Strategy to Get 7 Bands in IELTS Exam in Just 15 Days | IELTS Drive

Are you still wondering how some people are able to manage 7 plus bands in IELTS while others just struggle even after having good language skills. Let’s get started with the technique that I personally followed to score that 7 in just 15 days. Following this 15 days routine will help you to ace the desired score:

Day 1 :

The combination of classroom training and self-study is the key so you have to choose atleast one or both as per your choice.

If you are complete beginner who knows nothing about the Test structure then just quickly go through the following :

IELTS is an English Language test designed for those who wish to study or migrate to different nations. Divided into 4 modules:

Know the Structure :

Listening :40 Questions – 30 minutes + 10 minutes to transfer the Answers

Reading:  40 Questions – 60 minutes

Writing: 2 Tasks – 60 minutes divided as Task 1 and Task 2

Speaking: Face-to-face or video call speaking session of 11- 14 minutes

Now quickly go through what kind of Questions and Tasks will be asked

Day 2:  Listening

By now you have got to know the basics of IELTS . Let’s start practising. Keep in mind these 15 days you have to manage 5 to 6 hours of your daily time on preparation.

Let’s begin the 15 day study Plan !

Firstly, Sit in a calm environment with no distractions for atleast another 40 minutes. Do Practice Listening Tests offered by Cambridge from their Official series. You can find test series here https://ieltsdrive.in/listening-test/ to help you gain confidence instead of random listening from Youtube. Once you perform the Test , write your scores in a notebook to make a record of your performance which can be reviewed at the end.

Tip : Make yourself habitual in listening to variety of accent and tones to help increasing your score. For example:  Listen to Ted Talks or related content so that you can slowly feel confident about your Listening skills. Here is the link to help you. https://www.ted.com/playlists/171/the_most_popular_talks_of_all

Or your favourite podcasts.

Day 3 :Writing

On the Day 1 you have got to know the structure I assume now you are well aware of all the question type and given time.

Let’s start with Writing,

Take few sample Task 1 : Read the structure, number of words to write, read 7 bands sample answers referring here a link to help you with https://ieltsdrive.in/side-tab/ and start writing your response. Make sure you make a note of the accurate vocabulary for writing your Task. Once done you can send it for free writing evaluation at writingevaluation@ieltsdrive.in  or there are many other sites offering this service.

For Task 2 : As this will fetch more marks for you than Task 1 write your response after familiarizing with sample 7 bands essay, topics which are being asked and type of words (synonyms, phrases, ideas, examples) need to write and send for free evaluation or ask a mentor to check it for errors.

Day 4 :Speaking

Speaking is something which most of the people are under-confident about. Well, in order to do that you just have to put yourself in an English speaking environment: For example: Performing all the tasks in English such as Speaking  as well thinking everything in English. Other tip could be:

• Speak with your friend in English-  about your routine tasks
• Speak with customer call agents in English
• Practise speaking in front of mirror –
• Recording your voice to look for errors in your speaking
• Make frequent conversation with foreigners via apps available on playstore
• Lastly, practice with a mentor to evaluate and correct you.

Day 5 :Reading :

Reading is a nightmare for many students still believe you can do it by just knowing and performing some simple strategies and knowing the way to perform IELTS Reading.

Reading module of IELTS is more about understanding the text and looking for keyword then just looking for specific information. Mastering the skills of Skimming, Scanning and Paraphrasing will actually help you getting a good score in Reading.

Practice Cambridge Reading Test from Day 1 to Day 15 Academic Reading Teststo keep a track of your performance.

Tip :  Put yourself into habit of Book or Newspaper daily for atleast 30 – 60minutes to make your mind ready to understand any reading context more quickly.

Day 6 :  Listing vocabulary for Speaking and Writing

In order to get your dream score you must write down list of words that you will use in your Speaking and writing module.

• Write topic- specific vocabulary:  For eg the topic is about Health – must jot down few details about words that you may use in this topic such as fitness , well-being, calorie-intake, physical and physiological etc.
• Write synonyms to avoid repetition  : Many- numerous/ plethora, crime – offence etc.
• Use of Connectors and linkers : Using linking devices such as Moreover, Additionally, Probing on etc will help to make your write more smoother.
• Similarly using suitable words in speaking will make you more confident and avoid fumbling.
• Look for new words, phrases, phrasal verbs etc you could use in your speaking or writing to make you stand out from others.

Day 7 : Practice all the modules as follows:

Listening Practice Test – Minimum 2

Reading Practice Test – Just 1 with Analysing your answers at the end to know your errors so as to avoid making same errors again.

Speaking : In the last 7 days doing everything in Speaking would have boosted your confidence still practice switching to the IELTS speaking topics students are getting in their recent exam. You can find it here PRACTICE SPEAKING CUE CARD 2022 Preparing these topics beforehand will make you confident on your exam day.

Tip: Reading variety of content from different sources will help in ideas generation and development. More ideas you have the great will be your efficiency in writing and speaking.

Day 8 : Your strength and weakness

Practice all the modules everyday atleast once in a day for another 10 days.

Make a note of the things you find difficult. For example: you feel you are making more spelling errors in Listening Test then write down all the spellings that could probably be asked in the Test. Or you feel you are not comfortable with doing Map Questions. Look for the tips on Youtube to solve  a Map question. Similarly,attempting the questions which you are most comfortable for eg : Blanks, True/ False/ Not Given will help you feel confident further.

Day 9 :  Time Management

Make sure for the rest of the days you have to repeat the activities of Day 8 alongside you should set a timer or put a clock in front of you while doing Reading and Writing so that you finish you tasks on time. Time Management is the most crucial part of IELTS Reading and Writing Test not following which you may end up hurting your scores.

Day 10: Work on grammar ,  punctuation and spellings

This seems to be an obvious fact but most of the test takers pay less attention to their minor grammar errors and punctuation due to which their scores suffer. Grammatical accuracy is the most important parameter thus keeping in mind you are making for eg : articles, gerunds, verbs, prepositions read the grammar lessons corresponding to your mistakes.

Day 11:  Put a Target board in your room

Depending upon your requirements you must have know how  much scores you need to get admission to your favourite university. This seems to be unimportant but hanging a target board where you write your Target score in individual section will remind you of your goal and the efforts you need to put to help you achieve.

Day 12 :  Don’t subscriber or watch lots of different content

This is really important. Strict to 1 !

Don’t watch too much content on the social media and YouTube to improve yourself as this will only confuse you. As ever tutor have different styles and structure to perform tasks. Just look for the lessons which you feel are most important to watch. Use the techniques which you are following as you have become comfortable hence trying working on the already learned strategy.

Day 13 : Take Mock Tests

Look for Mock Test Listening and Mock Test Reading for free or paid online to know where you stand. Evaluate your performance preferably by IELTS tutor online or self – evaluation will make you confident.

Day 14:  Repeat the activities of Day 7

Repeating all the activities along with performing Practice Tests of all the modules.

Day 15 : A day before the Exam  – Revision

On the day 15 donot do any Practice just revise all the ideas, vocabulary, methods, topics etc. that are most frequently asked in the recent exam.

Finish this Day by relaxing. Be confident and you are good to go !