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
|
PHP 10,680
|
|
PHP 10,680
|
|
PHP 13,885
|
|
PHP 13,885
|
|
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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