This is Simone – I created IELTS-Blog.com way back in 2005 and have been running it ever since.
How did I know that IELTS-Blog.com was needed? Because so many people have big dreams and ambitious goals, and IELTS is one obstacle that stands in their way. If only I could help them pass, they would reach their goals faster and start making the world a better place for all of us.
2020 showed us what isolation is like, and how hard it is to achieve anything in isolation. Winning takes a team, and IELTS-Blog.com is exactly that – it’s your team, that exists to give you the tools and support to win the battle with IELTS. And in the last 15 years the number of winners with amazing IELTS scores exceeded my wildest dreams!
2020 was tough, but it wasn’t all bad. It was the year we celebrated 5,000 subscribers on YouTube and 26,000 subscribers on Twitter, got active on Instagram and we are finishing the year with over 425,000 followers on Facebook. It feels great to be in touch with so many of you!
Everyone has a purpose in life. Mine is to help you. I’m here to show you how to tackle IELTS and get your target score. How to prepare and take the exam without stress and with confidence. How to get through IELTS faster, so that you can start living your dream life sooner.
On this day exactly one year ago, I wished for a life-changing year… and it was, just not the way I intended 🙂 Instead of progress, most of us experienced setbacks. Instead of thriving, we were busy surviving. So today I hope 2021 will make up for it!
Dear test takers, I wish you the IELTS score of your dreams in the New Year. Dear teachers and IELTS trainers – I hope that your students do you proud! You can count on our help in 2021, just like in the past 15 years. There will be new books, new practice tests and new IELTS services. Keep coming back – we’ll make it worth your while.
Thank you for sticking with us in 2020. Thank you for your friendship and kindness, for your feedback and ideas, for sharing your knowledge and for spreading the word about IELTS-Blog.com.
Here you can find IELTS Report samples of Band 9, written by a native English speaker and a former IELTS examiner. Robert Nicholson is the co-author of ‘High Scorer’s Choice’ IELTS Practice Tests book series, created in collaboration with Simone Braverman, the founder of this website.
New reports are being added weekly. Last updated: December 29, 2020
This is a model response to a Writing Task 1 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.
Set 1 Academic book, Practice Test 1
Writing Task 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The bar chart below shows the average rainfall for Australia by month for last year. The line shows the average rainfall for Australia by month for the last 40 years.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
You should write at least 150 words.
Sample Band 9 Report
This report will describe a bar chart showing the average rainfall for Australia last year by month and the average rainfall in Australia for the past forty years.
In a general trend for both last year and the average of the last forty years, the rainfall in Australia decreased from a peak at the beginning of the year to lows in the months in the middle of the year. Rainfall again rose towards the end of the year. Rainfall for last year therefore generally followed the trend for the last forty years.
Although the general pattern of the two sets of data is similar, there are some differences. The line representing the accumulation of the average rainfall from the past forty years begins at around eighty millimetres in January and then drops sharply to around thirty millimetres in April. Rainfall then drops slowly to around thirteen millimetres in September and then again rises steadily to just under sixty millimetres in December. Average rainfall for the last forty years was a little lower than average for most months, excepting March, May, June and November when the rainfall was a little heavier. August and October were particularly dry when compared with the forty-year average, at around five millimetres each compared with about fifteen and twenty millimetres each respectively for the forty-year average.
In conclusion, average rainfall for Australia last year was a little lower than average rainfall in Australia for the past forty years, but generally followed the same pattern.
Can you believe we’re at the end of the year? So many challenges to look back at, so much has happened.
We are very grateful to all of you for sticking with us in 2020. Thank you for making IELTS-Blog.com YOUR partner for exam preparation.
Some of you celebrate Christmas, others don’t, it makes no difference – IELTS-Blog.com is one big international family, and we would like on this occasion to wish everyone Health, Peace, Love, and Happiness.
If you are taking a break, enjoy it! Take some time to relax before returning to your studies.
Since many of you are using this time of the year to study for IELTS, we will continue supporting your exam preparation by posting more IELTS materials on IELTS-Blog over the holiday period (except for 25 and 31 December 2020, and 1 January 2021).
IELTS Band 8 isn’t an easy goal, but it is not impossible – and when you see people who did it and hear their stories, it helps to make that Band 8 real and achievable.
So, what can YOU do to get a Band 8 in IELTS?
Two of our recent IELTS results competition winners, Anne Padmarani and Prashika Pettagam, got Band 8 in their IELTS exams and are sharing their best advice to help others achieve the same level of success.
Prashika Pettagam from Sri Lanka said:
“My best advice to other IELTS candidates is to identify and review their own mistakes. I have done several practice tests and when I checked the answers I always used to find out the reason for incorrect answers. It works well for listening and reading tests and I improved a lot especially in True/False/Not Given questions. Once you check the correct answer and compare with your own, ultimately you will be able to logically find the correct answer very easily.”
