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Reading Passages
IELTS Reading Test
IELTS Speaking Practice

Before you read watch this video it really may help you make
far fewer mistakes

Key word strategy in IELTS reading - the truth revealed!

For many academic IELTS candidates reading is the hardest paper and the one which requires
most training. Here I suggest some different ways to make that training as efficient as possible.
These IELTS reading tips are fairly general and are designed to help you think about the best way to
train yourself in IELTS reading and how to avoid some common mistakes.

1. Beat the fear read as much as possible

My first IELTS reading tip is to read as much as possible. By this I dont mean do endless IELTS
practice tests, I mean do as much general reading as possible. I suggest you focus on reading short
articles on topics that interest you or on topics that are common in IELTS newspapers and
magazines are a great resource here.

One reason why this is such a good idea is that many candidates freeze in the reading believing it is
too hard and so fail to get their band score. If, however, you read enough native English before the
exam, you will become more and more confident in looking at texts where you dont understand
every word. Confidence is a very important concept in IELTS.

If you look at Daily Exercises, you will find lots of possible exercises for you. The idea is to find
something that interests you and read. Thats all.

2. Improve key skills skimming and scanning and reading in

detail
A major problem in the exam is the length of the texts and you will not have time to read them all
carefully. You need to train your speed reading skills so that you can read as efficiently as possible.
2 skills here are skimming which is reading quickly for general meaning and scanning which is
looking for specific information.

You may sometimes see advice saying that you dont need to read in detail. Incorrect. Bad advice.
You shouldnt read the whole text in detail but you will need to parts of the text in detail if you
want to get the right answer. Put simply, skimming and scanning are useful skills to help show you
where the answer might be: reading in detail tells you what the answer is.

You might want to look at this post on improving your reading speed.

3. Time management experiment to see what works

Because the texts are so long you need to have a definite strategy for how you manage your time in
the exam to make sure you finish on time. This means deciding:

how long you look at the text before answering questions

how long you spend on each question
how long you spend on each group of questions
how long you spend on each text
do you leave time at the end to go back at look at unanswered questions?

There is a lot to consider here. You will find books and websites that insist you do it their way. They
may claim to have a magic formula and that you must do this or you must do that. Ignore them.
Their advice may be good for some people but not for you.

The key point here is that different learners have different styles and different needs. Much the best
advice here is to experiment and try different approaches and see what works best for you.

See this earlier post on time management.

4. Focus on the question avoid careless errors

The texts in IELTS are typically quite hard, so candidates spend as much time as possible reading
the texts. Mistake. Why? Well, a huge amount of mistakes are made by not focussing enough on
the exact question. It can be easy if you are in a hurry to miss a word such as always or often:
the problem is those sorts of words can change the meaning of questions.

There is an easy solution to this problem: it is to go back and look at the question before you write
in the answer. Make sure that the question says what you think it says. You will normally save
yourself 2/3 marks this way.
5. Learn the exam know the different types of questions
There are 8/9 different types of reading question that examiners may use. Before the exam, you
should make yourself familiar with each type of question as they are slightly different. What I
suggest is that you look at my series of tutorials on the different types of reading questions as a
first step to see what the question types are. The next stage is to experiment and see what
techniques you are going to use for each type of question.

This may mean that you approach different types of questions differently.

6. Train yourself, dont test yourself

One common mistake candidates make is to practise exam questions too much. Exam practice is
important to learn the timing (3 above) and learn the question types (5 above), but that does not
mean that every time you practise reading you need to do it in exam conditions. My suggestion is
that you do some open book tests where you can see the answers as you do the questions. This
way you will learn how examiners set questions and how to find the answers. If you just test
yourself, this may not happen. How often and when you do this training will depend on your
preparation programme.

7. Learn how to underline

This is a very specific piece of advice. You may believe it is wrong to write in books and generally
Id agree with you, but IELTS is different. A very strong suggestion is that you should underline
words in the text in the exam. There are at least two reasons for this:

1. if you underline key words in the text, it can help you organise the text and this will save you
time in the exam
2. if you find an answer, it is sensible to underline the part of the passage that relates to the
question as a check (see 4 above) and to write the number of the question next to it in case
you find a better answer later

How you do this will depend on you and your style. Some people underline different types of words
in different ways.Id only add that less is more: if you underline too much, it can become confusing.
8. Beware word matching be careful with key words
One very common mistake is to match a word in the question with a word in the text and to think
you have found your answer. It is almost never that simple and I am tempted to say that if the
words do match, then that is not your answer. What you are normally looking for are either
synonyms (words with a similar meaning) or paraphrases (short bits of text that say the same as
the question.

