Category: IELTS Reading

IELTS Reading: True, False, Not Given

Post author By IELTSAcademic
Post date November 9, 2015

Everybody hates it, but there’s no avoiding it: the True, False, Not Given question in IELTS Reading! Let’s take a look at an example.

TRUE, FALSE, NOT GIVEN: Sample Question

What’s going on inside our skulls? Thanks to brain scanners and other hi-tech methods, we now have the technology to peer inside the brain. However, that wasn’t always the case. Human beings have tried to understand the workings of our mysterious grey matter in various other ways over the past few centuries.

Do the following statements agree with the information in the text? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.

1. Brain scanners are not the only way to see inside the brain.

2. There is a long history of using technology to study the brain.

3. Scientists now have a good understanding of how the brain works.

How did you do? Now let’s answer each question in turn.

TRUE, FALSE, NOT GIVEN: How to Answer the Question

First, read the passage to get an idea of what it’s about. Don’t worry about any strange words or phrases like ‘mysterious grey matter’. They may not be important!

1. Brain scanners are not the only way to see inside the brain.

The first thing to do after reading the question is mentally paraphrase it. This helps us focus on the true MEANING of the question rather than the words used. It has the additional benefit of activating other vocabulary that can be used to express the same idea.

So, brain scanners are not the only way to see inside the brain. Pay attention to the word ‘not’. That means there must be ANOTHER way to visualise the brain. Check the passage, first sentence: ‘brain scanners and other hi-tech methods’. That seems to mean the same thing as the question. But wait, does ‘peer inside the brain’ mean the same as ‘see inside the brain’? We might not know for sure, but we can guess that it does because of the presence of ‘inside’.

I think we can confidently say that the answer to Question 1 is TRUE.

2. There is a long history of using technology to study the brain.

Again, paraphrase the question: People (scientists?) have used technology for many years to try to understand the brain.

The passage says: ‘Human beings have tried to understand the workings of our mysterious grey matter in various other ways over the past few centuries.’ Since the subject is the brain, we can guess that ‘grey matter’ also refers to the brain. The past few centuries is a long time, so this would seem to be true. But wait, what does ‘in other ways’ mean exactly? Does it mean ‘using other forms of technology’ or does it mean ‘not using technology’?

The sentence before says ‘However, that wasn’t always the case.’ So there is some sort of conflict between now and the past. On balance, the question seems to be saying the opposite, so the answer to Question 2 should be FALSE.

3. Scientists now have a good understanding of how the brain works.

So, researchers today can explain the functions of the brain. This sounds true enough. But wait, never let your own opinions influence your answer to a True, False, Not Given question in IELTS!

The passage tells us that ‘we now have the technology to peer inside the brain’. We think ‘peer’ means ‘see’, but does this mean we ‘understand’ the brain? The passage also says: ‘Human beings have tried to understand … over the past few centuries.’ So they are still trying. But trying to understand and actually understanding are not quite the same thing.

In Question 3, it’s difficult to know if scientists actually understand the brain. The passage doesn’t give us enough information about this, so the answer must be NOT GIVEN.

Teacher’s Note

What do you think? Do you agree with the answers to these questions? Here’s a final thought: in order for IELTS to function well as a test, there must be a few extremely difficult questions in the reading section. That helps to separate a brilliant candidate from a very good candidate. It’s likely that these very tricky questions will be True, False, Not Given. So give it your best guess, but don’t get stressed when a True, False, Not Given question seems impossible to answer. It could just be part of the design of the test.

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Do You Know This IELTS Vocabulary?

Post author By IELTSAcademic
Post date September 9, 2015
3 Comments on Do You Know This IELTS Vocabulary?

These ten sentences highlight key IELTS vocabulary by topic. For each word that you know, give yourself one point. Then check the scoring guide at the end to understand how good your IELTS vocabulary really is!

