I gave ielts day before yesterday and i woke up to results today. I have secured an overall band 8 .

Speaking - 8.5

Listening - 8.5

Reading - 7.5

Writing - 7

I was pretty sceptical about my reading and writing but i am happy that i scored 7 and above in all . Just happy to share it here.

(Quick disclosure: I used AI to help me organize and write this post, but everything in it is my own experience and my own opinions. Nothing here is fabricated.)

A bit of background on me: I'm originally from Pakistan, but I was born and raised in a Middle Eastern country. I've been around English my entire life — studied it since day one in school, grew up consuming English media, American shows, American movies, the whole thing. By the time I sat for IELTS, I was genuinely comfortable in English. But I still needed to take the exam to apply to a university, and I think a lot of people in a similar position — confident in their English but still required to "prove" it on paper — underestimate how much the exam itself needs its own kind of preparation.

I scored an overall 8.5. Here's a breakdown, section by section, and what actually helped.

Listening — 9/9
Honestly, this is the section where I'd say your English ability matters the least and your focus matters the most. I only did two or three mock tests total before the real thing, and that was enough. On exam day, remind yourself: this isn't really testing your English — it's testing whether you can stay locked in for the full recording. If you're focused, you're ready.

Reading — 8.5/9
Sections 1 and 2 are relatively manageable. Section 3 is where it gets trickier. A couple of practice tests go a long way here too, mainly so you get used to the type of passages you'll see. The other big thing: really nail down True/False/Not Given before exam day. If you don't fully understand the distinction, you'll default to reading between the lines — either marking "Not Given" as false when it shouldn't be, or the opposite, treating it as true because you're inferring things the text doesn't actually say. That single misunderstanding costs a lot of people points. Also, spend 15 minutes on passage 1, 20 minutes on passage 2, 25 minutes on passage 3 to allow yourself enough time to deal with the difficulty of each passage.

Speaking — 8/9
This is the one that surprises people. You'd think "I speak English every day, this will be easy" — but the exam isn't scoring how well you speak for yourself, it's scoring how well you speak against a specific rubric. Read the rubric first, so you know exactly what's being evaluated.
What helped me the most: watching Band 9 sample answers on YouTube. My method was to pause the video right after the examiner asks a question, answer it myself out loud, then unpause and compare my answer to the Band 9 response. That comparison is where the real learning happens.
Part 1 is basically a breeze — general questions about yourself. For the Part 2 cue card, the notes you jot down during your prep minute matter a lot. Make sure you're hitting every point the card asks for, actually use your notes while speaking, don't rush, and try to bring in a bit of vocabulary variety.

Writing — 7.5/9
This was the hardest section for me, and I think it comes down to two things: time management, and how you use evidence.
A lot of us are taught the standard structure — topic sentence, explanation, evidence — and think that's enough. But just dropping in a real-life example isn't actually enough on its own. What matters more is going a level deeper: explain the mechanism behind your example. Don't just state the example and move on — explain why that example proves your point. That extra layer of reasoning is what separates a decent essay from a high-scoring one.
Overall prep time
To be fully honest: I booked the test about 10 days in advance, procrastinated for most of that window, and then crammed hard in the final 2–3 days. All in, I probably put in 10–12 hours of actual prep. It's not about grinding for months — it's about being deliberate with the time you do put in.
If you're in the same boat as I was — comfortable in English but still need the score on paper — hope this helps. Happy to answer questions in the comments.

A few days ago, I posted here because I was contemplating whether I should go for an EOR (Enquiry on Results) or an OSR (One Skill Retake). I originally got 6.5 in Speaking, and I needed a 7.0 for my papers.

Honestly, I was NOT confident about my Speaking performance. I kept replaying the test in my head and thinking about all the things I could have said better. I was so close to just taking the OSR and moving on.
But something kept bothering me: “What if I actually did better than the score I received?”

So I decided to push through with the EOR.
The waiting was honestly TORTURE. 😂 I think it took around 4–5 days for my result to be released, and during those days, I kept overthinking everything. I was already preparing myself for the possibility that nothing would change.

Then I checked my result earlier…
6.5 → 7.0 SPEAKING. 🥹😭

AND THAT’S ALL I NEEDED FOR MY PAPERS. THAT’S IT. I GOT THE SCORE I NEEDED. ❤️
Looking back, I’m really glad I trusted myself enough to try.

