IELTS in India vs. Canada, USA, Australia, UK and New Zealand

India is probably one of the country where students appear for IELTS exam on mass level. It is very common that a person appears for Ielts exam multiple times and at various locations. Though the IELTS exam follows the same pattern but there are few important points which you need to keep in your mind.

IELTS in India vs IELTS in world : Choosing right country for your exam

Exam Pattern

The Exam pattern is 100% same and if you have appeared for IELTS at a different location, don’t worry, you will see exactly the same exam pattern. it will include

• Listening
• Reading
• Writing
• Speaking

Exam Assessment

This is very important for you to understand that the exam assessment criteria is same across the world but  there are 2 sections that will involve human involvement and it varies from person to person and more importantly from location to location. For example, Speaking and Writing are assessed by regional examiners. So I would say you have to be careful about this factor.

Difference in speaking assessment

This is important but most of you might ignore. In fact there are multiple aspects which you need to consider :

• IELTS does not score you for pronunciation but it does score you for clarity in speech. So if you are very new to this language prefer giving the exam in your native country.
• Your accent does not matter, but the person taking your exam will speak in his own native accent. That might impact you. If in case you mishear something or understand incorrectly, it is possible that you will loose mark for speaking content which was not asked.
• Using slangs might also impact your exam. Suppose you speak a local language phrase which the examiner doesn’t understand, It might give an impression to the examiner that you speak English sentences that have no meaning. This will impact your lexical resources. Check out this article for more details.

Difference in Writing Assessment

Writing will also get you good or bad score based on your exam location and can make you lag behind and inhibit your success. There are not multiple points which you have to focus on while writing your science exam, but there is one point which you should always keep in your mind :

Usage of slangs might impact your writing exam badly. Suppose you write a phrase which is common in your local area but is unknown to the English world. This might create a negative impression for your assessment. You need to make sure that when you’re appearing in different country, you should avoid using slangs.

Conclusion

Your exam location can impact IELTS score, but if you consider avoiding usage of slangs and practice for understanding the sentences spoken in different accents, you can definitely score good marks regardless of your exam location.

IELTS Computer based exam listening tips

IELTS Computer based listening is bit tricky and you should definitely read this important article before you appear for the exam. Trust me, these computer based listening tips will save you from landing into a disaster.

Also Read : How does using slangs impact your IELTS speaking score ?

Important Tips for Computer based listening exam

1. Do not use Pen & Paper for writing answers (Very Important)

If you are giving computer based exam for the first time and have appeared for paper based exam before, you should remember that there is no extra time given to add back the answers from your paper to the computer.

Many students have reported that they failed to score good in IELTS listening because they were unable to copy answers from paper to their online portal.

2. Attempt the question even if you are not sure

There is no negative marking. So utilize the opportunity and try your luck. If you have a little bit of idea about the correct answer, still there is a probability if you attempt.

3. Do not assume you will be able to play / pause the audio considering you have access on computer

Audio gets played only once. You cannot pause it rewind it even if you are appearing on a computer.

4. Practice all question patterns before you go for the exam (Important)

There are different types of questions. Some might require you to drag and drop the answers and match with the question. Somewhere you will see map data to be filled out. You have to go through every pattern at least once before appearing into the exam. 

Many a times you just practice listening, but students have reported the scenarios where they were confused about using the GUI and they missed to hear the audio. As audio is played only once, you might miss to answer few questions which will impact your IETS score.

Conclusion

The computer based IELTS has no major difference in the exam pattern, hence the tips of generic listening remains common. The specific differences of IELTS computer based test are documented in the article which will surely help you a lot. 

If you are serious about your score, please visit the article content and do the needful as guided before appearing in the exam.

Also Read : How to generate unlimited ideas in IELTS writing with this simple trick.

How to score Band 6 in IELTS Writing (General Training & Academic)

If you are reading this article, trust me you are one of the most sorted person who visit this blog. Normally people search to score band 9 regardless of their skillset and most importantly they fail to understand whether do they really need to score that much or not.

Band 6 is actually a satisfactory score where many educational institutes & Provinces accept this level for various applications.

Scoring Band 6 in IELTS Writing

There will be 2 tasks in this section :

• Letter (General Training) / Report Writing (Academic)
• Essay (Any topic)

IELTS have a well defined reference for assessing the test takers.

Criteria for Band 6 & How to achieve it

Source - IELTS Band Descriptors

Evaluation is based on four different parameters and to achieve maximum score, you have to excel in all aspects. Based on your response the examiner checks for the parameters as defined in their Band descriptors. Let us understand them with examples :

Assessment Parameter 1 : Task Achievement

Target :

All bullet points are covered and adequately highlighted. The purpose is generally clear. There may be minor inconsistencies in tone.

How to achieve :

For both Task 1 & Task 2, the questions structure consists of multiple statements. Meaning, whatever your topic is, you will see multiple key points making one complete question. You need to cover all the bullet points and address them in your task response with minor inconsistency in tone.

Example :

Essay Question : 

Doctors recommend that older people exercise regularly. However, many of them do not get enough exercise.

• What are the reasons?
• What can be done to encourage them to exercise more?
  

Effective Solution:

Here you see that query is not just one, but is mentioning different points. It states :

1. A Fact
2. Reasons
3. Solution.

In order to satisy the set criteria and score full marks for "Task Achievement", you have to write points for all key points of the question. But as your target is band 6, you can try to write complete response but still if there is minor inconsistency that is acceptable. You will be able to achieve your desired band.

Allowed mistakes

You write more elaborated for one point and just mention very few details for the second point. This is acceptable for band 6.