Education

Business Studies is included as a subject in the school (1) curriculum at (2) secondary level in some countries, while in other countries it is only taught at (3) tertiary level.

History

Some (4) historians believe that there are ancient (5) civilisations whose (6) archaeological ruins have yet to be found.

Environment

Environmental pressure groups are opposed to the (7) destruction of forests and (8) campaign for their (9) conservation instead.

Travel

When travelling overseas, it is important to understand local (10) customs and avoid (11) offending your hosts. Follow this rule and you can be a wonderful (12) ambassador for your country.

Science

Animal testing in (13) laboratories is wrong, even when it leads to the development of new (14) treatments for human (15) diseases.

Entertainment

The music industry is in crisis due to the (16) widespread (17) illegal downloading of songs which has led to a (18) collapse in sales of CDs.

Sports

(19) Spectators at sporting events should be (20) banned from stadiums if they are found guilty of making (21) abusive gestures.

Media

When media (22) ownership is (23) consolidated in too few hands, it becomes harder for people to hear a (24) diversity of opinions.

Crime

When victims of crime visit (25) detention centres, this can often (26) deter criminals from (27) committing crimes in future.

Technology

Some people are so (28) addicted to their mobile (29) devices that they feel (30) anxious when separated from their phone for even a short time.

IELTS vocabulary scoring guide

26-30 points: Word wizard! You are ready to show your stuff in IELTS! But how many of these 30 words do you actually use? (IELTS 8-9)

20-25 points: Good enough to go! You know enough IELTS vocabulary to understand most of what you will read or hear in the test. Be sure to learn the words you didn’t know. (IELTS 6-7)

10-19 points: Getting there! You know some useful vocabulary for IELTS but it would help to study more before taking the test. (IELTS 4-5)

0-9 points: Time to learn up! Academic IELTS may be too difficult for people who don’t know most of these words. (IELTS 0-3)

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IELTS Listening IELTS Reading IELTS Speaking IELTS Writing

Do You Make These 8 Common Mistakes in IELTS?

Post author By IELTSAcademic
Post date August 30, 2015
1 Comment on Do You Make These 8 Common Mistakes in IELTS?

Everyday I get messages from people who want to know why their IELTS score doesn’t improve. Often they have NO IDEA that their writing or speech is incomprehensible, or that their methods in listening or reading are all wrong!

Why does this happen? Well, for one thing, it shows the importance of studying with a teacher before you take the test. As an IELTS teacher myself, I would like to help people overcome the most common mistakes in IELTS before they decide to contact me, so here is my list of eight common mistakes to avoid.

Common mistakes in IELTS listening

Do you listen with open ears, so you easily miss the answers to the questions? Unfortunately it’s not about how much you understand overall. It’s about how many of those ten answers you anticipate and how many you catch when they are spoken. Preview the questions as much as possible before your listen, and concentrate only on listening for the answers.

Do you miss the next answer, because you’re still trying to answer a previous question? This can happen to anyone, and it’s the surest way to multiply the consequences of a mistake. Accept that you only need to get seven or eight of the ten answers, and don’t panic when you miss one. Concentrate on the next question, not the last question.

Common mistakes in IELTS Reading

Do you spend too much time reading, so that you hardly have time to answer the questions? Unfortunately, IELTS is not the time to take pleasure in reading! And there are no points for understanding the entire passage. Skim the text quickly to get an idea of the topic and organisation, and then move straight on to the questions. Maximum skim-reading time should be five minutes.

Do you easily get fooled by ‘distractors’, so that you’re shocked when your score is much lower than you expected? Distractors are answers that seem obviously correct, but turn out to be incorrect. They often make use of the same word as the original text. To avoid distractors, make sure you read all of the possible answers before deciding which is correct.

Common mistakes in IELTS Writing

Do you use too much fancy language, so your overall point is unclear? If the examiner thinks you’re just showing off some phrases you’ve memorised without fully understanding them, he or she will mark down your score. Also, do you believe the examiner will take the time to re-read your answer in order to figure out what you mean? Of course not. He or she will just lose patience and mark down your answer for coherence.

