IELTS-Blog::Alex shares the story behind his Band 7.5

Alex shares the story behind his Band 7.5

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 02:30 AM PST

Alex Umeanozie is a 26 year-old man from Nigeria who took the IELTS test and got a 7.5 Overall Band Score. He didn't have much time to prepare, only two weeks, because taking the exam was required for his scholarship application. As one of the winners of our monthly IELTS results competition, we asked Alex to share some tips with future test takers. Here is what he said:

“Speaking Test

I thought the Speaking Test would be the most challenging for me, as I am quite a shy guy. But before the test I got to know all about the speaking part and what was expected from the candidate. It is important to keep in mind that the examiner only cares about how you communicate in English and not whether your answers are right or wrong. This gave me a lot of confidence. So I spoke to the examiner as I would speak to a colleague in an everyday scenario. I scored 7.5 in the speaking test.

Listening Test

The listening test was by far the most comfortable for me. It requires a lot of practice, in a way of doing some listening exercises. Answer the questions as you listen, as the recording won’t be repeated a second time. If you miss a part of the recording, don't panic, move on with the conversation and answer the next questions accordingly. My score in the listening test was 8.0.

Reading Test

The reading test consists of some passages. You don't have to read the whole passage. My technique is to go to the question first, then look for the answer in the passage. The first sentence in each paragraph is the topic sentence and tells what the whole paragraph is about. My score in the reading test was 7.0.

Writing Test

I think writing was the most challenging for me. There are two tasks, the first has to do with how well you are able to analyse a given chart, diagram, table, etc and it carries less marks than the second task. You should study the chart carefully and build your paragraphs clearly. Ensure you know what is required for each question to avoid deviating from the topic.”