Assessment Parameter 2 : Coherence & Cohesion

Target :

• Information and ideas are generally arranged coherently and there is a clear overall progression.
• Cohesive devices are used to some good effect but cohesion within and/or between sentences may be faulty or mechanical due to misuse, overuse, or omission.

How to achieve :

Essay and the letter have to be coherent and shoud use cohesive devices. Both of them need a slightly different approach for the structure but the main gist is same in order to achieve the target. Here is what you can do :

• Use Clear Topic Sentences - Whether you right introductory paragraph or the main one, you need to be clear so that the examiner understands that you are sticking to the topic. As you are targeting band 6, you can still accept overusing same phrase. Also, mechanical structure errors are acceptable
• Use Transitional Phrases - This is a very important point to add. Using phrases like "For example", "In order to", "therefore", "In addition to" will definitely help you gain good marks.
• Maintain a Logical Flow of Content - Make sure your statements are in order and paragraphs are organised logically. You cannot write conclusion in second paragraph and give example in the next one.

Example : 

Your sentence can technically mean correct, but they are organised with mecahnical faults. Consider below statement.   

He is a troublesome human, and consequently, I do not associate with him. Furthermore, I have a disrespect hate to him.

How you can use transition and create logic flow to make it score higher :

He is a bad boy. He is not my friend. I hate him

The statement with the error uses the correct words but arranged in a weird manner. That can still let you achieve band 6 as the technical meaning is clear with the statement.

Here is one article that you can read to enhance your writing skills (Click Here)

Assessment Parameter 3 : Lexical Resource

• The resource is generally adequate and appropriate for the task.
• The meaning is generally clear in spite of a rather restricted range or a lack of precision in word choice.
• If the writer is a risk-taker, there will be a wider range of vocabulary used but higher degrees of inaccuracy or inappropriacy.

How to achieve : 

Use range of words and avoid repetition. Also as you are targeting band 6, your wrong choice of words is acceptable till it conveys the correct meaning.

Let us consider this with example : 

Example :

Let us consider the same example as that of previous paragraph :

Statement that get you band 6 :He is a bad boy and that is why he is not my friend. Moreover, I hate him.

Allowed mistakes : 

Let me explain this with the same example. You may say naughty guy instead of bad boy. That is more informal but is technically correct.

Assessment Parameter 4 : Grammatical Range & Accuracy

• A mix of simple and complex sentence forms is used but flexibility is limited.
• Examples of more complex structures are not marked by the same level of accuracy as in simple structures.   
• Errors in grammar and punctuation occur, but rarely impede communication.

How to achieve : 

• Complex Sentence - Usage of complex sentences is very important. Complex sentences are 2 simple sentences that are dependent on each other for explaining the meaning.
• I went to store because I was hungry. In this sentence 2 simple sentences are combined to give a meaningful statement. This is perfect usage of complex sentence.
• Appropriate usage of Comma - If you make sentences and include comma appropriately, you can achieve good score in Grammar.

Example : 

Although their house is over there, we decided to walk here.

The above sentence uses complex structure with appropriate placement of comma.

Allowed mistakes :

You can spell their / there incorrectly. Like you could say Although there house is over their. This is not correct but it clearly tells that you know what you mean. It is just you are confused while writing the spellings.

Final Thoughts

Band 6 in IELTS General Test Writing is pretty easy if you :

• Write for complete task request with minor thought deviations.
• Make organised structure of the content.
• Use moderate level vocabulary.
• Minor errors in grammar that will not change the meaning of the statements.

Also Read : Is it Good or bad to use slangs in your IELTS speaking ?

Is it good to use Slangs in IELTS Speaking test

IELTS speaking test will include expert assessing your Communication skills. The person appearing for the exam has to sit in a formal discussion where a qualified examiner rates individual's performance based on a fixed protocol.

How does usage of Slangs affect your IELTS score

Undoubtedly, using slangs will have a high chance of giving a negative impression than it can be beneficial. Slangs are unique with population living in a concentrated area and has no global significance. If you use them in your speaking exam it is highly probable that you will end up loosing your marks.

If the examiner does not understand your statement because of cultural difference or any other fact, it is highly probable that marks might be deducted for lexical resources.

Valuable advise

We suggest you not to use slangs in your IELTS speaking test, especially if you are giving exam in country which is not your native place. Though it is also possible that usage of slangs might not impact it negatively but for sure you will not gain anything out of it.

Also Read : Best Time to give IELTS exam for perfect Score

Best Time to give IELTS exam for perfect Score

IELTS aspirants prepare throughout the year to achieve the desired band scores but date and time of your exam also decide your band scores. So, if you are planning to book your exam, do not proceed without reading this article.

What is IELTS ?

IELTS or the International English Language Testing System is a standardized platform that assesses English Communication skills of individuals.The exam follows a particular format and scores or the bands are determined based on the Band Descriptors.

Does time of your exam impacts your IELTS Score ?

If you ask internet about this question then you will see websites posting how the exam pattern changes and hence time of exam impacts your score. But after researching out the facts, you see no such criteria  really hampers your score.

IELTS follow a process oriented approach of assessing the students and because of a defined protocol exams have a similar content. So, whether you give the exam in month of January or month of December, your score will only depend on your practice and knowledge. The luck factor still remains valid, but this is not unique for IELTS. Your Luck plays a critical role in your exams always.

Best Time of the day to give IELTS exam

IELTS score does not depend on the time in the year of exam. So, whenever you want to give considering your application (Colleges / PR etc), book the test and appear with flying colours. But you should consider the day time for chosing your slots as morning slots have higher chances to score good in Speaking, whereas, the afternoon slots are preferred for listening, reading and writing. The most important point is unless you do not have a valid reason, don't book the speaking on the same day as that of your Listening, Reading and Writing exam.

Video Tutorial : Ideal time for IELTS exam