Do you write too casually, so you lose marks for inappropriate style? Fine if you’re taking the General Training version of IELTS, but not fine in the Academic version. Sure, examiners are nice people, but they aren’t your best friend and don’t want to read “Am I right?” and “Don’t you think so?” How do you know if your writing is too casual? Show it to a knowledgeable teacher and ask them if they think it would be suitable language for an academic report.

Common mistakes in IELTS Speaking

Do you hesitate for too long, because you’re planning the perfect answer in your own mind? You cannot get more than IELTS band 5 if you hesitate for an uncomfortable length of time while speaking. What is an uncomfortable amount of silence? For many English speakers, it can be as little as five seconds.

Do you speak with poor pronunciation, so the examiner has to struggle to understand your words? Perhaps your words are good words—the problem is that the examiner simply can’t catch what you’re trying to say! IELTS examiners are not supposed to reveal when candidates have performed poorly or made mistakes, so you may never know that your poor pronunciation is a problem. The solution is to practice IELTS speaking with a good teacher.

Would you like to practice your IELTS writing or IELTS speaking with an expert teacher? Eliminate common mistakes from your IELTS answers and find out the reason why your score hasn’t improved. See our current IELTS practice tests.

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IELTS Reading Techniques

IELTS Reading: Essential Skills and Strategies

Post author By IELTSAcademic
Post date October 24, 2012
9 Comments on IELTS Reading: Essential Skills and Strategies

By IELTS Academic, bringing you success in IELTS™ and Academic English with weekly free content and IELTS Practice Tests available worldwide.

Do you get frustrated when you can’t understand the meaning of a sentence in the IELTS Academic Reading module? In fact, you can still get a high score in IELTS Reading without fully understanding a passage and all the words it contains! Mastering some basic skills and strategies is the key to success in IELTS Reading. Make sure you’re doing these six things.

Looking for a basic introduction to IELTS Reading first? Read IELTS Reading: Introduction.

Skimming

Skilled readers quickly ‘get the gist’ (understand the main idea) of a passage by using speed-reading, sometimes called skimming. They glance quickly at titles and headings to identify the general topic. They know where to look for the writer’s main idea: near the end of the introduction and the beginning of the conclusion. When reading body paragraphs, they stop as soon as they understand the main idea. They don’t bother reading supporting sentences such as examples and quotations. If they see a word they don’t recognise, they don’t stop to consider what it means. Instead, their eyes are constantly moving across the text. This is skimming. Use skimming techniques to read more quickly and don’t spend more than five minutes reading any passage in the IELTS test.

Understanding organisation

An IELTS Reading skill that goes nicely with skimming is understanding how the passage is organised. How many paragraphs form the introduction? Where is the thesis statement? What is the main function of each paragraph? Which linking words indicate a change of topic or opinion? Effective readers underline key topic words and signal phrases, and sometimes they write brief summarising words (annotation) in the margins. Understanding how a text is organised is a critical reading skill as it helps you locate information more quickly later.

Scanning

Scanning is another reading skill that you will often hear associated with IELTS Reading. But how does it work exactly? Effective scanning begins with careful study of the question. What information do you need to find? A person’s name? A year? A cause? An effect? Are there any names or technical vocabulary in the question that will surely appear in the passage? Now scan to find them quickly, without re-reading the text. There are speed-reading techniques that can help with this: for example, looking backwards through the text.

Identifying paraphrase

Most IELTS Reading questions paraphrase the original text. Naturally, it helps to have a huge vocabulary; but vocabulary size is not everything. Recognising paraphrase begins with knowing which words are most likely to be paraphrased: conceptual words like find/discover, avoid/prevent, and theory/explanation are typically paraphrased, while more technical naming words such as infectious disease, volcanic eruption, or silicon chip are likely to also feature in the text. Your study of vocabulary should concentrate on the conceptual words, many of which appear in the Academic Word List.