One reason candidates make this mistake is that teachers (myself included) tend to say look for
key words in the question. This is helpful advice to show you where the answer might be and which
paragraph it might be in. After that you need to go back and read the whole question carefully to
see what the answer is.

9. The questions follow the text normally

This is a very practical piece of advice and could save you a lot of wasted time. Typically, the
questions will come in the order of the text: so the answer to question 3 will come after the answer
to question 2. This can be very helpful in the exam if you are a quick worker who goes through the
questions once for the easy ones and then a second time for the harder ones. If you have answer 4
underlined (see 7 above) and answer 6 underlined then you know where answer 5 must come.

One word of warning. In certain types of question (eg paragraph matching) the order of the
questions are jumbled.

10. The questions or the text which do you read first

There is no one right answer here.

Text books tend to advise you to read the text quickly first so that you know how the text is
organised. This helps as you will save time later by knowing which paragraph will contain the
answer. This can be a good approach, particularly for high level candidates provided you dont
spend too much reading and you have notes/underlinings afterwards.

Many teachers say that you should read the questions first and not read the whole passage. There
is logic here too. Normally, you do not have to understand the meaning of the whole passage to
answer the questions, so why waste time reading it? This approach can work, especially for lower
level candidates who might not understand too much of the passage anyway.

However, thee is always a third way. Life is not black and white. It is quite possible to decide to use
different strategies for certain question types. In paragraph matching you are going to have to read
the whole passage, so you might decide to read first then. In the short answer questions, you might
decide you look at the questions first. As ever, you decide.

The only bad piece of advice is the one that tells you you must do it their way. Ignore them. The
only right way isa the way that works.

11. Fill out the answer sheet

Okay, this is an eleventh tip. Practise filling out the answer sheet before you get to the exam. Too
many avoidable mistakes are made this way. Id go further: whenever you practise IELTS reading,
use an answer sheet. This is what I do with my classes. Two points:

1. when you go through the answers in your practice book, make sure that you have written the
answer exactly as it is in the book anything else will lose you the point
2. you need to fill out your answers in the 60 minutes. They dont give you any more time.

You can down load practice answer sheets from my downloads page.

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You might also be interested in:

Read more quickly in IELTS
True false not given reading practice
IELTS paragraph heading matching problems
Spaced repetition how it can help you remember the words you want to learn
The science behind learning to read more quickly

How to like it, share it and save it

If I have helped you with these ideas and resources, please share them

reading, tips
 IELTS and Google News Timeline Graph language in IELTS task 1 recommended website

119 Responses to IELTS reading tips

DORLA January 3, 2010 at 1:04 am # REPLY

Ive been looking all over for this!

Thanks.

Name January 22, 2010 at 11:53 am # REPLY

Thanks for the tips..Really helpful

khoa January 27, 2010 at 5:58 am # REPLY

thanks so much. Your tips have helped me a lot. Best wishes to you!

betty April 19, 2010 at 7:44 am # REPLY

Hello there
Many of my students achieve 6.5 in writing but need 7 for Immigration
purposes.Could you help me with that elusive .5!I know there is no magic answer
and have read many books and blogs.btw your blog is v good Dominic.
thanking you
Betty

Dominic Cole November 14, 2010 at 5:36 pm # REPLY

As you say there is no magic answer. It might amuse you to know that
 with students who can afford it, I tell them to book 2 tests at once. If they get
the grade 1st time, they wont be disappointed about spending the money. If
they dont, they have a second chance. Ive known many who have come out
with very different scores only 2 weeks apart.

Anonymous July 12, 2015 at 9:52 pm # REPLY

hi Dominic
thanks for your website. actually this method (book 2 tests at once) does
not gonna work for many (because the price of test, in some countries
many individuals can not afford it).
about reading i cant answer by scanning, most of the time it takes long
time to find where is the question and stress eschew me to reply the other
questions so most of the time i read one paragraph and then the question
to find out whether is any question in that paragraph. it works most of the
time but the problem is if i cant find an answer i cant give the question up
and its time consuming of course plus more stress even at home, i dont
know how can i deal with stress in real test.only 1 month is left.my score is
around 8.5 or 8 but i need 9 because my writing is awful as well as
speaking.

