When should you take an IELTS test?

Taking an IELTS test an be stressful and quite expensive to many people in Uzbekistan as the average income of most citizens are not as high as those of developed countries. Based on my experience some candidates register for IELTS test in advance, then they start preparation, while others set unrealistic goals and give themselves relatively short time to get the score they need. However, there are also many students who take time to prepare, and then register for the test when they feel ready for it. Before booking your test, ask yourself whether you have taken the necessary steps to ensure you have the best opportunity to succeed. This is what I will cover in this article.

Let's give brief conclusion first, registering for IELTS test can certainly make you more committed to preparation and it helps you to avoid procrastination. However, you should not also register, pay money if you are nowhere near to achieve the score you want in real test . Thus, it is essential to consider your current level of English. If you have got a deadline then start preparation in advance and register earlier to avoid stress. However, if you just want to take IELTS for yourself, setting a deadline for yourself still can be helpful so register in advance, yet you can change exam date 35 days in advance in case your mock test results are not as good as you expect.

Let's first go through some IELTS preparation Checklist. Answer these questions honestly and explain why. Then read below for guidelines.

1. Do you really need IELTS certificate or you taking because someone told you to do so?
2. Are you ready for the test? Or Do you have to take IELTS because of deadline on something?
3. Have you passed any IELTS mock test in a reliable test centre?
4. Does your teacher feel that you are ready to take the test?

Now let's address the first question. You should not book a test based on emotion or because some people want this including your parents. You should politely explain that it could be a waste of money as you are not ready to get the score you need. Preparing for IELTS is a bad idea if you feel everyone else around you doing it. Answer honestly, do you really need this certificate? If the answer is yes, then why? You are good to go if you have got clear answers like these: I need it to apply to university or emigrate abroad, or perhaps for my job. Next step is to understand whether your skills are sufficient enough to get the score you need and your mental state. There are usually two kinds of results: one is what we want to get and the other is what we actually need. The former tends to be much higher as most candidates want 7+, while the latter is much lower in many cases. If the university or job you want to apply only requires band 6, why on earth you want to get 7+? Get the result you need and move on, life is not only about IELTS.

Now let's imagine that 4 candidates named 'A, B, C, D' want to pass the test successfully, but A is satisfied with only 6.0 result to apply for bachelor degree, B needs to get 7.0 to apply for master degree, whereas C wants to get 7.5 to apply for fully funded scholarships and D candidate wants to get 8 or higher as an IELTS instructor. You can find out what score you actually need by contacting the institution you want to enroll in or an employer, or simply check out from official website for this https://ielts.idp.com/about/who-accepts-ielts/organisations-that-accept-ielts. I will try to break down now how the IELTS scores are estimated and how you can make the best choice. In an IELTS test you get scores ranging from 0-9 for 4 skills (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking) and the average score of these sections become your overall result. For example, if you get 7.0 in receptive skills (Listening, Reading) and 6.0 in productive skills (writing, speaking), then your overall score will is 6.5 (7+7+6+6)=26:4(skills)=6.5.

Now I want to share something to get you high result without any gimmicks or promises. You may know that vast majority of IELTS candidates get higher scores in Listening, Reading, and their writing, speaking results tend to get lower. One reason is we listen everyday and read, but don't practice writing and speaking too much, too often. Another obvious reason you need the support of a good teacher for your essays and speaking answers, while many candidates can improve their listening, reading scores after the full IELTS course. Let's answer this question honestly: Which skill takes the longest and more efforts to get 8+ in IELTS? Listening or Writing? What about Reading or Speaking? I assume most of you chose Listening and Reading skills as it is much more likely to get 8.5 or even 9.0 in these two than getting 7+ in Writing, or 8 + in Speaking. Therefore if you want just 7.0, you should do your best to maximize your listening, reading to increase your overall result. That is not to say it is easy or you should neglect the writing, speaking skills. I recommend to work on all 4 skills, but I do suggest to work on first two parts to get that 7 or higher.