Guessing unknown words

I guarantee that there will be vocabulary you have never seen before in the IELTS Academic Reading module. The test writers deliberately place uncommon words in the passage to test if candidates can figure them out using contextual clues. These contextual clues can include a definition, a paraphrase elsewhere in the text, collocating words, or word parts like prefixes and suffixes. High-scoring IELTS candidates have more than just a well-stocked vocabulary; they also have the reading skills required to analyse an unknown word and guess intelligently at its most likely meaning.

Time management

By answering 30 out of 40 questions correctly, you can achieve a score of 7.0 in the IELTS Academic Reading module, which is considered good enough to enter most universities in the world. The lesson here is: Don’t spend too much time on the 10 most difficult questions. It’s more important that you allow yourself time to answer the 30 easiest questions and give the remaining 10 your best guess. As a general rule, if you’re still unsure of an answer after one minute, pencil in your best guess, move on to the next question, and come back to it later if there’s time.

Read more about How to Manage Your Time in IELTS Reading.

By IELTS Academic, bringing you success in IELTS™ and Academic English with weekly free content and IELTS Practice Tests available worldwide.

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IELTS Reading Teacher Tips

How to Teach IELTS Reading

Post author By IELTSAcademic
Post date August 15, 2012
2 Comments on How to Teach IELTS Reading

This article is part of the Teach IELTS series at IELTS Academic, an online provider of skills training for IELTS and English as a foreign language.

The IELTS Academic Reading module consists of the three passages and 40 questions. The module lasts one hour and student must manage their own time.

Teaching IELTS Reading isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time. However, just like speaking practice, reading lessons can be communicative and rewarding. Below are my top ten ways to teach IELTS Reading while also giving students the opportunity to work in groups.

These tips assume that you’re teaching the IELTS Reading Academic module to small groups. However, many can be adapted to IELTS General Training lessons and to one-on-one teaching situations.

Looking for a basic guide to IELTS Reading? Read this first: IELTS Reading: Introduction

Completely new to teaching IELTS? Read this first: How to Teach IELTS: The Basics

1. Teach anything important before students see the text

Once you allow students to look at a reading text and/or questions you may find it a struggle to maintain their undivided attention. Their natural inclination is always to dive into the text on the assumption that this will make it easier for them to answer the questions later. (Hint: it doesn’t.) If there’s anything important you need to do in the early stages of a lesson – activate knowledge of the topic, brainstorm relevant vocabulary, teach or review reading strategies – make sure this is done before the text appears.

2. Use analogies to teach skimming and scanning

Students may have trouble understanding the difference between these two reading techniques. One solution is to avoid teaching them together. Another is to use analogies from real life. My favourite are skimming a stone and catching a flight. In the former, get students to close their eyes and imagine they are at the beach. Use the analogy of a stone skimming the water to illustrate that they must keep their eyes moving across the text when skim-reading. To demonstrate scanning, talk students through a scenario in which they arrive at an airport fifteen minutes before their flight is due to depart. Here, they have to block out all other sensory data and search quickly for information about their own flight, just like scanning a text for the answer to a question in IELTS. These visualising techniques also create powerful emotional connections to the techniques being taught. Try them!

3. Use flash-reading and predicting before skimming

Flash-reading can be used as a precursor to skimming and involves trying to get as much information as possible from a text in a very short time, e.g. 30 seconds. The main purpose of flash-reading is to identify the topic by looking at titles, subtitles and headings, and trying to locate the thesis statement. Once the text is covered again and the topic elicited from the class, this can also be a useful jumping-off point to get students to predict in small groups what the writer will say, keeping the reading task communicative. Then the students can be given 3-5 minutes to skim the text and confirm their predictions.