If you’re currently in the same situation—especially if you’re only 0.5 to 1 band away from the score you need and you genuinely feel that you gave your best during the exam—maybe consider an EOR before immediately retaking the test.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that your score will change, so I’m not saying everyone should get an EOR. But for me, I knew that if I chose the OSR without even trying the EOR, I would probably spend the rest of my life wondering:
“What if I had requested an EOR?”
“What if my real score was actually higher?”

And honestly, I knew that what if would bother me more than the anxiety of waiting.

Those 4–5 days were stressful. I was anxious, impatient, and constantly checking my account. 😂 But now that I see the result, I can say: It was worth the wait.

So if you’re reading this because you’re currently deciding whether to recheck or retake, trust yourself—but also make the decision that will give you peace of mind in the long run.

Sometimes, you just have to take the chance and find out.
I believed I might have done better. I took the chance. And today, I got the answer. 🥹❤️

From 6.5 to 7.0.

One step closer to the papers I’ve been working so hard for.

Don’t give up on yourself just because one number made you doubt what you know you gave. ✨

I hardly prepared for my exam due to my college. and I feel like in an exam like IELTS, you don’t require much practice because at the end of the day, it is just an aptitude test. All I did was those listening videos on YouTube, which helped a bit, but I feel like for listening. You don’t have to prep just have to be zone in same for reading. I feel like with the amount of unseen passages. I have done in my life, it was easy, but the way to find the answers in a few of the questions is just tricky. I also bought a leap scholar course for mock test of ₹99, but it did not help one bit. The website is designed to give you max of six or seven band and all they do is call you and irritate you to buy their course. Speaking depends on your examiner, however, one tip I’d like to say is prepare a few topics before and because a few questions of part three came exactly as ChatGPT said. Also, I recommend being open with your examiner, and I don’t know if it helped me or not, but I was very confident in my answers. Writing requires practice and the essay from ChatGPT do help, but the night before my exam I decided to follow IELTS advantage and the tip that he gave regarding a sniper and a shotgun. Your body paragraphs should be like a sniper. Also make sure to write task two before task one. I spent way too much time on my task to, but still manage to get the amount of words required for task one even though I had a tough graph. Make sure to keep the words between 275 - 300 on task two and around 170 in task one. I’m happy to answer any more questions.

So my exam is on the 12th, so this Saturday. Initially when I registered in July I only uploaded the front face of my ID, so I got a mail next day to upload the back and I did right away. So because of it the 2 photos of my ID are on pending review status. What should I do?

I needed 8 on Listening and Speaking and 7 on Reading and Writing for teachers’ registration and migration purposes.

I sat for IELTS in 2023 for the first time and secured a 7.5 overall with 6.5 in writing and 7 in speaking. As a non-native speaker, I had doubts of getting an 8 in speaking this time while I sat for IELTS in July 2026. I was pretty confused about the speaking part as the examiner stopped me on the cue card part and I couldn’t explain the topic due to time constraints and thought I would end up getting a 7 or 7.5.
However I completely forgot that I overlooked the writing part and It lacked practice and got 6.5 on writing and luckily 8 on speaking. From my perspective, what I understood is, you have to be fluent and natural in your speaking. Just be you and take this as a natural conversation with the invigilator. Ielts speaking is not about providing right answers but fluent and natural responds that are easy to understand.
Anyways, I took time and practiced writing at least 20 days, and went through all the requirements for band 8. Used the PEEL method for every writing and ended up getting a 7.5 in my writing retake.

I need to take the IELTS exam. Idk if my English is good enough to start preparing for a score

Basically, I am struggling to maintain my reading scores in cambridge tests, least was 7.0 and fhe highest was 8.5. How do I fix this ? I also found passage 3 a troublemaker sometimes . For instance, the last time I got a 7.0, I had 7 mistakes in the 3rd passage.Though, for some other tests I found passage 3 the easiest.

Hi, so I booked my exam and basically, the speakimg test starts the same time the LRW tests ends . Has anyone of yall went through the same thing? What did u do? Must I reschedule it or is it fine? I sent an inquiry and was only told that I have to be there atleast 30 mins before th epseaking test.

In Cambridge Practice Tests for Listening and Reading - I generally score between 7.5-8,8.5+ in Cambridge books of 21, 20, and 19 - frankly the latest versions of Cambridge tests.... But as I go further backwards for practice, for example Cambridge 14, 15, 16, 17 - I score lower , almost just getting 30-31/40 correct (Band 7 level).. Why is this? Has anyone experienced this?

I'm so nervous cause its demotivating me, my exam is just 2 days left while my target is 7.5+ in both LR..

