An IELTS score of Band 8 is what you might be targeting in your first attempt. For scoring 8 bands in the IELTS General Training exam, you need to aim for 37 correct questions out of 40. This funnels down a bandwidth of only three mistakes or errors in your exam.
It’s undeniable that one should have a strong strategy and ample practice to commit the least mistakes. A smart brain would look for secret scoring tips to crack the IELTS General Exam with 8 Bands. You might come across multiple tips, but you have to carefully consider which tips for the IELTS general exam are both doable and practical for scoring 8 bands. Read more to understand.
With thousands of applicants applying, a score of band 7 is expected, but band 8 scores will give you a competitive advantage in your immigration approvals.
Even though you might already know about the ‘secret’ tips, we will present a unique perspective towards it. In IELTS, you don’t always want answers, but a newer perspective on the questions. Here are our 6 secret tips to get you to your Everest of 8 bands in IELTS.
1. Follow The Convention
As long as we, humans, have been writing, a structure always helps—perhaps to the reader more than a writer. Here your reader is an IELTS general exam checker. And if you want to convey effectively your message through letter or essay, you have to follow the easiest 5 paragraph structure. Let’s skim through a small outline for 5 paragraph structure:
i) Introduction – restate the topic and outline the essay.
ii) Body para 1 – arguments about the topic
iii) Body para 2 – explanation of the arguments against the topic
iv) Body para 3 – explanation of the arguments for the topic
v) Conclusion – your opinions, your thoughts
2. Last-Minute Planning
It sounds ridiculous to plan last minute, but trust me, it works.
As soon as you read the topic for a letter or essay, take 5-6 minutes for yourself. No, you’re not wasting it. In these 5 minutes, you will gather your ideas about a topic and put them in a hierarchy of order in bullet points.
These five crucial minutes will give you a complete idea of what you will do in the remaining time.
3. Listen For grasping Answers
In the listening section, IELTS general exam spoon-feeds answers if you listen carefully. With enough practice, you’ll immediately notice the speaker emphasizes important words in the recordings. For example, if the question is, which architects were hired to build the complex?
In the recording, the speaker might say, for the intricate building of complex American architects were employed.
Here, the word ‘American’ will be stressed with a emphasized tone. Now it’s on your training to catch the change in tone and either memorize or scribble it down.
4. Questions First, Paragraph Later
In the reading section, you might have been advised to skim through before going through paragraph. It’s applicable to the IELTS general exam for three reasons:
• It gives a much deeper understanding of what the paragraph is about.
• It is time efficient.
• It is helpful as you don’t need to comprehend the whole paragraph and you’ve to just locate the information.
5. Secret Trick to Save Time in Reading
Remember, 40% or so part of the paragraph is a waste of time. The parts you need to read carefully are the heading and the first one or two lines of every paragraph. Those are mostly enough to get a grip on the whole content and dodge unnecessary time-consuming distractions. This takes you even closer to your 8 bands in IELTS dream. It’s like your eyes are running and skimming the sentences, and stopping on the phrase with the answer.
6. How You Speak Matter More Over What You Speak
The speaking section is conducted in the presence of an examiner who tests your fluency and English-speaking skills. Know that this isn’t a job interview where you have to be a perfect candidate. You have to be merely fluent and natural. There are no right and wrong answers here.
You can say something extremely informal that you would not otherwise say in a job interview, and still ace the speaking section. Keep it simple, organic, emphasize words you think are important. If you are comfortable, include hand gestures. Embrace your accent and show just how expressive in English you are.
To get Band 8 in your IELTS general training, you need to perform well in all modules, and these secret tips will boost your performance. A sound knowledge of Grammar and Vocabulary contributes to your IELTS General exam scores. Build your confidence by taking online mock tests / applying for our online test series, and polishing your skills for your first attempt. A comprehensive long term course to be under expert’s guidance from the start, and a short term course for last minute preparations are designed for you. It’s never too late to speak to our experts at the PTE Institute today!