IELTS tests your speaking, reading, writing and listening. Before your Homelingua course starts, you can start improving your IELTS reading and writing.
You should read general interest articles in English from magazines, newspapers and the Internet. This is what to do after choosing an article:
You have 2 questions in the exam.
The first question is often describing information from a graph or table in about 150 words. You have 20 minutes for this question. You can practise by finding a graph or table of information from a newspaper or the Internet. An example is given below:
Train operators % of trains Comparative price of Average age of
on time tickets (1.0 is average) trains (years)
Speedrail 98 1.3 8
Northtrack 77 1.0 15
Transportlink 84 0.8 10
Quickway 96 0.9 9
Metropolitan 95 1.1 7
You should look at the table and describe in general terms the information shown. You should then describe the information in more detail by comparing the data for each train operator.
Focus on important similarities and differences. Try to write 4 or 5 paragraphs for this question.
The second question in the writing section often asks you to give your opinion about an issue such as education, technology or society. Your answer should be about 250 words long and take about 40 minutes. Write 4 or 5 paragraphs (about 65 words per paragraph).
Writing very long sentences in English is difficult so try to keep your sentences under 25 words.
Example question: ‘Some people believe it is important to be strict when bringing up children. Other people think a more relaxed approach is better. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. ’
After you arrive, show your teacher examples of your writing. Be prepared to do extra reading and writing exam practice in your free time. Your teacher will be able to give you specific advice on how to improve.