Tips for IELTS Reading Test

About the test:

Reading test takes 60mns and divides into 3 sections:
Section 1: short reading texts come from advertisements, timetables, instruction manual….
Section 2: longer texts (about 500 words of each) which give information and advice about education
and training.
Section 3: only one longer text (about 700 words) come from general topic and general interest
magazine.
1. Section 1
Step 1: survey (quickly read) the text
Obtain a lot of useful information about the text by just looking at:
 the title
 section headings or subheadings
 any words in special print: bold, italics, capital or underlined
 any diagrams, tables or pictures
 any unusually pictures of the text: layout or boxed text
Step 2: read the instructions and questions
 make sure how to answer
 underline the key words in the question
Step 3: find the answers
 scan for key words or synonyms by looking over the text
 do not read all words
 numbers and words beginning with capital letters are the easiest to scan for
2. Section 2
The common questions in Section 2:
 Questions about specific information: completing sentences, matching pieces of specific
information, Section 1 question types
 Questions about main ideas: matching headings with paragraphs, identifying where to
find information
Question about specific information
Step 1: survey (quickly read) the text
 The title
 Section headings and subheadings
 Any words in special print: bold, italics, capital and underlined
 Any diagrams, tables, pictures
 Any unusually pictures of the text: layout or boxed text
Step 2: skim read a paragraph
 read first sentence carefully because it tells the reader the main idea of the paragraph
 Then quickly pick up only some words in the next sentences
Step 3: choose the correct heading from the list
Identify where to find information
Step 1: Survey the text
Step 2: Read question to identify the topic
 Underline the key words in questions
 Read one question at a time
Step 3: skim the paragraph to find the one related to the topic
 The topic sentence is of the first one
  Skim the rest paragraph quickly to confirm
Skill Focus
Guess the meaning of difficult words in text
 Look at the context: guess the meaning of a word from the other words around it
 Check the part of speech of the word
 Look for any linking words such as however, but, therefore, for example, so that…
3. Section 3
There will be 3 or 4 question types in this section:
 Any of those from sections 1 &2
 Completing a summary
 Completing a table
 Identify qualities or characteristics
The steps follow sections 1 &2
Tips for IELTS Writing Test
When assessing your writing, the examiner looks at 3 things:
 Content (the information and ideas)
 Organization (how the information and ideas are organized)
 Language (sentence structures, vocabularies…)
Step 1: Analyse the questions:
Task 1
 Underline key words
 What is the topic or situation?
 What style should be used?
 What is the purpose?
Task 2
 Underline the key words
 What is the form of the questions?
 How do I answer in relevant way?
Step 2: Make notes of ideas
Task 1 &2
 Do the brainstorm
Step 3: Make a plan
Task 1 &2
 Select only relevant ideas
 Find more ideas to support
Step 4: Write the essay of the letter
Step 5: Check for mistakes
IELTs Listening Tips
Tip 1:
1. Before Listening:
⁻ Read the instruction carefully
⁻ Read questions and underline key words (key words are usually not articles and
conjunctions)
⁻ Predict answer types
2. While Listening:
⁻ Only look at the key words you underline
⁻ Write down the possible answers that you hear so that you don’t forget them when you
decide on the correct answer
⁻ Noted that answers are always in order
3. After Listening
⁻ Never leave answer sheet blank
Tip 2:
- Note short answer i.e. Jap Res (Japanese restaurant)
Tip 3:
- Listen for plural nouns
Tip 4:
- Distinguish between different speakers
Tip 5:
- Listen for time
 ½: half
 1/3: one-third
 ¼: one-fourth/one-quarter
 2/3: two-third
 ¾: three quarters/three fourths