IELTS and other similar tests

Hey there

I sat the Academic module of the IELTS test last July in France and I can tell you briefly how it went and how I prepared for the test (actually, you won't need much preparation if you are already proficient in English/ have a good level, and also depending on what's your targeted band score. To reassure you, most British universities will ask for an overall band score of 6.5/9 for entry into their undergraduate courses. However, some may set their English requirement a bit high, and I'm especially thinking of UCL and Exeter if I remember correctly (not quite sure about the latter though, will have to check!), which both request 7-7.5/9 in the IELTS as a minimum threshold for most of their courses. It's worth noting that oversubscribed courses like Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary require a high competency in English). So, once the British Council will have received your application and forwarded it to your local test centre, a fairly enormous bunch of emails will be sent to you confirming the date and place of your appointment and other stuff (just the usual redtape, you know ). Your login details to the online IELTS preparation application will also be given to you. It'll enable you to practise the four skills tested in the test at home. I personally found it useful only for the listening and reading part since you would need a native to proofread your essay, and to converse with for the last parts of the test. If you are still at school like I was when I took the test, I'd recommend meeting up with your English teacher to practise your oral skills! For the listening section, practise hearing and writing numbers fast! The recording will only play ONCE, so yeah, do your best to get them right first time. I really struggled with this at first when practising at home. I mean I was so slow, especially with big numbers or addresses... But now I think I'm doing fine! The reading section is a very good preparation for university: you'll have long texts often on scientific topics (mine was on some species of birds) then a wide range of questions to see how well you understood the text. Of course, skimming the text is strongly recommended and that's what's tested actually: how much information you can get out of a text just by scanning it. Some questions might seem tricky, but they truly aren't. It's just the wording that's weird.

I bought the workshop book to prepare at home. It's worth the extra euros or pounds! You even get a CD-Rom with it to prepare for the listening and speaking sections.

On the test day, I was quite relaxed although I arrived 5 min late because we couldn't find a parking lot - the perks of going to big cities, right. They'll do the usual ID check, etc. I remember there were mainly confident French students who were proud they were going to study abroad - so daunting (but now I'm proud to be the next generation to go! It's SO EXCITING. I've dreamt about it mostly all my life)... I was like the youngest to sit it. ^^ Just be calm and ready for the first section which is the listening test!


EDIT: Just realised you were already doing an undergraduate degree, so I guess your purposes must be different from mine.

Good luck with the test, though. If you love the English language just like I do, the test should be enjoyable overall, haha!

Hi!! Wow, thank you so much for the time you took to write all of this! Actually I'm not doing an undergraduate degree, I'm studying an Extended Diploma now, but I have one more year until I'm going to uni and I'm trying to prepare from now on! I'm thinking to apply to UCL too (even though it's asking for a C in a GCSE English, which I already have) but there are also other Universities that require quite high marks in any type of test to prove my language proficiency...so just as a back up I'm thinking to take a IELTS test. I guess everybody struggles a bit at the beginning since it's something totally new I do like English, the only thing I consider challenging is the time given to do exams, they want excellent quality writing in a very short time and that's where I need to exercise...but let's hope I'll do it.

Thank you again for your brilliant response! By the way, what are you now doing? Studying at uni, or are you having a gap year or maybe something else? It's good to hear what other students do, I get inspired

You're welcome!

Oh, I see. Good luck with the test. I'm sure you will do great! The writing section is not easy at all since they are asking you to write a maximum 2-page essay at the same level as native British students, but nevertheless you should be fine if you revise your essay techniques and learn some new essay introductory vocabulary. Try reading some past IELTS sample essays to have an idea of what form yours should take in order to get above 7 in this section! That's what I did and I must admit I was really impressed by the level of candidates when reading these online essays. I even wondered if my English would ever be that good, haha!

What they are asking you to do in the Academic module of the IELTS test is exactly what you could be expected to do at university.

I'm not in uni yet. Still have to sit my French Baccalaureate in June! If everything goes as planned, I should be studying Biomedical Science at Imperial next year. Oh, and I didn't really apply at UCL - I just checked their entry requirements for some courses I was interested in.

I also got inspired by a lot of French students who went on to do their studies in the UK and stayed there. I always wanted to study abroad, discover a new culture, meet new people and become fully fluent in English...

What are you thinking of studying at uni?

If you have any other question, don't hesitate to contact me.

Yep, I'm not sure if I will ever have such a good English, but opportunities are everywhere for every level in the end!
Biomedical Science sounds fascinating :P I would like to study Business Management at uni, but I'm not always sure this is what I want to do...however, when I'm doubt, I always come to the conclusion that it is actually what I want, it's kinda confusing me as well Imperial is recognized for its science degrees, I think you'll have a great time there! By the way, I did French since the 3rd grade, but we mostly did reading and translating so my grammar is not very good, but I think it's a beautiful language
Good luck with your Baccalaureate, I know how it is to revise for that too, I'm sure you'll do very well!