Huria April 28, 2010 at 8:15 pm # REPLY

I am very very greatful to you for sharing this remarkable tips and tricks
.Million thanks once again!

gaurang May 10, 2010 at 9:33 am # REPLY

this is realy helpfull for practice more extras

thanks a lot

reply May 12, 2010 at 9:03 pm # REPLY

 really good and helpful , keep carry on. Thank you for your valuable time
and hard-work

soniya shaikh June 1, 2010 at 3:03 pm # REPLY

thanks for those helpful tips!

SO July 1, 2010 at 5:54 am # REPLY

Great site, you have a link issue on the reading practice test page.
The answer link for all 3 parts of MasterClass test goes back to Part 3 reading. I
am an IELTS teacher and would like to use these in class.
Thx
S

Dominic Cole November 14, 2010 at 4:56 pm # REPLY

Thanks for the info, it should be sorted now.

ajaya sah August 15, 2010 at 5:25 am # REPLY

i think ur tips have helped me very much

thanks

ji August 18, 2010 at 12:56 pm # REPLY

thanks a lot

vava August 27, 2010 at 7:02 am # REPLY

awesome~~~Thank you so much~~~~

Name November 30, 2010 at 1:03 pm # REPLY

im a fan.ryan from philippines

Name December 4, 2010 at 7:34 pm # REPLY

thanks alot.. really great

wow, wow, wow, Lilian July 12, 2011 at 11:11 pm # REPLY

ur suggestions are fantastic.

KC July 23, 2011 at 6:03 am # REPLY

I think even native English speakers will fail the reading IELTS, or should
I say, would not get a desirable grade since it uses more of your logic rather than
understanding English. It is correct that essays mostly include paraphrases and
idioms therefore it is unfair for those who really dont use english at all, that they
have to learn the basics like nouns, verbs, adjectives etc. plus learn advance
english like idioms.

Dont get me wrong but your tips are very helpful Dominic, just wanted to share
my two cents on the idea of IELTS.

I wonder if its the other way around that we have to learn chinese or japanese
etc. instead of english.

Dominic Cole July 23, 2011 at 9:12 am # REPLY

Hi KC
This is one of the really academic parts of academic IELTS. Youre right in
thinking that many native speakers would struggle too. Almost all IELTS teachers
I know check the answers very carefully indeed before they teach a reading just
because they are uncertain they would get the answers themselves.

What you need to do is to find a way of not getting stuck with difficult
questions. After a time, you make a guess and move on. It is not really a 100%
sort of exam.

humble August 15, 2011 at 9:37 am # REPLY

Hello Mr i want to tell you something i always feel frustraed when i do the
reading test and always without any progress

humble August 17, 2011 at 6:57 am # REPLY

hello Mr we i make 3 times exams but on every time i got 5 no more no

less i dont know why can you tell what to do i actually attend 2 courses i even
make practice at home daily

humble August 17, 2011 at 7:00 am # REPLY

i am waiting for your reply please

Dominic Cole August 17, 2011 at 9:28 am # REPLY

There is no one answer I can give you.

One possibility is that if you got the same score 3 times in a row 5 is your level.
It can take months to improve your level in IELTS. Simply going to a course is not
going to help you probably need more general English. So dont learn IELTS,
concentrate on English.

If, however, you did significantly better in the other papers (listening etc) then
you have a problem with reading skills. In tho case, I suggest you contact a
teacher to help you directly. If you are working on your own, then you need to
practise extensive reading and then more close reading, sanding and skimming
skills.

humble August 18, 2011 at 12:23 am # REPLY

Thank you very much for you realy try to give us any hope in this life

Harish August 31, 2011 at 7:08 am # REPLY

Hi, I am Harish. I have got 7 in speaking ,6.5 in reading, 6 in listining AND

5.5 in reading please help me to raise my band in reading
Thank You

Dominic Cole August 31, 2011 at 7:51 am # REPLY

Hi

Only to happy to help. Was that 6.5 in writing and 5.5 in reading? You gave a
reading score twice there.