Anne Padmarani from India said:
“Read a lot of books in English, watch Hollywood movies and listen to Western music. This will help you improve your overall performance. Practise makes perfect. I wrote 12 tests in total. I set a timer to time my answers. This gave me an idea of what to expect on the day of the test.
I used two books to prepare for the test: The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS Student’s Book with Answers (Cambridge English) & IELTS 5 Practice Tests, Academic Set 6: Tests No. 26-30 (High Scorer’s Choice).
I also used the website IELTSLiz to get tips for the speaking test.
I asked my husband to score my essays and speaking test (he was my questioner) and worked on the feedback that he gave me. Choose someone who is fluent in the English language to help you with the tests.
Get in touch with the test center well in advance, if you have any special requests. I asked for extra time because I am disabled.
Be calm and relaxed on the day of the test. Sleep well the night before. If you miss out on an answer during the listening test, don’t panic, just concentrate on the rest of the conversation.
Have fun talking to the examiner on the day of the test. My speaking test was easy because I felt pretty confident on the test day.”
In this video you will watch Aleks take a mock Speaking Test – it shows you what happens on the test day in the real examination room. Due to COVID19 precautions there may be a plexiglass screen between you and the examiner, and you may be required to wear a face mask for your Speaking test. It is a good idea to ask your IELTS test centre about this, so that you know what to expect.
The questions our examiner is asking Aleks are on topics that often come up in real IELTS Speaking exams. You can find the exact questions in Speaking Test 20 in the “High Scorer’s Choice” IELTS Practice Tests book series.
There are 3 parts in the IELTS Speaking Test.
In Part 1 the examiner asks personal questions on everyday topics, such as your job or studies, your home, your family or friends, your habits, likes and dislikes.
Part 2 is different, because there is no discussion in it. Instead, you receive a topic card (cue card) to talk about for 1 to 2 minutes, with 4 bullet points you should cover in your talk. Part 2 is the only part of the Speaking test where you get 1 minute preparation time and you can write down some ideas to talk about. This doesn’t happen in Part 1 or Part 3.
In Part 3 the examiner asks you questions related to Part 2 topic. You are expected to give longer, more elaborate answers and talk in-depth about the topics your examiner brings up.
How can you make the most of this Speaking test video?
1. Get familiar with everything that happens in the Speaking test. It will help you feel prepared when it’s your turn.
2. Listen to the questions the examiner asks and note how Aleks answers them. Then think about what YOU would say in response to these questions.
3. Spot Aleks’ mistakes and avoid them when you speak.
4. Go over Examiner’s Feedback below to learn how he rated Aleks’ performance and why (he also points out some of his mistakes!)
5. You can even use this as a Listening exercise, and switch on subtitles on YouTube to understand every word on the recording.
This section shows you what goes on in the examiner’s mind when he rates a Speaking test. Make sure you read this before looking at the scores he gave Aleks in every criterion, because this explains the reasons he got those scores.
Aleks was pretty fluent and coherent. He answered all the questions capably, but he didn’t often use longer and developed sentences, which I would have preferred. His vocabulary range was good and he had no problem accessing the right language for what he wanted to say. Aleks’ grammar was very accurate, though not without error, i.e. saying “less bicycles” instead of “fewer bicycles”. Aleks had a small accent, but this did not affect communication in any way.
Describe a successful businessman/businesswoman that you know. You should say:
– who he/she is and how you know him/her
– what his/her business is
– how you think this person’s business will do in the future
– and explain why you think he/she is successful
Aleks’ section 2 was fine, though he struggled a little to keep going and he was often a bit generalised and vague. There was a pause at the start and there were a number of pauses through his speech. Again, his sentences were also not often really well developed. So, although Aleks provided enough speech, his fluency and coherence was a bit fragmented at times. Aleks’ lexical choices were good, though he did not show much range and repeated “thing” too much. Aleks’ grammar was good, though again there was not a great range of structure. There was only some very minor error, i.e. “until he can” right at the end. Aleks’ pronunciation was again very good.
Aleks gave a nice section 3. The more complex questions allowed him to develop his sentences in a better way, though there were some pauses again, especially in the second half as Aleks considered answers and sometimes tried to access language. In general, I felt his fluency and coherence were a little better. Aleks’ vocabulary was good and he showed some more high-level language, i.e. “tangible”, while giving his nice answer on motivation. There were also some awkward vocabulary moments, i.e. “convert to”. There were the same occasional awkward moments with grammar (i.e. “an eye contact” and “improve on being”) and again some lack of grammatical range, but there were few errors. Aleks’ accent was again slight and did not affect communication in any way.
Aleks’ IELTS Speaking score
The marking of the IELTS Speaking Test is done in 4 parts.
Fluency and Coherence 7
Lexical Resource 7
Grammatical Range and Accuracy 7
Pronunciation 8
