What All Is Included in IELTS Basic Preparation?

An overview of the IELTS General Training (GT) test

4 modules need to be attended by those attempting the test – Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. Let us understand each of these in brief.

Listening module – the IELTS Listening module has 4 sections and each section has 10 questions with topics related to the general interest. There is no difference between the listening test of a GT exam and Academic exam. The test taker needs to answer 40 questions with each question carrying 1 mark. Time allocated for the Listening module is 40 minutes, where the audios take up to 30 minutes and a transfer time of 10 minutes will be given to transfer the answers from the question paper to the answer sheet.

Reading module – the general reading test is designed to evaluate a broad variety of reading abilities. There are a total of 40 questions in the module’s three sections, each for one mark, and you have 60 minutes to finish the test. As a result, test takers must allocate 20 minutes to each section. The test taker needs to answer 40 questions with each question carrying one mark. If the test taker is not too keen on reading, chances are that they may end up scoring fewer marks. 

Writing module – the writing section consists of two activities, including a 20-minute letter writing task with a 150-word word limit and a 40-minute essay writing task with a 250-word limit. The time allocated to complete both tasks is 60 minutes. The four criteria that the module emphasizes are task achievement, coherence, and cohesiveness, use of lexical resources, and grammatical accuracy.

IELTS basic preparation – a roadmap to sure success

Whilst it’s true that there is no one single way, here us one reasonable take on the foundational preparation for the exam.

Learn how scoring works – to accurately gauge your progress, it is critical that you comprehend how the IELTS test is scored/graded. A scale from 1 to 9 is used to evaluate the test. ‘Bands’ are the names for these grades. You must apply the band system to each area of the exam after you are familiar with how the IELTS is graded. Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing are all independent tests, and each test is assigned a separate band score. The average of these four values will be your final IELTS score.

Identify your current level – the best approach for assessing your present proficiency level if you are brand-new to the IELTS is to complete realistic practice tests in an exam-like setting and mark yourself honestly. Practice tests are a fantastic approach to enhance your comprehension of the format of the test. However, you should only use tests from reputable, trustworthy sites. For one thing, bogus tests can impede test takers from learning what a genuine test is like and are incredibly deceptive.

Equip yourself with the necessary tools – there are several resources available to assist you in enhancing your IELTS abilities, including YouTube video lessons, IELTS podcasts, blogs, and online courses. Despite the abundance of IELTS resources on the internet, the majority of IELTS students will need a teacher’s help at some point throughout their studies. An IELTS expert can inform you of your proficiency level and, more crucially, may point out your areas of weakness. Finding your areas of weakness is an essential element of IELTS preparation since you cannot improve if you don’t know what you are doing incorrectly.