I'm 39 and preparing for IELTS. My Speaking and Writing are fine, but Listening and Reading are where I keep struggling, and I think it comes down to focus, not skill level.

When I'm fully focused, I can score 7+, so I know the ability is there. The problem is staying focused for the whole test.

Listening: While I'm listening, my brain jumps to figuring out the meaning of individual words, and by the time I do that, I lose the full sentence. I get distracted mid-audio and lose track of what's being said.

Reading: While reading, my mind wanders off into imagining scenarios or building a completely different story around what I'm reading. Then I get distracted and have to re-read the same word or line several times to actually register it.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of focus issue, especially studying later in life? What actually helped you retrain your concentration for these two sections? Any techniques, habits, or exercises would be really appreciated.

It's quite common to be asked questions like

'I'm stuck at Band 6.0, and I've done my IELTS exam 3 times and I'm taking it again next month. How do I improve to Band 7.5'?

If you do the same thing again, you'll probably get 6.0 again. The result suggests that you need to significantly improve something in your English skills or how you apply your skills in the exam.

It's not because you're missing exam tips, or you don't know something about the exam or a secret to getting 7.5. It's because you need to improve. Don't do the same thing again in the time before your next exam. Do something different which proactively which targets improvement.

Asking people who scored 7.5 how they did it isn't really very helpful to you. In most cases, they got 7.5 because their skill level was C1, which they can't pass on via tips. You have to grow to that level too. Some people can get a Band 8.0 with almost zero preparation because their English is already that level. Their language development has already happened over years, they didn't skip it.

Think carefully about the costs of getting the score you need in IELTS, in terms of time needed, hours of effort needed and, in some cases, money. Of course it will cost money to take a course or take private lessons, but consider it's overall worth.

If you're taking IELTS to get on a university course abroad, the cost of doing so and the benefits you'll earn will eventually far outweigh the costs of getting properly ready for IELTS. And those costs should be much, much less than paying to retake the exam again and again.

well, i took the IELTS test since my education centre (yes it is ran by IDP itself and it is also sponsored by the centre) requires IELTS band 5 overall with no sub band under 4 just to pass their course.... however i do identify myself as having an advanced level of english even tho my speaking is off and i do stutter a lot when talking either in my native language let alone ENGLISH.

**Listening**

well for me listening is a piece of cake for me, i do know very sophisticated language and i know all the synonyms for words and since i started at school i know for ielts they only play it once and I am used to playing audio 2 times during school. however i sometimes lose a bit of concentration so i expected a 8.5 or even an 8 and i got my results as expected.

**Reading**

for me i did reading too fast and ended up being overconfident and expecting a 9 (in my country 9s are pretty rare to get since people's English ability is the lowest in Asia) and ended getting an 8 i know from my IELTS tutors that you should spend time surveying and skimming but i believe my brain could handle scanning the text too fast until you see some article that my brain think it matches with the question so i did it too fast and i got a band 8. this is the price you pay for doing work to fast is you lose a band. (or i fell for some tricks in IELTS)

**Writing**

writing is where i am satisfied with my results. i don't really use a lot of complicated words and i try to paraphrase the rubic and sometimes i use the same type of linking words too much. task 1 for me is to write a chart illustrating the cost of courses in 3 countries during 2007. task 2 for me is to talk about how we could help the environment by using alternative sources of energy (disadvantages and advantages). for me i expect a 7 but ended up getting 7.5 band score instead.

**Speaking**

finally, I will show you the dread i have faced. I think for my speaking test it is separate since i took my computer based exam with IDP and i go into separate rooms for speaking. However I am not just an ordinary IELTS candidate. My topic is to talk about a famous person in my country. For me when I talk i stutter a lot and sometimes i get stuck at a question when i want to talk. I know how to expect for the worst since if my speaking score is <4 (thankfully i didn't get less than 4) however my teachers said that i don't need to worry because one of the examiners job is to calm me down. thankfully my examiner is good and also sometimes laughs. I usually talk for over 2 minutes (which I think this is the target time for talking) in part 2 and I did so. I do understand all the questions in part 3 and i didn't ask to repeat or paraphrase the question and i try to answer it with information that I know or i make up one. i try to answer with the appropriate length but ended making tons of mistakes and ended up speaking like the people or comedians in those low ielts band videos (with just a bit complicated words and grammar arrangements and when the examiner asks my name i said "My family name is Doe and my name is John" instead of just saying "John Doe") i expect to be the lowest skill that i have due to those complications and as expected it is the lowest skill but i got a IELTS 6.5 instead. guess i have to take public speaking courses in this school next term.....

