I want to share my IELTS story and how I studied to achieve a Band 8.5 in my IELTS General Training test, hoping you can learn a thing or two.

I will also share insights on a few hacks I have found from my own preparation and from carefully reviewing the work of the best IELTS tutors and coaches from around the world.

Why am I writing this?

I see a lot of people go through a lot of stress just to prepare for IELTS and I wonder if it really has to be this hard

Many people are forced to put their dreams on hold as they end up wasting time and all of their savings because they did not achieve their desired band score and have to retake the test again and again.

It is sad to imagine that the reason why some people fail even after 16 years (6.3.3.4) of education in the English language, and despite the IELTS body providing the assessment criteria for the tests, is because they practice with sub-standard materials, watched misleading tutorials, or simply focused on the wrong things during practice.

On their test day, they go to the test centre hoping to pass IELTS by a slim chance. Ideally, every test taker should go to the test centre beaming with absolute confidence that they will pass the test. Such confidence will surely stem from thorough practice with the right tools and support.

IELTS is a language proficiency test quite alright, but it is not rocket science.

With consistent practice, the right mindset, and an understanding of specific strategies and approaches, IELTS can be a walk in the park



IELTS CANDIDATE
It was in September 2019 I decided to seat for the IELTS test. I spent two weeks practicing with 2 Cambridge practice books and watched a few videos to clarify how to approach some question types.

By the time I practiced all the questions in two of the Cambridge practice textbooks, 14 and 10 to be precise, I knew I was ready to take my IELTS test. This was because I was already scoring 37 in my Listening and Reading practice.


For speaking, just like you, I have been speaking English all my life and defended my undergraduate and graduate thesis in English so I knew the speaking test would be a walkover.


After writing two practice essays, reading the Writing assessment criteria provided by IELTS, and reading a couple of Band 9 sample essays, I know I could reproduce a high-quality essay easily on any topic. But how did I know this?


While just any person, even a native English speaker, might not be able to grade their own essays, I could grade my own writing essays and determine the band score. I will explain why in a bit.

I went on to register for my IELTS General Training test and sat for the test in the last week of October 2019. My result was released and I aced an overall band of 8.5. (L 8.5, R 9.0, W 8.0, S 8.0) OVERALL 8.5


Now, let me let you in on the backstory.


English as a language has always been my best subject since high school probably because my mum was an English language teacher before she retired in 2018. I always had an A in my English language, and I did especially well in Essay writing.

From S.S.1, I began to help my mum mark English WASSCE scripts apportioned to her using the assessment criteria for the examination. Needless to say, I had a distinction in my WASSCE final exams.

I later went on to teach English in a primary and secondary school before I got my admission into LAUTECH where I also taught pre-degree students the Use of English at Nifes tutorials.

Well, it is obvious all of this contributed to my IELTS success, but what I strongly believe is that an average Nigerian student will score a minimum Band 7 in IELTS with little practice and with much more practice, can score much higher.


I shared my IELTS success here on Nairaland and a lot of people got in touch. I answered phone calls, responded to WhatsApp chats, and did some writing reviews for free. Then some candidates began to request one-on-one coaching. The first set of candidates I coached who wrote their test in May have given fantastic testimonials and the most thrilling one was of the candidate who approached me just 4 weeks before her third attempt stuck at a band 6.5 in writing. With my coaching, she broke the jinx and made a band 7 in writing which was exactly what she wanted.

Due to time constraints, I could only coach as many persons at a time so I began to think of a way to help many others access my advice, strategies, and techniques. I decided to write a book.

I set out to write one but eventually, I wrote two books

In the ‘IELTS Ace Strategy’, I simply shared my tested strategy that can get anyone to practice for the IELTS test at their own pace and in the shortest possible time. With the recommendations in the book, you will see your scores improve during your practice and your confidence will soar.


The other book, ‘IELTS Success Hacks’, is more or less, a coaching program in a book. It has the word ‘hack’ in the title but it is not about a shortcut to passing IELTS. Not at all.

