how to get a band score 6 and up without a review center

HOW TO GET A BAND 6 and UP IN IELTS WITHOUT HAVING TO ENROL IN A REVIEW CENTER?

What is IELTS?

According to this site:
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) measures the language proficiency of people who want to study or work where English is used as a language of communication. It uses a nine-band scale to clearly identify levels of proficiency, from non-user (band score 1) through to expert (band score 9).


TEST FORMAT

There are two types of IELTS. Academic or General Training.


Listening and Speaking are the same for both tests, but for Reading and Writing sections, the subject matter is different depending on which test you take.

The total test time is 2 hours and 45 minutes.

The details description of the test format is found here.

I did a GENERAL TRAINING IELTS exam. I registered for IELTS via IDP online.

STEP 1: You have to register in this site.

Please note you need to upload a valid ID (e.g. passport, driver’s licence, UMID)
Same ID will be presented when taking the exam.

STEP 2: Book for your exam in the desired venue.

Fees (as of Nov 2019), subject to change, please check on this site.

Test Format
Test Fee
Standard IELTS Test (Academic or General Training Module)
PHP 10,680 
Computer-Delivered Standard IELTS Test (Academic or General Training Module)
PHP 10,680
IELTS for UKVI (Academic or General Training Module)
PHP 13,885 
Computer-Delivered IELTS for UKVI (Academic Only) 
PHP 13,885
IELTS Life Skills (A1/B1)
PHP 10,415 

STEP 3: PAYMENT

You can pay through Paypal or over the counter payment centers.

I paid mine through Paypal linked to a credit card.
It is much more convenient.

STEP 4: CONFIRMATION OF PAYMENT

You will receive a payment confirmation through the email you have registered.

The email is like this:
Actual email received


STEP 5: TEST DATES WILL BE SENT THROUGH EMAIL

I received the email on Oct 19th, 2019. My test was schedule on Oct 26th, 2019.


Actual email received



My SPEAKING TEST was scheduled a day earlier than the rest of the exams. It was held in SEDA Hotel in Davao City. The rest of the exams, I did it in a designated hotel, the RITZ hotel.

I chose paper-based exam as there is no Computer-based exam availbale for Davao city.

HOW I GOT A 7.5 BAND SCORE?

The main reason why I did not enroll in a review center is because I did not want to spend more money on my IELTS. Review centers usually costs Php 6,000- 9,000.

Honestly, I did have plenty of time to review but I was procrastinating as I was busy with other things. I ended willing myself to REVIEW seriously for a week—that week just before the exam! I started on a Saturday and ended on a Thursday. Friday was the speaking exam. In between, I was busy doing errands and making paper projects.

If you search online, there are variety of websites that offer practice tests.

I found the following websites so helpful for my SELF REVIEW:

1)    IELTS ONLINE

I like this website a lot. It’s very interactive and neat!

This website offers practice tests with time limits. You can select the test type (Academic or GT) and choose which volume to try (volume 1-6)

I finished MASTER IELTS GENERAL TRAINING from volume 1 to 6. My study pattern involved assessing which among the 4 exams I do feel like I am bad at. I chose Listening.

I did Listening first, volume 1-6, Reading volume 1-6, Writing and Speaking.

The more familiar you are with the type of test, the more manageable it becomes towards the end of the volumes. Be sure to follow the time limit and think of the practice exam as the actual one!

For Speaking, I did set a time limit and recorded a video of me answering the questions, that way, I would feel like there’s actually an interviewer. It’s a good way to train yourself not to have long pauses too! I did volume 4 to 6 only.


2)    IELTS- EXAM

I practiced the Writing exam through this website. The good thing about this website is that it gives the model answer and adds in tips in writing.

The best tip I could probably give is: in WRITING exam, do STORYTELLING.

In my ACTUAL writing exam, I was to write about:

a)    Should children be allowed to leave school after 18 years old OR after they reach 14 years old?  (150 words)

b)    A LETTER to the Project Manager of a newly developed village near my community (250 words)


I did the 150 words first and completed 2 pages with front and back filled.

For the 250 words, we were advised beforehand that more percentage of the writing exam will be drawn from it. I did write 2 pages and asked for an extra paper, I completed 3 pages in total.

I added a topic in the letter about the eco-friendly building models fabricated in Sweden that the project manager is going to use for the building of the said village. (totally just my imagination, LOL)

I did not have the luxury of time to count how many words I wrote but one thing is for sure, time is so short for writing exams. When they tell you to stop and put down your pencils, you have to do as they say or else, you will get disqualified or worst, banned.

3)    IELTS LIZ

This is a supplementary website that I used to practice more for SPEAKING and WRITING.
It is also helpful to check various youtube videos about speaking. It is important to observe and take note on the format of the answers given.

On my SPEAKING exam, I was asked basic questions. On Part 2, I was given a minute to prepare and organize my thoughts and did a 2-minute answer, with the iexaminer setting the time. It is important to use the whole 2 minutes to answer the question.
IELTS speaking part 3 is a two-way discussion of 4-5 minutes, follows the topic of Part 2. It is led by the examiner who asks questions depending on your performance in Part 1 and Part 2. The more questions to be asked, the better chance to get a high score.

The whole IELTS EXAM experience was a nerve-wracking one, but nevertheless, also very rewarding.

If you are wondering if you can do SELF-REVIEW, yes you can! 

But be sure to be entirely committed to studying. I don’t mean having no time for other things, I mean having to concentrate once you started. The practice tests will help you be at ease with the type of exams you are going to face on the actual test. It is important to treat it as if it was the FINAL. There should be no excuses with time limit, no cheating and no unnecessary skipping.

You can do it, Good luck!


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