4. Ask checking questions after skimming

Good checking questions are those that can be answered simply and that activate the areas of knowledge of the text required to complete the exam task. Examples: How many causes are mentioned? In which paragraph does the writer mention solutions? Bad checking questions are those that ask too much, such as What do you think of the writer’s views? The only effect of these questions will be to force students to re-read the whole text.

5. Get students summarising in pairs

This is a good way to check if students have picked up on the main ideas in the text. Ask your students to close the book or cover the exam paper and spend 2-3 minutes verbally summarising the text with a partner. It’s important that this doesn’t go on too long as there will be little time to reflect on the article during the actual IELTS test.

6. Demonstrate paraphrasing from the question

When it’s time to move on to the questions, demonstrate several paraphrasing techniques using the first question in a set as an example, and then get students to practice paraphrasing the remaining questions with a partner. Do this before they begin looking for the answers. Again, separation of skills practice from test practice is what I’m advocating here. The goal of skills practice is often to get students to try something new, whereas in test situations they will tend to rely on existing habits and familiar strategies. New techniques can only be introduced and mastered through skills practice, which often means withholding the test practice part of the lesson from students until you think they are ready.

7. Demonstrate guessing unknown words

When an unfamiliar word is queried, avoid giving a definition right away. Act as if you don’t know the word either and demonstrate how to look for contextual clues. Often the word will be a technical term and there will be a clear definition in the text. Otherwise, demonstrate to students how logical connectives, parallel expressions and collocating words usually provide enough information to guess the meaning of an unknown word in IELTS Reading.

8. Set your students realistic goals

None of your students should be aiming to get 40 correct answers, so any frustration at failure to achieve this is potentially damaging to the student’s progress. Stress that 30 out of 40, equivalent to IELTS 7.0 in the Academic module, is a very good score, meaning that attention should be focussed on answering the 30 easiest questions, not the 10 most difficult. Once they accept this, your students should improve in time management as well.

9. Separate academic vocabulary from technical vocabulary

Naturally students will encounter many unfamiliar words in the Academic Reading module of IELTS. Help them cope with this influx of new vocabulary by directing them towards the right words to learn. Show them that vocabulary can be divided into three broad groups.

General vocabulary consists of the words we use in everyday communication. Estimates for general vocabulary range from 2000-3000 words, most of which will already be known to your students.
Academic vocabulary is estimated to consist of around 1000 word families. These include many adjectives used to describe and evaluate things, and many verbs used to describe relationships. Academic vocabulary may sound foreboding, but many of these words will again be known to students, just not used very often, if at all, in everyday speech.
Technical vocabulary, by far the largest group of words, consists overwhelmingly of names for things. Where they appear in IELTS Reading, technical words will usually be defined.

Help your IELTS students to recognise the difference between academic and technical vocabulary and prioritise the former in their vocabulary acquisition. There are resources to help with this, such as the Academic Word List and University Word List.

10. Encourage task-based reading outside class

A common question students ask concerns what they should be reading outside class. However, it’s not what they read but HOW they read that matters most. Since reading is a largely passive activity, reading for test preparation should incorporate tasks that provide more targetted practice of reading skills. As long as students are practicing these skills, any newspaper, magazine or online article will do. Examples of task-based reading include:

Underline topic sentences.
Find five academic words and five technical words in the article.
Join any pronouns to the nouns they refer to.
Identify the writer’s argument and write a one-paragraph response.
Find names of people and paraphrase their ideas and opinions.
Practice giving a two-minute spoken summary of the article, as though you are recounting it for a friend.

This article is part of the Teach IELTS series at IELTS Academic, an online provider of skills training for IELTS and English as a foreign language.

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IELTS Listening IELTS Reading IELTS Speaking IELTS Writing Scoring

How to Get IELTS Band 8 (8.0 or 8.5)

Post author By IELTSAcademic
Post date June 30, 2012
18 Comments on How to Get IELTS Band 8 (8.0 or 8.5)

Let’s face it, most of us will never need to worry about getting IELTS 8.0 or 8.5! But there are a tiny number of university courses and occupations that DO require IELTS Band 8 as evidence of a person’s ability to handle ‘complex detailed argumentation’, some law degrees for example.