Kay August 31, 2011 at 4:34 pm # REPLY

I am confused with YES/NO/NG and TRUE/FALSE/NG.

This type of questions is the most difficult to me.

Anonymous September 20, 2011 at 12:23 pm # REPLY

hello, i am finding difficulty in reading i got 6.5 but i really need a band
score of 7 so please help me
 Dominic Cole September 21, 2011 at 4:23 pm # REPLY

In the next few weeks I aim to publish a lot of materials on reading

2/3 a week in October and November. In the meantime, I suggest you simply
read as much as possible. People who read a lot, read well. Take a look at this
post for ideas:

http://www.dcielts.com/links/rss-feeds/

Libyan September 21, 2011 at 9:58 pm # REPLY

Thanks alot. I truly liked it

vachan October 22, 2011 at 9:16 am # REPLY

Thanx for your tipsI like it

Anonymous October 31, 2011 at 11:22 pm # REPLY

your tips exactly matched as i think so it is very helpful bcoz this is the
way

Raihan......Chittagong November 2, 2011 at 7:00 am # REPLY

Very useful techniques for reading.@@

Arif November 8, 2011 at 1:24 pm # REPLY

I found it Really helpful.. thnx alot!!

 IELTS Teacher December 20, 2011 at 8:28 am # REPLY

Very well !..Nice work for helping IELTS Students.

Maryam December 31, 2011 at 6:00 pm # REPLY

Dear Dominic
May happy times and warm memories brighten your new year. Have a great
year.
Happy New Year, Thank you very much for such a great website.
With best wishes
Sincerely yours
Maryam

Dominic Cole January 1, 2012 at 3:20 am # REPLY

you too.

Joe January 17, 2012 at 8:03 pm # REPLY

It is not good

Mandy April 1, 2012 at 3:39 pm # REPLY

I am stuck at 6.5 in reading everywhere else I scored 7.please help to

make it 7 each

Catherinee February 18, 2012 at 6:12 pm # REPLY

If I can add something ,I think it is a good idea when we have names in

the text to undrline them. There is always a question where you have to say
whose opinion is that.. so when I search in the text it is easier to have all names
underlined.

WAQAR AHMAD February 29, 2012 at 8:45 am # REPLY

Very Very Very useful site.

Dominic Cole Thank alot

alam March 7, 2012 at 7:07 pm # REPLY

very helpful tips thanks a lot

sana March 8, 2012 at 9:38 pm # REPLY

every single word is like a amount of gold

thank you very much dominic

i am student in ils english

Elgun March 20, 2012 at 11:26 am # REPLY

You are the best one for the IELTS tips.

brohi April 10, 2012 at 2:09 am # REPLY

Hi Cole

Thanks for making fantastic web for IELTS

I wonder if you please advice me about IELTS PREPARATION BOOKS + PRACTICE

BOOKS.

I need 7 Bands in Academic. Please advise me. I like to study on printed material.
When I try to read on internet, I get lost with so many things and material and at
the end of the day, nothing is gained

Thanks

Brohi

amir April 18, 2012 at 8:34 pm # REPLY

hi Ive a situation here. When I try to read the passage in one go first
without looking at the questions and then answer it i got 20-30 questions right.
but when i try to follow these instruction and tips it drastically lowers the
number of right answers for me like 10-15. I want to get 7 in reading at least and
Im more confused than ever before. need prayers

Dominic Cole February 22, 2014 at 4:39 pm # REPLY

There is nothing right or wrong. Only things that work or dont work
not least because different people work in different ways. You just need to
find a technique/strategy that works for you.

bhumika April 20, 2012 at 7:20 am # REPLY

Hii Dominic,

Thanks for providing these tips,These seems to be really helpful.I have my ielts
exam tommorow,and i hope i will be able to use your tactics.

Thanks.!!

vick April 22, 2012 at 7:39 am # REPLY

Dearest Domini,

I am an engineer. I need 7.o IELTS for general training for my VISA. I took 4
IELTS. I received 7.5 overall with 8.5 listening, but 6.5 reading and 6.5 writing. I
then recenlt 10 days ago received my IELTS over all 7.0 with again 6.5 reading
with 7.0 writing.

Please help me on reading. My reading test was not bad in my book, but it is
actually. I could hardly complete it but could not revise my answers. At last
minute I completed. But with 2 wrong answers I thought.