It is more about the tips, strategies, and techniques for enhancing your practice and managing time. I shared my own best tips and also aggregated the best advice I found from the best coaches around the world by watching most of the 14GB of videos I have and reading lots of authentic IELTS resources from Cambridge.

You see, speed and accuracy are usually inversely proportional to proficiency tests like IELTS. It is either you are fast and get a lot of questions wrong or you are very careful and do not finish your test.

In IELTS Success Hacks, I shared top tips on how to achieve proficiency, speed, and accuracy in your practice without compromising any and how you can replicate this on your test day.


To give you some context. Can you believe I finished my IELTS reading test in 45 minutes leaving me with 15 minutes to go over my work again and again? I was not surprised when I got a band 9.0 in writing.


A candidate I coached and who wrote her test last Saturday also attested to finishing her reading test in 50 minutes using the same strategies I shared in the book.


MY TIPS AND ADVICE
In this last section, I will share some tips that I think will make all the difference in your IELTS journey and test. They are basically a summary of the content from both of my books. I hope you will find them helpful and handy.


1. PRACTICE MATERIALS
I strongly recommend that you practice for IELTS with only official IELTS materials. If there were not enough of them, you might have reason to resort to other third-party resources.

However, there are a lot of official authentic practice questions out there. Too much that you cannot exhaust them in your practice.

I, therefore, cannot come to terms with why anyone wants to practice with unofficial questions which are many times low-quality and do not meet the standards of a real IELTS test. And people even pay for these substandard materials.

I see this happen often with reading and writing questions. If you are still learning the English language, by all means, you can use any resource you find available. However, when you are ready to write IELTS, I strongly recommend that you practice only authentic IELTS questions.


2. ONLINE PRACTICE VS PUTTING PEN TO PAPER
If you are not planning to write the IELTS computer-based test, I recommend practicing IELTS with pen and paper rather than taking online practice tests.

Get hard copies of your IELTS practice books, or print off the e-books, get a pen and get a notebook and you are on your way to IELTS success.

Online practice tests are great, you can get some practice while commuting or waiting in line. However, using pen and paper better simulates your real IELTS paper examination and helps you measure your progress easily.

If you are writing a Computer-delivered IELTS test, by all means, take online practice tests. But if you are writing a paper-based test, Remember to put pen to paper. I think it is a faster route

3. HOW TO PRACTICE FOR IELTS IN THE FASTEST POSSIBLE TIME
I believe you can improve on practice and see your score improve over time. With my simple rinse and repeat system below, you can achieve high band scores from your practice in no time.

• Step 1: Get Cambridge 14 or the most recent official practice questions you can find. Get your pen, notebook and a stopwatch (most phones can do this these days)

• Step 2: Answer the Listening and Reading Test, one at a time, and time yourself as if under examination conditions. Ensure you avoid distractions.

• Step 3: Grade yourself and record your grade. For the questions, you got wrong, look up the answers, and try to figure out the reasoning behind the answer. Then go watch tutorial videos of IELTS experts on the question types you find challenging.

• Step 4: For your Writing, read resources, and watch video tutorials to show you how to write high-band IELTS essays. Then go-ahead to practice, timing yourself, and under exam conditions. Submit your finished essay to an expert for a free or paid review. Use the feedback you receive to improve your writing and watch more tutorial videos if necessary. Keep doing this until you see your scores go up.

• Step 5: For speaking, read resources and watch speaking simulation videos. Ask a friend to act as your interviewer while you record your self in audio or video format. Watch and listen to your recording and see how you improve. Watch some more tutorials and if you think you need to, pay for a simulation practice with an expert.

• Step 6: Complete the practice book and get another one. This will be 13 if you started with 14. Rinse and repeat from steps 1 to 5.

By the time you follow these steps, again and again, you should see your scores improve over time with laser focus in learning how to answer questions you find as the most difficult. Keep at it till you begin to score in the range of your desired band score. Now, you are ready to take your IELTS test.