This article explains what is required to achieve IELTS Band 8 in all four modules of the test. Your module score, or ‘sub-score’, can be either 8.0 or 8.5 depending on whether you meet these minimum requirements, or exceed them slightly.

Your overall IELTS score will also be classified as either 8.0 or 8.5 based on the average of each of the four modules, e.g. Listening Band 9 + Reading Band 9 + Writing Band 8 + Speaking Band 8 = IELTS 8.5.

IELTS Listening Band 8

Get 35 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 8.0*
Get 37 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 8.5*
Spell answers correctly
Not write more than the maximum number of words for each question

IELTS Reading Band 8 (Academic Module)

Get 35 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 8.0*
Get 37 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 8.5*
Spell answers correctly
Not write more than the maximum number of words for each question

IELTS Writing Band 8 (Academic Module)

Answer both questions fully
Use paragraphing skillfully to convey several key ideas
Use less-common vocabulary naturally with an awareness of collocation
Provide an overview and explain key points in Task 1
Indicate a clear position and develop it extensively in Task 2
Produce mostly error-free complex sentences

IELTS Speaking Band 8

Speak fluently and at length on any given topic with almost zero hesitation
Use a range of linking words accurately to develop ideas
Use higher-level and idiomatic vocabulary to convey precise meaning
Produce mostly error-free simple and complex sentences
Use pronunciation and intonation patterns similar to those of a native speaker

*The number of correct answers required to get IELTS 8.0 or 8.5 may vary slightly from test to test.

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IELTS Listening IELTS Reading IELTS Speaking IELTS Writing Scoring

How to Get IELTS Band 7 (7.0 or 7.5)

Post author By IELTSAcademic
Post date June 29, 2012
5 Comments on How to Get IELTS Band 7 (7.0 or 7.5)

IELTS Band 7 is the ultimate goal for most international students. A score of IELTS 7.0 or 7.5 is evidence that your English is good enough to join any university course, even at elite Oxbridge and Ivy League institutions.

Only a very small number of degree programmes require a score higher than IELTS Band 7 and these tend to be language-intensive courses like literature, linguistics, and law.

This article tells you exactly what you need to do in order to get IELTS Band 7 in each of the four modules of the test. Your module score, or ‘sub-score’, can be either 7.0 or 7.5 depending on whether you meet these minimum requirements, or exceed them slightly.

Your overall IELTS score will also be classified as either 7.0 or 7.5 depending on the average band score among each of the four modules. For example, Listening Band 7 + Reading Band 8 + Writing Band 8 + Speaking Band 7 = IELTS 7.5.

IELTS Listening Band 7

Get 30 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 7.0*
Get 32 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 7.5*
Spell answers correctly
Not write more than the maximum number of words for each question

IELTS Reading Band 7 (Academic Module)

Get 30 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 7.0*
Get 33 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 7.5*
Spell answers correctly
Not write more than the maximum number of words for each question

IELTS Writing Band 7 (Academic Module)

Answer both questions fully
Write in clear paragraphs, each with a main idea and supporting sentences
Use higher-level vocabulary with an awareness of collocation
Provide an overview with detailed comparisons in Task 1
Indicate a clear position and stick to it consistently in Task 2
Produce generally error-free sentences

IELTS Speaking Band 7

Speak fluently and at length on any given topic
Use a range of linking words accurately to connect ideas
Use less common and idiomatic vocabulary
Produce generally error-free sentences
Show good control of pronunciation and intonation

*Note that the number of correct answers required to get IELTS 7.0 or 7.5 may vary slightly from test to test.

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IELTS Listening IELTS Reading IELTS Speaking IELTS Writing Scoring

How to Get IELTS Band 6 (6.0 or 6.5)

Post author By IELTSAcademic
Post date June 28, 2012

If English isn’t your first language, then you’ll need to submit an IELTS score in order to be accepted onto a university programme taught in English. Most universities worldwide require an IELTS Band 6 score, with 6.5 being the most common requirement. So what is required to get IELTS Band 6?

A score of IELTS 6.0 or 6.5 shows that a person is ‘competent’, meaning they can cope in a classroom situation even though there may be some mistakes or misunderstandings with language. For students who need it, many universities provide short English courses of one to three months before the degree programme begins.

This article tells you exactly what you need to do to get a score of 6.0 or 6.5 in each of the four modules of IELTS. In the case of Listening or Reading, you need to get a certain number of answers correct. In Writing and Speaking, you can earn that extra 0.5 by slightly exceeding the minimum requirements here.

Your overall IELTS score is calculated as an average of the four module scores, or ‘sub-scores’.

IELTS Listening Band 6

Get 23 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 6.0*
Get 26 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 6.5*
Spell answers correctly
Not write more than the maximum number of words for each question

IELTS Reading Band 6 (Academic Module)

Get 23 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 6.0*
Get 27 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 6.5*
Spell answers correctly
Not write more than the maximum number of words for each question

IELTS Writing Band 6 (Academic Module)

Answer both questions adequately
Show good ability to organise an answer (e.g. paragraphs, linking words)
Attempt to use some higher-level vocabulary (even if not always accurate)
Provide an overview with supporting details in Task 1
Indicate a position and provide supporting arguments in Task 2
Make yourself understood (even if grammatical mistakes are made)

IELTS Speaking Band 6

Speak at length on certain topics
Use a range of linking words to connect ideas
Show good ability to paraphrase
Use both simple and complex structures
Speak with generally good pronunciation

*The number of correct answers required to get IELTS 6.0 or 6.5 may vary slightly from test to test.

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IELTS Listening IELTS Reading IELTS Speaking IELTS Writing Scoring

How to Get IELTS Band 5 (5.0 or 5.5)

Post author By IELTSAcademic
Post date June 27, 2012
5 Comments on How to Get IELTS Band 5 (5.0 or 5.5)

Would you like to study at a university overseas? If you’re planning to enter through a foundation or pathway programme, then your course may require IELTS 5.0 or 5.5. So what does this mean exactly and what should you do to get an IELTS Band 5 score?

IELTS is a test of English and a person with IELTS Band 5 is a ‘modest’ user, which doesn’t mean they are shy! Modest here means that the student can communicate in most situations but may struggle in an academic environment. That’s why a student with IELTS Band 5 will usually need to study English for a whole year at university before starting a degree course.

This article tells you exactly what you need to do to get a score of IELTS 5.0 or 5.5 in each of the four modules of the test. For Listening or Reading, your score is based on the number of questions answered correctly. In Writing and Speaking, there are more complex ‘scoring criteria’ required to get IELTS 5.0 (or 5.5 if you exceed the criteria a little).

Finally, your overall IELTS score is calculated as an average of these four module scores, or ‘sub-scores’.

IELTS Listening Band 5

Get 16 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 5.0*
Get 18 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 5.5*
Spell answers correctly
Not write more than the maximum number of words for each question

IELTS Reading Band 5 (Academic Module)

Get 15 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 5.0*
Get 19 out of 40 answers correct for IELTS 5.5*
Spell answers correctly
Not write more than the maximum number of words for each question

IELTS Writing Band 5 (Academic Module)

Use vocabulary that is adequate for both tasks
Show some ability to organise an answer (e.g. paragraphs, linking words)
Attempt some complex sentence types (even if not accurate)
Include some details in Task 1
Indicate a clear opinion in Task 2

IELTS Speaking Band 5

Show ability to talk about both familiar and unfamiliar topics
Produce simple speech accurately and fluently
Avoid long silences
Attempt more complex structures (even if not accurate)
Attempt to paraphrase (even if not accurate)

*Note that exact scores needed to get IELTS 5.0 or 5.5 may vary slightly from test to test.