Please help me as I have started working on my IELTS again and on my reading,

with reading different books and english magazines, novels.

I shall be really thankful to you if I get my test right this time and get my desired
score atkeast 7 in each of four mudules.

Please pls pls pls..

DHARMENDRA MALHOTRA April 27, 2012 at 12:43 pm # REPLY

Its really very wondeful tips from you

Thanx a lot

Dharmendra Malhotra

Anonymous May 21, 2012 at 8:42 am # REPLY

its good but very difficult to practising

neeta May 27, 2012 at 4:00 pm # REPLY

Dear sir,

Please help me,give me some suggestions about gap fill question.i am so poor in
reading,my requirement is 6 band but I got 4.5.please give me some clue to find
out the answers..i will be very thankfull to you

mea May 30, 2012 at 7:54 pm # REPLY

 hello Dominic,

I am preparing for the IELTS nowadays and found you website really helpful. I
was looking over the web to find a resource which helps me practise the right
skills instead of just testing myself over and over again. Thanks

Please allow me to add a little teeny weeny tip for reading oh thankyou

While doing a practice test from a book i noticed questions worded like in
paragraph 4 the author is refering . So i think while you skim and read its a
wise one if you number your paragraphs, so that when you are answering
questions like these you dont waste time on evaluating the paragraph number
again and again. Please evaluate and lemme know if i am right?

thanks again for a great resource

Parvat June 15, 2012 at 10:24 am # REPLY

I have given several attempts, one thing which annoys me is once I come
out of the exam hall, I feel that I have answered most of the questions correctly
(both in reading and listening), but in the result it always stops at 7 in reading
and 7.5 in listening. When I take practice tests, I end up getting (37-40) in
listening and almost, if not better in reading (like 36-39). This thing makes me
perplexed.

Am I committing any mistakes in transferring the answers on to the answer

sheet? or Do I have to answer all the answers in caps?

Can you please spare a thought and pass a tip on this beleaguering point ?

Dominic Cole July 6, 2012 at 8:37 am # REPLY

Perplexing. It wont be the caps though if your handwriting is

particularly horrible, you could of course be losing one or two points for
illegibility, but there again the same would happen in the writing paper. Is it
spelling? They are very tough on that.
 faizan June 29, 2012 at 12:12 pm # REPLY

hi.i am very confuse in reading.now i am going to take test again.u should

give me advice what should i do/i got 4.5 in reading

Dominic Cole July 4, 2012 at 3:35 pm # REPLY

Hard to give you advice without more information what were your
other scores?

Nalini July 6, 2012 at 3:38 pm # REPLY

Hi Dominic

I am having a difficulty in reading section especially Where TRUE,FALSE ,NOT

GIVEN are the choices for the questions related to Paragraph.

Big difficulty with choice of FALSE or NOT GIVEN.

I need your tip in this area.

Thanks & Regards

Nalini Kanth

Dominic Cole July 8, 2012 at 3:55 am # REPLY

Yep, this is probably the question type that causes most confusion. The
good news I suppose is that you do have a one in three chance of guessing
right!!

The one that causes most difficulty is normally the difference between False
and Not Given. It is slightly over-simple but the main idea is that Not Given
means that you find nothing about that question in the text, which does not
mean that you wont find words in the question in the text. In contrast, with
False you will be able to find info answering that question in the text but the
other way around if you see what I mean.
 One tip is to read the whole question and think about its meaning and dont
just focus on individual words. This is where key words advice may very
well make you go wrong it is a very, very dangerous strategy if you use it
wrongly. To repeat myself read the whole question.

Another tip is to make sure you dont spend too long on any one T/F/NG
question. It is after all only one question and you may be looking for
something that isnt there if the answer is NG. This brings me back to my first
comment, you do have a one in three chance (which is better than most
question types), give yourself a bit of time, then guess intelligently.

A final tip is to invest in a Cambridge exam book and go through the answers
carefully. See how the examiners set the questions and what F and NG really
mean. Once you have done a few questions of this type, you will soon get the
idea.

Kishor July 26, 2012 at 2:30 am # REPLY

Really great tips

HASAN August 6, 2012 at 11:58 am # REPLY

GOOD ADVICE. I sat for real IELTS exam for about 10 times. But I could
not get 6.0 in every band. There may be 5.5 in reading or writing mainly. I can
not find out where is my problem? I went for IELTS coaching. But still I can not
improve myself. Can any body give me positive suggestion so that I can get 6.0 in
every band? Please help me to overcome by limitation.

