied to me and I was really satisfied. That was when my real IELTS journey began.
I started practicing with Cambridge IELTS books and official Cambridge guide to IELTS. I later bought “Target Band 7” and academic practice tests from you. Your books where really helpful because I used the transcript from each listening test.
For Reading, whenever I read one paragraph, I would go through the set of questions and answer every question that can be found in that particular paragraph before moving onto the next paragraph. That saved me lots of time.
For Speaking I couldn’t practice much because I always communicate in English wherever I go, that was the only preparation I did towards the speaking test. I just read other topics I wasn’t familiar with and how to go about answering the part two cue card. I just made sure to speak throughout the test.
For Writing, I give all the credit to you because without “Target Band 7”, and your advice of not giving up, I wouldn’t even be close to the 6.5 band in the first place. Your writing corrections were really helpful and so I started practicing within the time allocation and under exams condition.
I started to produce an essay within 50 minutes, and then reduced the time to 45 minutes and further to 40 minutes. Finally, I managed to produce an essay in 30 minutes, and proofread and even plan before writing. It was really great.
Two Weeks Before The Test
Two weeks before my exam, I printed out the writing answer sheets and started practicing on them so that I can know the number of words that can fit onto the paper. That helped me on exams day because I knew how my 250-270 words would look like on the answer sheet, so I did not even bother to count my words because I knew it was 250 or more.
The same applies to the task 1 writing. I’m a mother of 2 boys, a 5- and 3-year olds. So I always wait for them to fall sleep before I start my practice test. But one month before the exam, I took a part leave from work so that I could fully concentrate on my exams. So when my children leave for school, my husband and I would practice the listening test together and then go over it to see where my weak areas were. We would then practice those areas well to make sure I master those types of questions. The same goes for the reading too, and we always practiced under timed conditions.
On The Test Day
On the test day, I really took time to write my essay and report using my own English without any memorised phrases and answers. So I was able to comfortably convey my message across because it was my own writing and not memorised. The grammar mistakes and vocabulary were on my mind throughout the writing test, so I tried not to repeat words unnecessarily while writing. Also, in task 1, after reading the question, I wrote on top of the answer sheets ‘past and present’, to remind myself that I needed to write the report using the past and present tenses because that was that type of diagram.
The speaking component was the easiest, and I had a feeling I would score around band 8, but I ended up with a Band 7. For the writing, I needed a band 6.5 but I always attempted to achieve a Band 7, thinking that even if I couldn’t reach a 7, I would get at least a 6.5.
I always practiced having in mind that I needed above band 7 in all components, so that I get used to that. Those attempts really helped me to get the Band 7. I made sure to practice every single day and under timed condition, without any breaks.”
If you’re struggling with the IELTS, use Baina’s advice to optimise your own preparation, and you may achieve a score like hers:
