IELTS Exam Experience

If you are going to apply for a Master’s program in a university that is in foreign land you need to prove that you have a clear understanding of the English Language. There are 2 exams that most students opt for :

• IELTS ( International English Language Testing System )
• TOEFL ( Test of English as a Foreign Language )

I prepared for IELTS. It is a 2-hour 45 min exam that comprises 4 rounds of testing.

Sections	Content	Time
LISTENING	40 questions	30-35 mins
READING	40 questions	60 mins
WRITING	2 tasks	60 mins
SPEAKING	3 rounds	10-15 mins

You are given a band from 1-9 according to your performance in each section. Then an average is calculated and rounded off to mark your final score. Any score above band 7 is considered good. Different universities have different sets of requirements. You need to go through what band of score is required for admission to your dream university.

There are 2 modes of IELTS exam: ONLINE and OFFLINE ie. Pencil and Paper. The speaking section is the same for both modes.

Preparation:

I opted for the online mode. I started preparing for the listening section first. I practiced several tests online. At first few tries I made a lot of mistakes. I kept on improving after a few rounds of practice. Similar was the case when I prepared for the reading section. After I was done with the preparation of the first 2 sections, I booked my IELTS exam through the IDP platform. I was given an online course to prepare. Either I can choose all the sections and have the course for less than a week. Or else I can choose 1 section and have the course for that section for a month. I choose the writing section for a month. I also received a book a few days after the booking. The online course and book helped me to prepare for the writing section. I also went through the model band 9 writing answers. For the speaking, I practiced through youtube. I prepared for around 1 month. 

Exam day experience: 
On the exam day, I was very confident that I would score a good band. I reached the center and was given instructions on how to use the system. I completed the listening section which I found very easy. There was no map question in my set. Moving on to the reading section, which I found a bit tough. In the writing section, I was given 2 bar graphs to compare and explain. In the other writing task, I was told to write a discussion and opinion essay. Later, in the evening I had my speaking test. I was asked to speak for 2 mins about the place I like to visit in my society with my family. I was cross-questioned on that. After doing my best, I hoped for a good result.

Later that week, I got the results online that I had scored the band I was looking for. I was overjoyed that I was able to achieve it with my own self-preparation and hard work. To conclude my article, I would like to share some tips for those who are planning for the IELTS exam in the future.

• Be clear about the band you want to achieve and prepare accordingly.
• Find out the mistakes you are making regularly and try to correct them.
• Practice at least 5-10 papers of all the sections so that you are familiar with all types of questions asked.
• Use a timer while practicing so that you do not panic on exam day.