Dominic Cole August 6, 2012 at 1:27 pm # REPLY

Hi Hasan
This may not be the advice you want to hear butThe chances are you need
to work on your general English and not so much IELTS. If you spend too
much time on IELTS, you spend less time on English and at the end of the day
IELTS is a test of English. This does not mean doing no IELTS, it just means
 paying attention to grammar and vocab. For example, the main reason why
people do badly in reading is problems with vocab and is not to do with
IELTS reading. I suggest you talk to a teacher and find out what YOU need to
do to improve YOUR English. Try and make a specific programme for your
needs.

Mustafa August 8, 2012 at 6:35 am # REPLY

thank you. it is really useful tips.

soodeh August 13, 2012 at 3:00 am # REPLY

thank you

Naveed August 18, 2012 at 8:20 am # REPLY

Thanks it,s very helpfully and logical.

sri August 27, 2012 at 1:52 pm # REPLY

tnx aloot

kamal September 12, 2012 at 2:49 pm # REPLY

just more than helpful

Kann September 13, 2012 at 4:55 pm # REPLY

Okay..that covers everything. Its a shame I didnt come across your site
earlier. My IELTS is in 2 days. But still, it calms down my nerves after reading
your thorough instructions. Thanks.

Suzie September 14, 2012 at 7:59 pm # REPLY

Can you please explain to me in detail about how to do open book test
mentioned in no. 6 of your reading tips

Dominic Cole February 23, 2013 at 8:19 pm # REPLY

There is no one special way to do this, but here is one suggestion. Look
at the answers (or some of them) first and then try and work out why they are
correct by finding/underlining the answer in the passage.

Miss. Rupinder September 12, 2013 at 12:45 am # REPLY

Thank you so muchI am trying to imporve reading with

your tips !!

Miss. Rupinder September 12, 2013 at 12:47 am # REPLY

Thank you so muchI am trying to improve reading with

your tips !!

Abdul Mannan September 20, 2012 at 1:13 pm # REPLY

Thank you for giving nice tips and I want to get more tips about IELTS
preparation and exam. I want to obtain more than 7. please give me the
suggestion.

Anonymous September 21, 2012 at 12:26 am # REPLY

 thanks for the tips and i found them helpful -_-

Happy Girl September 29, 2012 at 1:00 pm # REPLY

Dear Dominic,
Thank you for a great advice. Most of IELTS tutor ask the students not to read the
whole passage but just the topic sentence. I had been following the suggestion for
quite a bit and what it did was not give me correct answers but it took more time
to understand individual questions and go back to the passage to locate the key
words. Just as you mentioned, reading the entire passage and highlight main
ideas is more fruitful. Thank you so much once again

Happy Girl September 29, 2012 at 1:00 pm # REPLY

Dear Dominic,
Thank you for a great advice. Most of IELTS tutor ask the students not to read the
whole passage but just the topic sentence. I had been following the suggestion for
quite a bit and what it did was not give me correct answers but it took more time
to understand individual questions and go back to the passage to locate the key
words. Just as you mentioned, reading the entire passage and highlight main
ideas is more fruitful. Thank you so much once again

shuvo October 1, 2012 at 7:36 pm # REPLY

Thank you for your 10 tips regarding reading module .

I was very much confused regarding this .
i will follow all of your instruction and Tips
Hope , i will over come my problem

pardeep October 8, 2012 at 12:28 pm # REPLY

thanks it is very helpfull

 amna December 7, 2012 at 9:39 pm # REPLY

thanks 2dy is my test so i wish i get good band

very handy January 4, 2013 at 7:27 pm # REPLY

Awesom

Elvi February 3, 2013 at 9:59 pm # REPLY

Just wanted to say Thank You! I have taken IELTS last month and got 8.0
overall with 9.0 in Reading. Most of preparation work was based on this blog,
have done all the exercises, this helped me to succeed.
Best Regards

murtaza June 24, 2013 at 6:53 pm # REPLY

bro i wanna to ask so how u got 9.0 Band over all becouse i have
problem in reading if u give me some tips ill get good band

bonji November 29, 2013 at 4:25 am # REPLY

Amazed at your score on the reading section. How did you prepare to
get to this score am really interested. Reading has been my greatest problem
in IELTS exam.