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IELTS Listening IELTS Reading IELTS Speaking IELTS Writing Study Tips

IELTS For Free! 5 Ways to Cost-free Preparation

Post author By IELTSAcademic
Post date January 23, 2012
5 Comments on IELTS For Free! 5 Ways to Cost-free Preparation

Textbooks, lessons, and the test fee itself – getting through IELTS can be an expensive business. If your budget is rather tight, you might be interested in the following hints and tips. All of them are completely free and some don’t even require you to use English!

1. Go online

Do a simple online search for IELTS and you’ll find that there are hundreds of sites offering free IELTS advice and practice. That’s almost certainly how you got here. But why is there so much available for free online? The answer is simple. Most websites make money from advertising, or their authors want to sell their own books online. Of course the quality of such sites varies, so be sure to check the author’s credentials before you invest too much faith in a particular site. If the author has several years of real-world IELTS teaching experience, that’s a good sign that they know the test inside-out. Also look for student testimonials, trackbacks and publications as further evidence of a site you can trust.

2. Find an IELTS study buddy

While it’s possible to prepare for the Listening and Reading modules of IELTS on your own, there really is no substitute for another human being when it comes to preparing for the Speaking (and, to a lesser extent, Writing) module of the test. Some people insist that you practice with a native speaker, preferably one with knowledge of IELTS, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that practicing with another English learner can be just as beneficial. One reason for this is that pairs of learners form better strategies for negotiating meaning. Native teachers can be a little too good at guessing what you want to say, while a non-native partner is more likely to tell you when they don’t understand, so you know when you’ve said something unclear. If you can’t find an IELTS study buddy at your school, some IELTS websites have forums in which you can search for a like-minded partner.

3. Take a free IELTS demo test

It’s worth checking your local IELTS schools to see if they offer a free IELTS demo test. Some organisations offer a sample test for free as a level check and you may even get some study tips from a trained IELTS teacher. This is a great way to get some last-minute practice if you plan to take the real test soon, as well as an effective way to check out what a school is like before you spend any money on lessons.

4. Ask your school or university

If your school or university has an English language department, ask if they already offer IELTS preparation lessons. If they don’t, let them know that IELTS is the preferred English language test of thousands of higher education institutions worldwide and ask if they have any plans to provide IELTS lessons for students who want to study abroad. This may not produce fast results, but there’s a good chance that your request will be noted and IELTS lessons will be introduced in future terms.

5. Practice general academic skills

It’s not true that the only way to prepare for an IELTS test is to take an IELTS course. In fact, there are many skills that you can practice in your everyday life that are directly transferable to test situations. You can even do these in your own language and they should still bring real benefits in an IELTS test. Here are just a few examples:

Developing an argument – practice speaking about any topic for two minutes by adding reasons and examples, and contrasting different views. This is best done in English of course, but start in your own language if you’re not used to expressing opinions.
Essay outlining – increase your writing speed by taking any topic and producing a five-minute outline of how you would present your opinions in an essay. You don’t have to write the actual essay.
Targetted listening – listen to any spoken recording (it doesn’t have to be academic) and try to pick out and write down certain types of information such as names or numbers.
Speed reading – find an article of around two pages in length and give yourself a ridiculously short amount of time (3-5 minutes is recommended) to note down the main ideas. To accomplish this, you will have to skip over the minor details, which is exactly what you must do in the IELTS test itself.

Of course, all of this should be combined with a good awareness of the test itself. Make sure you read our introductions to the four IELTS Academic modules if you have any uncertainties about what to expect:

Plan to study IELTS on your own? Check out our guide to the Top 5 IELTS textbooks for self-study first.

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