How hard the EILTS is ?

Original post by Justine Dhc

Hi everyone, I have to take the IELTS soon. I am used to studying with "The official Cambridge guide'book". I was wondering if the test is really like one in this book ! And how hard is it to get 7 for a non native speaker ?

I am looking forward to hear your experiences with it !!

Hello I did the IELTS yesterday and I found it a bit tough. I'm a British student as well! Some non-native speakers do well on it while some native speakers don't do well. It depends on the individual really. I don't know how to revise for English and considering I think I did badly in yesterday's IELTS I think I might have to retake it.

Reply 2

I got an 8 overall with 4 hours preparation. I'd say if your English is good, then the test is pretty easy overall. Speaking and writing are the areas you need to focus on, as these can be quite tricky when it comes to doing everything correctly (I did mess up on both so I speak from experience!).

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(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3

Justine Dhc

OP

Thanks for your replies, but I don't understand why you guys english native speakers need to take the Ielts ? Is it not a thing for foreign people wishing to study in an British university ?

Reply 4

milkberries

2

It's not that difficult. I only studied like ~3 hours the night before and got an 8.5 as my overall score. Personally, I thought the easiest section was writing and the hardest was speaking.

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Reply 5

Original post by Justine Dhc

Thanks for your replies, but I don't understand why you guys english native speakers need to take the Ielts ? Is it not a thing for foreign people wishing to study in an British university ?

I am not from the UK, and so English is not my native language.

It's very rare for people from the UK to take IELTS, and still most of the times it's because they didn't get the required grade at GCSE English Language.

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Reply 6

Original post by *Stefan*

I got an 8 overall with 4 hours preparation. I'd say if your English is good, then the test is pretty easy overall. Speaking and writing are the areas you need to focus on, as these can be quite tricky when it comes to doing everything correctly (I did mess up on both so I speak from experience!).

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I got an 8 overall too :smile:

It's pretty similar to some parts of the SAT I would say

Reply 7

Original post by binarythoughts

I got an 8 overall too :smile:

It's pretty similar to some parts of the SAT I would say

What did you get in the specifics? :biggrin:

I have no Idea about SATs though :P

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Reply 8

Original post by *Stefan*

What did you get in the specifics? :biggrin:

I have no Idea about SATs though :P

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Listening 8.5
Reading 7.5
Writing 7.5
Speaking 8.0

What about you?

Reply 9

Original post by binarythoughts

Listening 8.5
Reading 7.5
Writing 7.5
Speaking 8.0

What about you?

R9
L8.5
W7
S7 (screwed this up so badly! I still remember how embarrassing it was :biggrin:

)

Our aggregate score is identical :biggrin:

Reply 10

Original post by *Stefan*

R9
L8.5
W7
S7 (screwed this up so badly! I still remember how embarrassing it was :biggrin:

)

Our aggregate score is identical :biggrin:

Holy ****, how did you get a 9 in reading??

Reply 11

Original post by binarythoughts

Holy ****, how did you get a 9 in reading??

Haha... I don't really know, but I actually really enjoyed the reading section. You get to learn some interesting stuff as well :biggrin:

Reply 12

Original post by *Stefan*

Haha... I don't really know, but I actually really enjoyed the reading section. You get to learn some interesting stuff as well :biggrin:

That's true, there was a really cool article about time travel that I ended up researching later :biggrin:

Reply 13

username1560589

How hard would it be to get a 6 for someone who is fluent in English but fails GCSE/IGCSE English every time?
It's £150 each time (adds up to a huge amount over a few attempts), so I was wondering how many times I should expect to take it in the summer/September before passing. Would nine attempts be enough? Because that's the most I can do without jeopardising my other exams.
There are other alternatives but I was wondering if IELTS is easy enough to pass.

Reply 14

Original post by morgan8002

How hard would it be to get a 6 for someone who is fluent in English but fails GCSE/IGCSE English every time?
It's £150 each time (adds up to a huge amount over a few attempts), so I was wondering how many times I should expect to take it in the summer/September before passing. Would nine attempts be enough? Because that's the most I can do without jeopardising my other exams.
There are other alternatives but I was wondering if IELTS is easy enough to pass.

Because you've failed the GCSE, you will probably struggle in the writing part, but you should be absolutely fine in Speaking, Listening and Reading, less so in the Reading but the the other two are a piece of cake :biggrin:

Reply 15

username1560589

Original post by binarythoughts

Because you've failed the GCSE, you will probably struggle in the writing part, but you should be absolutely fine in Speaking, Listening and Reading, less so in the Reading but the the other two are a piece of cake :biggrin:

Reading and listening should be good, but I'll probably struggle with the speaking and writing. I need 6 overall and minimum 5.5 in any component, so if I got less than 5.5 in anything I'd have to retake.
With that information, do you think it is possible to pass?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 16

Original post by morgan8002

Reading and listening should be good, but I'll probably struggle with the speaking and writing. I need 6 and minimum 5.5 in any component, so if I got less than 5.5 in anything I'd have to retake.

Why would you struggle in speaking?
And don't worry, you would really need to screw up to get less than 5.5

Reply 17

Original post by morgan8002

How hard would it be to get a 6 for someone who is fluent in English but fails GCSE/IGCSE English every time?
It's £150 each time (adds up to a huge amount over a few attempts), so I was wondering how many times I should expect to take it in the summer/September before passing. Would nine attempts be enough? Because that's the most I can do without jeopardising my other exams.
There are other alternatives but I was wondering if IELTS is easy enough to pass.

Original post by binarythoughts

Because you've failed the GCSE, you will probably struggle in the writing part, but you should be absolutely fine in Speaking, Listening and Reading, less so in the Reading but the the other two are a piece of cake :biggrin:

I second what binary has said. 6 is, as far as I remember, of intermediate difficulty, which by the very structure of the exam should make it a piece of cake for a native/fluent speaker.

Take a University of Cambridge/Cambridge English Language Assessment endorsed book and just practice as much as you can. Speaking and Listening are honestly a gift. Easily the best of all the english exams I've taken in the past (Edexcel/Michigan). Reading can prove particularly tricky in some cases, but it's still pretty easy if you can read and assess a text at the same time.

Writing is a different story and is the only essay-based exam I have taken required such a strict exam technique and structure -you should definitely learn some paradigm essays from a book!

Also, I believe that you cannot take the exam whenever you want; It is held very frequently, but I remember reading in an instructions booklet that there must be a gap in between resits. Definitely check that out because I can't say for sure/don't know if it depends on the centre.

In any case, a 6 is very doable, and you should be able to secure without further resits (I have a friend whose English is far from being the best, and I think she got a 6 overall in her first attempt).

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 18

username1560589

Original post by binarythoughts

Why would you struggle in speaking?
And don't worry, you would really need to screw up to get less than 5.5

The same reason that I would struggle with writing. Given some random open topic to talk/write about, I don't think I could think of anything on the spot to say/write.

Reply 19