SAT/IELTS TEST PREPARATION

I tutor two levels of international level English and you see links to them on the top of my website. They are IELTS/SAT TEST PREPARATION and ACADEMIC TUTORING. This section is only about SAT/IELTS Test Preparation.

A Closer Look at the IELTS Test

The British IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is the among the most widely used English tests in the world.   There are two types of IELTS tests all of which test all four skills in English, — reading, writing, listening and speaking.  Unlike the American SAT test, math is not tested on IELTS.

The General IELTS test tests all four skills but reading and writing parts are thought to be easier than the Academic IELTS test where the reading and writing is more suited for those wishing to enter mainly European universities.   The speaking part of the IELTS test can be given in a break between the other three tests or up to one week later depending on your test center.

It is a timed test (!) with four required parts. Total time = 2 hours 45 minutes including the essay.  The IELTS test has no math, only English.   The Academic IELTS test is generally required to enter UK universities.   My ASEAN students tend to do well on the IELTS Listening and Speaking tests (no. 1 & 2 below) and require little training.  The IELTS Academic Reading and IELTS Academic Writing tests (no 3 & 4 below) tend to be far harder for my ASEAN students.

1. LISTENING TEST : 40 Questions - 30 Minutes

2. SPEAKING TEST : 11-14 Minutes

  • This is divided into three parts all of which involve a conversation between the student and an examiner.
  • The student needs to analyze essays in terms of their correct structure, tone and effectiveness.

3. IELTS ACADEMIC READING : 60 Questions – 40 Minutes

  • Three long reading texts taken from magazines, books and/or newspapers are required to be read. Argumentative, expositive and narrative writing texts are used.

  • The student’s answers are partly multiple choice, sentence completion, identifying the writer’s claims/opinions, data/flow chart analysis.

4. IELTS ACADEMIC WRITING2 : Part - 60 Minutes

  • Two parts and BOTH parts are required.

  • Part 1 involves viewing information (graph/chart/diagram) and describing it in about 150 words in 20 minutes.

  • Part 2 involves a topic about which an essay of about 250 words needs to be written in 40 minutes. The essay is to test writing skills is not looking for a correct answer.

  • A recent IELTS Academic essay topic was similar to: Most people think the truth should be more objective than subjective when it comes to the news. What is the purpose of news media?

IELTS SCORE RANGES

Having taught IELTS skills for 8+ years to 1,000+ students, I try not to focus on IELTS grades but I focus on IELTS skills.   A student with good IELTS skills usually gets high IELTS scores.

What are high IELTS scores for UK admission?  

The good news is all four parts of the IELTS test – listening, speaking, reading, writing – are scored equally with “band” scores.  2 is the lowest band, 9 is the highest band. All four parts of your student’s IELTS tests are then averaged together – for example, 7.5 + 8.0 +7.0 + 7.5 =  30.

30÷4 = 7.5

Band = 9

You have a full operational command of language.

Your use of English is appropriate, accurate and fluent, and you show complete understanding.

Band = 8

You have a fully operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies and inappropriate usage.

You may misunderstand some things in unfamiliar situasions.

You handle complex detailed argumentation well.

Band = 7

You have an operational command of language, tough with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings in some situations.

Generally you handle complex language well and understand detailed reasoning.

Band = 6

Generally  you have an effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings.

You can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations.

Band = 5

You have a partial command of the language, and cope with overall meaning in most situations, altough you are likely to make many mistake.

You should be able to handle basic communication in your own field.

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