Sohel March 14, 2013 at 11:56 pm # REPLY

Helpful!
 Rebecca May 3, 2013 at 2:54 pm # REPLY

Hey there, You have done an incredible job. Ill certainly digg it and
personally recommend to my friends. I am confident theyll be benefited from
this site.

Shiplu Barua June 7, 2013 at 10:38 pm # REPLY

I am new comer to learn about IELTS.

ashad August 17, 2013 at 7:55 pm # REPLY

i need procedure of ielts course

sabbirsenglishworld.com September 1, 2013 at 6:49 pm # REPLY

its so helpful . i want say thank you

rammy bains September 25, 2013 at 10:49 pm # REPLY

its vry useful for me

k viky November 7, 2013 at 9:40 pm # REPLY

thakyou very much providing information in this test

Anonymous December 24, 2013 at 5:06 am # REPLY

Thank you
 Rajib February 9, 2014 at 1:45 pm # REPLY

Great Job !!!

giridh March 12, 2014 at 6:12 am # REPLY

thanks

sania March 16, 2014 at 12:10 pm # REPLY

im preparing for IELTS, will appear on this 5th april in exam..

Actually im not having plenty of time to attempt later but im not satisfied with
my preparation,though i hav worked a lot and practiced all cambridge series
books.. plz help me to get 7 in each

Dominic Cole March 16, 2014 at 5:17 pm # REPLY

I hope it all goes well on the 5th. Do let me know how it went, The only
way I can really help you though is on my website.

hasnian July 11, 2014 at 3:13 pm # REPLY

what was your band

Rockie May 3, 2014 at 12:04 pm # REPLY

Thank you , very useful tips

 ayisha June 10, 2014 at 12:51 am # REPLY

i need band 7.5.but I am struggling with reading.i think these tips will
help me..but if u plz give me suggestion or preparation in 1 month.

Anonymous July 11, 2014 at 8:13 pm # REPLY

Listening
If you miss an answer dont linger move on, come back later and put a guess
Section 1 (Page 11)- Read and remember the instruction: Write NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS for each answer

While waiting for the naration to begin

1. Underline keywords leading to the gaps e.g.

2. Try to predict the answers

While listening to the naration

1. Watchout very carefully for these keywords or their synonyms.
They will help you pick out the word for the Gaps
They will act as your land marks for where you are as you are listening
2. Dont listen too deeply
3. Write out the answers in the Gap

Section 2 (Page 13)- Read and remember the instruction: Write ONE WORD AND/
OR A NUMBER for each answer
While waiting for the naration to begin
1. Go through the questions
2. Underline the Keywords e.g
3. Convert each question statement into a question e.g (note: write the question
very quickly because the time is short, to save time you can cross out some words
from the question statement and replace it with yours)

While listening to the naration

1. Watchout very carefully for these keywords or their synonyms.
They will help you pick out the word for the Gaps
They will act as your land marks for where you are as you are listening
2. Dont listen too deeply
3. Write out the answers in the Gap
For Questions like the type on Page 14
While waiting for the naration to begin
1. Underline the keywords in the options (they help you pick out the options
quickly as you listen) e.g:
2. Dont listen too deeply but be very attentive

While listening to the naration

1. Write beside each the options alphabeth as you listen. So sometimes what is
said is corrected later so you have to cross out the option you had written for an
answer

Section 3 and Section 4

For this sample test use the same approach as Section 1, but listen very carefully
but not deeply.

Like more than one person would speak so try to identfy their voices

READING TEST
General Instruction
Dont spend beyond the alloted time for each PASSAGE.
Dont waste time on difficult questions, you might gain overall which you could
use to answer them questions later

1. Follow the time very strictly and be hard on yourself while preparing.
2. Scan the questions quickly and underline keywords e.g names, terms etc.
3. Underline Keywords in the paragragph as you read it
4. Dont read the entire PASSAGE before answering the questions, after reading a
paragraph go to the questions and answer the one related to it
5. Dont let your prior knowledge of the subject be your answer rather it should
be what the paragraph says.
6. Not given is not the same as No or False. It means there isnt information
on it in the paragraph