This is doable, right?


4. SIMULATE THE ENTIRE TEST A COUPLE OF TIMES
Before the big day, try to simulate the entire examination at least once. This means you set apart 3 hours to take the entire 4 modules in this order
• Listening (60 minutes)
• Reading (60 minutes)
• Writing (60 minutes) and (get an IELTS experienced expert to review at least one for you I can help with this)
• Speaking (14 minutes) if you get someone to interview you or you simply pay for a speaking simulation.

2 hours 45 minutes in total for the actual examination. This singular act, even if you do it once will do so much to prepare you mentally for the examination. I think you will agree.


5. I will add additional tips as screenshots from my 90-page book IELTS Success Hacks are attached.


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So this is my story of how I achieved a band 8.5 in my IELTS test and a few tips I thought to share. I hope you will find them helpful.


I wish you all the very best in your life pursuits.


PS: If you need the books, please email me at ieltsacecoaching@gmail.com or Whatsapp 08038555960

Thank you so much for this

LAUTECH Pre-Degree Admission Form for 2020/2021 Session

The sale of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology LAUTECH Pre-Degree Admission Form has commenced. Therefore, applications are invited from suitably eligible candidates for admission into the Pre-degree Science Programme of the university for the 2020/2021 academic Session.

LAUTECH Pre-Degree Programmes available

Each candidate is required to make two choices out from the available undergraduate programme options at LAUTECH underlisted below. The options are splited into two Groups A and B, and It is expected of each candidate to choose only one programme from either of the two groups. No candidate is allowed to make the two choices from the same group.

Group A: Choose only one Programme

i. College of Health Sciences

*Medicine
*Nursing
*Physiology
*Biochemistry
*Anatomy
*Medical Laboratory Science

ii. Engineering and Technology
*Chemical Engineering
*Civil Engineering
*Electrical/Electronic Engineering
*Mechanical Engineering
*Computer Engineering
*Food Engineering
*Agricultural Engineering

iii. Environmental Sciences
*Architecture

iv. Management Sciences
*Accounting
*Economics
*Marketing
*Management Studies
*Transport Management

v. Food and Consumer Sciences
*Food Science
*Nutrition and Dietetics
*Consumer Science

vi. Computing Science and Informatics
*Computer Science
*Information System
*Cyber Security

Group B: Choose only one Programme

i. Agricultural Sciences
*Agricultural Economics
*Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
*Animal Production and Health
*Animal Nutrition and Biotechnology
*Crop Production and Soil Science
*Crop and Environmental Protection

ii. Environmental Sciences
*Fine and Applied Arts
*Urban and Regional Planning

iii. Pure and Applied Sciences
*Pure and Applied Biology
*Pure and Applied Chemistry
*Pure and Applied Physics
*Pure and Applied Mathematics
*Earth Sciences
*Science Laboratory Technology
*Statistics
read more here [https://www.latestadmissionnews.com.ng/lautech-pre-degree-admission-form-for-2020-2021-session/]

Can Proof of Proficiency in English Language Replace IELTS?
There are questions emigration hopefuls ask about their documents and the kind of visa they are looking to get—especially the academic admission seekers; questions ranging from: how, if possible, to extend the lifespan of their IELTS to make it be useful still after the normal two years it’s usually valid for? Is WES evaluation necessary for all admissions seekers in the Americas? Short answers to these questions are: yes, there are ways the lifespan of your IELTS can be extended to remain useful after two years; and no, WES evaluation is not a compulsion, only few schools in the Americas ask for WES evaluation. On another publication on this web, I will be writing comprehensively on the extension of the lifespan of IELTS, and on when you need or do not need WES evaluation. But on this one, I only intend to make some clarifications on the need for Proof of Proficiency in English Language (POPEL) and the need for IELTS, as well as when you need either of the two as a foreign admission seeker. READ MORE HERE>>>>> https://www.pecngr.com/2022/01/can-proof-of-proficiency-in-english.html

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