IELTSNetwork.com

Yes, but watch your capitals!

Hi Ben,
The exams for speaking and writing are marked by trained examiners. All of them have passed an exam themselves and they are monitored regularly to ensure that they are giving the correct scores. Examiners also have several years of teaching experience.
All the best,
David

Hi Terry,
I'm not sure how sophisticated their computer system is, but I would say 8.
David

Hi Everyone, A friend of mine posts model answers for recent questions on his Facebook group. He told me he wrote one for this and will post it soon. Check IELTS Mark Griffiths and IELTS Questions. I tried to post direct links to dropbox on another thread, but it failed for some reason. Best of luck...

Hi Shokat,
In theory, you should be able to do it, BUT the test centre MIGHT require a local address. Check with the test centre (easy to find online).
Good luck!
David

Hello! Linking words are easy! The key thing is to use a wide variety - try not to repeat any of them more than once! I try to teach my students to 'experiment' a little, e.g. by using 'however' and other suitable connectives in the middle of sentences - e.g. The use of pesticides, however, may have...

Hello again, Gelever! Holiday? I wish! You can ask the examiner to change the cue card in part 2, but they will refuse. Similarly, the examiner will not explain the question in detail, although they will explain an individual word. I can assure you that 'talk about a screwdriver' is NOT a question i...

Hello! Remember that you also have to fulfill all the requirements to get a particular band score, not only the specific ones that distinguish a 6 from a 7, for example. My personal experience with some Italian speakers is that they speak too quickly, which can affect understanding. Sometimes a litt...

Hi Verzillino, There are a few things you can think about: 1. Fluency - Are you pausing too much? Probably not, but you might have moved to the other extreme and not be pausing enough, to allow the listener time to consider your points. 2. Coherence - Are you developing your arguments clearly? Make ...

Hi Jumbboy, It depends on how the question is set. There are two possibilities: 1. You must write all the letters as answers to one question. Here you must get all of them correct. 2. You must write the letters as answers to separate questions. Here you get one mark for each correct letter. Thanks f...

Hello again, Gelever, There are no rules regarding this, so my basic answer is 'go ahead'. However, do be a little careful! I think that the examples you gave are reasonable, but I have seen essays where they are less so and it often makes the arguments confusing. Moreover, if your arguments cannot ...

Hi Avijit, Great bunch of questions! 1. Writing more words does not automatically get you a higher score, but - if you are writing the additional words to develop good points, using quality vocab and grammar - it certainly helps. 2. You should change as many of the words and phrases from the rubric ...

This is very good advice!

Hi Anto, Assuming that it's your only mistake, I would say that band 8 is achievable. The added 's' counts as a grammar mistake and does not affect the other 3 scores. To achieve a band score, you must FULLY achieve the requirements of that particular level, so I think you can say that scores are ro...

Hi Mamo,
It used to be that you had to wait 3 months, but the rule was dropped several years ago. You can now take the test as often as you can afford ... er ... want to.
David

Hi Precious, That's actually sometimes a tough question even for examiners! The task response is VERY developed. The examiner is looking for insightful arguments made very clearly. This is where knowledge of the topic (general, not specialised) becomes quite important (not at bands 5-6 as many candi...

Hello! There seems to be a suspicion that some materials were leaked prior to the test. IELTS will be checking whether the results for that version are substantially different from previous results and pre-testing results. They are also likely to check the scores for candidates who have taken the te...

Hi Gelever, My understanding, having checked this with people at the BC and IDP, is that wrist watches are not permitted. The penalty is death :twisted: ... er ... sorry, I mean "being expelled". However, the lack of a clock in the room is a concern. IELTS regulations clearly state that su...

Hi Precious, Moving from 6.5 to 7 usually requires a much higher standard of grammar (few basic errors and a wide variety of both simple and complex sentence structures). You will probably need to develop your answers more too. This means extending the key points and ensuring that there is nothing i...

These are links to some useful information published by a friend of mine - copy and paste. In section 1, there is an explanation of how to achieve bands 5 to 7.5 in speaking and writing. Let me know if the links don't work, but they worked for me. https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/ielts-speaking-and-wr...

These are links to some useful information published by a friend of mine. In section 1, there is an explanation of how to achieve bands 5 to 7.5 in speaking and writing. Let me know if the links don't work, but they worked for me. https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/ielts-speaking-and-writing-guide-febru...

These are links to some useful information published by a friend of mine - copy and paste. In section 1, there is an explanation of how to achieve bands 5 to 7.5 in speaking and writing. Let me know if the links don't work, but they worked for me. https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/ielts-speaking-and-wr...

These are links to some useful information published by a friend of mine - copy and paste. In section 1, there is an explanation of how to achieve bands 5 to 7.5 in speaking and writing. Let me know if the links don't work, but they worked for me. https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/ielts-speaking-and-wr...

Hi Precious, Moving from 6.5 to 7 can be a big jump. First you need to identify the areas where you need to improve - task response, coherence/cohesion, vocabulary, grammar. My personal experience is that the likely culprits are task response and grammar. Task response - Make sure that you FULLY ans...

Of course, every examiner will tell you that they LOVE essays with zero words! Literally 'money for nothing' as we still get paid for them!