In real life, the result of Eshmat is much more realistic that a scenario of how Toshmat achieved 7.5. However, some of you wonder how it is 7.5 overall. if results are (8+8+6,5+6.5)=29:4(skills)= 7.25, it is rounded up to 7.5. If the average result ends with 0,25; 0,75; it goes up. 7.75 becomes 8.0 overall. However, if the average of four skills is around 6.12 it is rounded down to 6.0 or if it is about 6.63, it becomes 6.5 overall. This is a simple math. Now let's take a look at some of the most attainable ways to get 6.0, 7.0 or higher.

As you can see if you ensure that you get such results, you increase your chance of getting 7 0r higher overall in the IELTS test. Even though most candidates don't need, just take a look at possible ways to get 8 or higher.

As you have probably understood by now, getting 8.5 in first sections are more likely to happen than 8.5 in writing and speaking sections. So instead of persisting, do your best to get your listening and reading skills to 8+ level, and also maintain writing, speaking practice. Remember, all this is not to encourage you to only work in receptive skills nor to urge you to get 'weak' 7.5. Getting 7.0 in all sections are much sweater than getting double 8.0 and double 6.0 in my opinion.

I am getting high results at home but I failed miserably in a real/mock test. How is this possible? Although there is no 'one-size-fits-all' answer to this question, following information can help.

• If you are using unreliable tests such as actual or any other test which is not verified by Cambridge University Press, keep in mind that they do not represent your true results.
• If you are not practicing under exam conditions, then do not expect to get similar results. For example, some candidates listen more than once for some questions or spend more than 6o minutes on Reading, Writing.
• If you are cheating then blame yourself for a bad result, not the examiners. For instance if you write accomodation, but the correct answer is accommodation or you write balloon, but it should be balloons (plural form). If you are doing similar stuff, you are deceiving yourself.

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• if you have never done mock test by yourself or at a centre, it is hard to expect yourself perform at your best. The reason is we often practice skills separately unlike the real IELTS test. Many candidates practice often listening, sometimes reading, and rarely writing and speaking sections. On top of that most of the candidates don't sit down 3+ hours to do all 3 sections like a real test. As a result when they go to the exam room, their mind gets exhausted by the time they reach Reading passage 3 or perform badly in writing portion of the IELTS. It is not easy to stay focused and collected for such a long time unless you have experienced the same thing. In addition, we feel more relaxed at home, while invigilators always inspect carefully in a real test. For all of these reasons you should not be greedy and take a mock test in a center which offers good service. If you don't have money, and you can only do mock test at home, follow these tips:

Print out the full test in A4 format, answer sheets. Do the test under real exam conditions. (ask your teacher for this or someone who passed the real IELTS test) Mark your listening, reading answers honestly and kindly ask your teacher to do a mock speaking, and to assess your writing. After this you add up all the scores you have and ta-DAM, you find out whether you are ready or not. Remember getting one time 7.0 overall does not mean you can get it again, however if your last 3-5 tests are all 7.0 then you have reached this level of proficiency and good to go.

#CommonMistakes when taking an IELTS exam

• Registering too early without preparation
• Registering too late (If you have enough money, and showing already consistent 7.0 results, satisfied with such result, what is the point of delaying registration? Your English weakens if you don't practice regularly, so seize the moment. However if you are a disciplined person and able to study on your own, carry on your IELTS Journey until you are ready.)

Finally, always talk to your IELTS instructor or English language teacher for advice to get extra help. Deadlines are good if you take actions instead of procrastinating.

Let's summarize key ideas once again:

• Set a clear goal of why, when you need IELTS.
• Start preparing and show similar practice results you want to get in a real test.
• Register for the test, pass it and move on with your life.

If you finish school next year, be sure to improve your English until that. You don't need to study IELTS a lot, you need to familiarize yourself with the test and practice some test questions. I don't understand teachers or language centers which prepare students for IELTS for several months if not years. If there are 3 things that determine your test result, here they are in the order of their importance:

1. Your level of General English (higher the better)
2. Your teacher
3. Your efforts during IELTS Journey

If you need more detailed information on these key areas, let me know under this post as this is up for another article.

Wow, you have read till the end, thank you for taking time to read this article, if you have found this article useful, then don't forget to share your friends and invite them over to @IELTS_Journey channel on Telegram. Help your friends to make a smart decision, save money so they don't retake IELTS many times.