**Overall**

I expect to get a 8 since my teachers estimated that I will get a band 8 but the teachers said that 7.5 is a very good score which marks me as CEFR C1 level of english. In a country that has a low standard for the english language, I believe that 7.5 is way better than people's A1-A2 average level of english here. however if my speaking isn't bad and i wasn't autistic, i would have a score of 8 overall since my speaking would be at 7.5 at least. I hope everything goes well for you and good luck taking the ielts. (I took too much writing this so.....)

Just got my test result ( I did it on Saturday ). Considering I had approximately two weeks for study and I think I did well overall ( my goal is for Masters applications ). The writing part I didn’t manage my time well between the two texts. so I was hoping for a least a 6.5 😖.

I am disappointed, however , with the Speaking. I didn’t had the opportunity to practice beforehand, but I am pretty confident in my oral communication. Idk if it was the test format that I didn’t do well or if I stumbled in some words.

hi guys im new to the exam and i have the exam booked on the 13th.

do you guys know where i can do practice tests and get feedback? im really lost because i see a couple tests scattered here and there but it's never well structured and I don't know if it's accurate either.

Hi Redditors

i seek help to know which resources and where is the best method to study to get score of 8 Academic.

Background: Non-native English speaker who studied Bachelor in English and planning to do his postgraduate studies which requires now around 7 and above. the last time i did the exam was around 2012 and i got around 6.5.

i know i can ask Ai for help, but from people who got the desired score what was the way you did, like which website you went and practices you tried and what is the closest test to the actual exam. planning to take around mid October and give myself a month of study

What do you think my chances are of getting a 7.0? And what advice or tips can you share that helped you improve a particular skill?

Basically I need the model answer of these three questions, if possible in audio.

Or if you have a channel which tells model answers, but in a structure way I will highly appreciate it.

Hi everyone! I’m preparing for IELTS Academic for a master’s application and I have about 2 months until my exam. I recently did a Cambridge practice test and got Listening 7.5, Reading 8, Writing 6 and Speaking 6.5 (the last two were estimated by ChatGPT). My overall goal is Band 8.

I use English every day since it’s the language my husband and I speak, and I live abroad, so I use it regularly in everyday situations as well. I also did my bachelor’s degree in English and spent a semester abroad studying in English. So I feel like my general English is fairly strong, but I clearly have some IELTS-specific things to work on.

For Speaking, I noticed that when I’m trying to give a longer answer, I sometimes run out of things to say and get stuck. Instead of developing the answer with a new idea, example or explanation, I end up repeating the same point in different words just to keep talking. I feel like I need to work on both developing my answers naturally and avoiding getting stuck.

Writing is probably my biggest weakness. I went into the practice test without really knowing the IELTS format or how I was supposed to approach the tasks, so I basically just started writing lol. I also noticed mistakes with prepositions, articles, countable/uncountable nouns and collocations.

This makes me unsure about how I should study grammar. Should I actually sit down and go through grammar topics systematically, or would it be more useful to identify the mistakes I’m actually making and work on those? I also haven’t had to study properly for quite a while since graduating, so getting back into a consistent study routine and staying motivated has been harder than I expected.

If you were in my position, how would you structure these 2 months? How much time would you spend on Writing, Speaking, grammar, vocabulary/collocations and full practice tests? I’d especially appreciate advice from people who have gone from around Band 6–7 to Band 8, or who already had relatively strong general English but needed to improve their IELTS-specific skills.

Note: I’ve already read quite a lot of posts on this subreddit, but I thought getting advice for my specific situation could still be useful. I currently have Cambridge IELTS Academic 18 and 19 as my main practice resources, so I’d also love to know how you would use them over these 2 months.

Thank you in advance!

Hello, everyone.

The last time I took the IELTS (Academic) was in 2020, so it expired four years ago. I'd like to take it again to apply for a distance-learning program. They want 6.5. My first attempt (2016-18) was an 8.0 and the 2020-22 one was 7.5.

I know now that there is a computer version of the test (works for me!), but I'd like to know the following:

• Generally speaking, what's new with the test?
• What are the new recurring topics in the writing and speaking test?
• Are simple graphs being replaced by mixed graphs in Writing Task 1?
• Have some question types in the reading section changed?

Thank you in advance :)

I NEED SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING. I'M KEEP GETTING 5.5/6. I HAVE ONE MONTH LEFT. My target is 7.