IELTS Results competition winners in September 2011

People often ask me “Is it possible to get Band 8 or 9 in IELTS?” and today it is my pleasure not only to answer “Yes”, but also to prove it and show you some real test takers, whom I know, who did it. Many of our results competition winners in September got 8.5 or even 9 in more than one section of the test.

And now that I got your attention, let me introduce the winners:

Academic Module – 1st place

• Ayesha A Sayed from Pakistan, Band 8.5 (with Band 9 for Reading and Speaking!)
• Linsey Crichton-Navias from South Africa, Band 8.5 (with Band 9 for Listening and Speaking!)

Academic Module – 2nd place

• Samer Alameddine from Lebanon, Band 8
• Sylviya Todorova from Bulgaria, Band 8 (with Band 9 for Reading!)

Academic Module – 3rd place

• Srihari Venatile from India, Band 7.5
• Varghese Paul from India, Band 7.5
• Sumon Kyiwin from Myanmar, Band 7.5

General Training Module – 1st place

• Jimmy Bangun from Indonesia, Band 8.5 (with Band 9 for Reading!)

General Training Module – 2nd place

• Krishna Mishra from India, Band 8 (with Band 9 for Listening and Reading!)

General Training Module – 3rd place

• Sujatha Pagadala from India, Band 7.5

Dear winners, congratulations! Your names are now part of the IELTS-Blog hall of fame. These are terrific results, and I know many test takers would gladly trade places with you. Your success means a lot not only to you, personally – but also to others, because its a hard proof that Band 8 or even 9 is achievable.

How did they do it?

I am sure everyone can’t wait to learn how they did it. Well, here is what we know so far:

Linsey Crichton-Navias said: “Just want to say a huge thank you for helping me get the required band 8 for my IELTS test. From South Africa, I do speak English, but I believe it is more about knowing how to approach the test and knowing what the assessors are looking for. I used the Target Band 7 book, downloaded practice test sets and submitted writing tasks for assessment. And I did it!”

Krishna Mishra said: “… thank you for your immense support in my IELTS preparation. I received my result on Thursday and it was unbelievable. I got overall score Band 8 and individual module scores were Listening 9, Reading 9 , Writing 7.5 and Speaking 7. I would like to add that your online material, Ace the IELTS book and 12 practice tests had helped me lot.”

But there are still 8 winners we haven’t heard from – so please don’t be shy, reply and we promise to share your tips with the whole world.

P.S. Our competition runs every month, and everyone is welcome to participate. Learn how to enroll here.