Amad August 8, 2014 at 10:07 pm # REPLY

Dear Dominic,

I found really interesting over here.. I am working with Multinational company

given one attempt of IELTS. i had confusion, when the one passage was given 1-8
Question for matching heading and 7 questions of fill in the blank by using one
word now what has to be strategy for that?? I mean the passage is so long and
you need read in detail for blanks and need to match in matching heading from
A-G so how to get start? as to save more time this is what I am confused about
need your help please

Thanks,
Ammad

Srini August 29, 2014 at 6:08 pm # REPLY

Hello Dominic ,

Recently i have done my IELTS , I got 8.5 List, 5.5 reading , 6 in writing and 7 .5 in
speaking . Could you please help me to increase my score in reading and writing .
I need 7 in all 4 modules . Could you please help me out

Raheel Qureshi September 24, 2014 at 6:37 am # REPLY

Wonderful tips about ilets preparation

Sunny September 28, 2014 at 8:28 pm # REPLY

I just wanted to
know about the basic
Difference between IELTS and
TOEFL exams. Which one
Is comparatively easier? Which
One is
recognised more?

Dominic Cole October 13, 2014 at 9:54 am # REPLY

Okay quick answer: TOEFL is more recognised in the US and IELTS in

Australia and the UK. The levels required from both exams are exactly the
 same the nature of the tasks are slightly different. For me, the integrated
tasks of TOEFl (where you listen then write etc) are more challenging than
IELTS.

Anonymous September 28, 2014 at 8:41 pm # REPLY

Can i take both

IELTS and TOEFL exams?

gauri October 24, 2014 at 6:11 pm # REPLY

Hello
I have taken IELTS Exam two months before i got 6 in writing and speaking, 5.5
in reading and listening but my target is to achieve 7 in all.
Please let me know how i would improve myself especially in listening and
reading because i have my next exam on 15th nov 2014.
Thanks

Abdulrehman Khalid November 7, 2014 at 5:46 am # REPLY

Very very helpful : ]

Peace & Love.

mohamad February 4, 2015 at 4:50 pm # REPLY

Thanks .

MO April 5, 2015 at 2:04 pm # REPLY

Hi,
I have a band score of 6 and i want to imporve my self in reading and listening.
would you pls help me.

Thanks

MO

chiru May 9, 2015 at 4:41 am # REPLY

very very help full

Anonymous June 29, 2015 at 3:06 pm # REPLY

I usually do mistake in the part of find the headings

I just fed up from this part
Could you please explain that how can i improve this?

Sarabjit singh July 5, 2015 at 11:04 am # REPLY

Reading is a very hardpart for to solve the IELTS exam. I need to know is
there any simple technique ti solve answers quickly and correctly. I need only 23
answers to be correct.

mon ngon cuoi tuan July 23, 2015 at 5:14 am # REPLY

reetings! Very eful advkce within this ost! It s

the little hange which will make the largest change.
Many thanks for sharing!

Rob September 2, 2015 at 12:42 pm # REPLY

Thanks so much for all the great tips! Ill definitely pass these on to my
students.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks

The Use of Scanning and Skimming in Writing IELTS - IELTS Kampung Inggris :: Eddy
Learning Centre - January 19, 2013
[] References:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_skimming_and_scanning,
http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2011/05/ielts-reading-skimming-and-
scanning.html, http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-reading/10-top-tips/ []
The Use of Scanning and Skimming in Battling with Reading IELTS - IELTS Kampung
Inggris :: Eddy Learning Centre - January 19, 2013
[] References:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_skimming_and_scanning,
http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2011/05/ielts-reading-skimming-and-
scanning.html, http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-reading/10-top-tips/ []
ielts reading tips | how.orbium.biz - February 25, 2014
[] http://www.dcielts.com []
ielts reading Day 4 - (Table completion, Short-answer questions, TRUE/FALSE/NG) -
July 30, 2015
[] this out : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7U6ONKOKEg
http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-reading/10-top-tips/ []

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September 16, 2015

Today was meant to be the day I did

something on linking words then someone
asked me for this happiness essay. It
sounded interesting - it can be tough to
write about abstract ideas. I could see the
problem.
This lesson aims to show you how you can
do it by focusing on a simple structure and
writing about what you know about -
starting from words and examples.
I don't say this in the lesson, but things can
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