How to Prepare for IELTS at Home? A Complete Guide
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IELTS is an English proficiency test for candidates who want to move abroad for studies and jobs. It assesses students' ability to read, write, speak, and listen in the English language. Therefore, those who take this test alongside work and study prefer to prepare for IELTS at home. Thus, to begin with, candidates should first familiarize themselves with the IELTS exam pattern so they can understand the format. Besides, there are various tips available for students to help them ace their exams after preparing at home. To know those tips, students can read further.
Understand the Types of IELTS Test
The IELTS exam has two main versions: Academic and General Training. The IELTS test you want to take will depend on whether you are planning to work, immigrate, study, or more. In the following sections, students will learn about these 2 types in detail.
IELTS Academic
The IELTS Academic is for those students who want to apply for higher education. Students looking for professional registration in an English-speaking country will also find it helpful. Besides, the main purpose of this task is to assess students' skills for beginning English study or training.
IELTS General Test
For aspirants who want to migrate or work in an English-speaking environment, take this test. It is designed to assess candidates' day-to-day non-academic English skills.
Practice for The IELTS Exam at Home
Students who want to prepare for IELTS can check the steps shared below. By following these tips, aspirants can easily practice by themselves at home to get admission to their target colleges. Besides, it will also help them in finding better job opportunities abroad.
Familiarize with the Test Format
Once students have decided which IELTS test to take, they can move forward to the IELTS exam pattern. The IELTS exam contains four sections: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. The Listening test takes 30 minutes plus 10 minutes extra for transferring answers in a paper-based test, containing 40 questions. While the Reading and Writing sections are 60 minutes each, with 40 questions in Reading and two tasks in Writing. Further, the Speaking test is about 11–14 minutes and is divided into three parts. Besides, students can take the help of practice tests to better understand the format of this exam.
Be Aware of Question Types
To prepare for IELTS exam, students have to focus on the question types. In this test, question types vary according to the four sections in IELTS. The Listening and Reading sections feature multiple-choice, true/false/not given, matching, completion questions, and more. While the writing section has specific tasks, like essay writing, the Speaking test is structured around an interview with three parts. These are all the basic question types needed for the preparation of IELTS. Besides, students can take the help of mock tests to practice and learn about all question types.
Understand the Band Score
While preparing for this test, students should have a better understanding of marks. In the IELTS, students receive their results in the form of a band. It is calculated after combining the marks of all four sections. Besides, this scales from band 0 to 9. A good band score in IELTS is either 8 or 9, which is applicable in various big colleges. Meanwhile, many universities already declare the marks they will require. So, it's better if students prepare for this test and get the scores on the basis of their target institutes.
Study and Set Goals
When students prepare for IELTS at home, the most crucial thing is self-study. In this, they have to practice more to be sufficient in any section of English. Besides, students can also take the help of self-study material provided by various platforms, such as mock tests. Further, maintaining a focused study goal can help students stay ahead in their IELTS exam.
Important Tips for the Test Day
Mentioned below are some important tips for students to remember on the test day.
- Students should review the rules and regulations right before the exam so that they can understand the IELTS exam pattern in a better way.
- Students have to carry their official ID card with them on the test day.
- Attend to all questions, as there is no negative marking involved.
- This test is 2 hours and 40 minutes long, with no breaks, so students have to be idle without any distractions.
- Students must listen to the test supervisor carefully and follow their instructions.
- Further, students are required to read the instructions and questions carefully so that they can avoid simple mistakes before they write their answers.
Conclusion
To conclude, in this article, students got an overview of the preparation for IELTS at home. They read about preparation tips, test day tips, and more. Besides, if students have more doubts in this article, then they can look for IELTS online training offered by various platforms. One of these training institutes is Gradding.com, which provides guidance to students. Further, they also offer recorded lessons, doubt-solving sessions, and mock tests to aspirants to improve their marks.