525252

IELTS is a combination of luck and practice, I had taken IELTS last year and got 9 in reading (though had 6.5 each in speaking and writing)

You need to practice more, give all the tests that are present in IELTS Cambridge books, don't take the practice tests lightly, give them as if you are sitting in the real test room, note the time and also grade yourself

The reading module in IELTS general is a lot easier as compared to the reading module in IELTS academic, so to further brush up your skills try to get some practice tests for the IELTS academic.

Learn to skim through the text, don't get lost in unnecessary information, try to keep an eye on both the text and the question, so you can pick the answer as soon as the relevant bit of information comes in the text passage.

and yes, the as someone said, keep an on NOT GIVEN. don't assume things, not even the most obvious ones. Like if they ONLY said in a passage that pollution has increased than don't assume that since pollution increased so that had a adverse effect on the health of the city/country

hamidgamal

The first two sections are easy and they contains 27 questions ,try not to miss any questions . For you to get 7 in reading you need to score 34 out of 40 questions .So in case you score the first two section without mistake ,you still need to answer anther 7 out of 13 to get the required score.
Be careful the third section is the most difficult one ,try to practice even academic IELTS Reading to get used to this section ,try to underline any important keyword as you read ,and you must read as much newspaper as you can to improve you reading skills.
Moreover watch out true. false and not given questions ,they are very tricky ,read the questions carefully .

There is a good book for you to use ,it will give you very good tips called( 101
Helpful hints to IELTS) ,very good one .
By the way i have resit the Exam 3 times and i am waiting the result for the third attempt ,good luck for you and for me as well .

miss-chievous

does the secondary applicant needs to have an ielts results before lodging GSM visa? or is it ok just the primary then the result of the secondary can be to follow?

hamidgamal

It is not necessary for the second applicant to provide IELTS before lodgemnet ,however it will be required as soon as case officer is allocated ,otherwise you have to pay a second fees .

miss-chievous

thanks for the reply hamidgamal. yes, that's what we're trying to avoid, pay the 2nd installment since both me and my husband has functional english. but he still hasn't taken the IELTS and we're lodging our visa sometime this july.

Drifty

emma jayne, learn to manage your time. You have one hour and 3 sections in the Reading test, as far as I remember. The 3rd section is the most difficult and I used to set aside 30 mins for it alone. For any part, if you're having difficulties answering a particular question, mark it and move on. You can get back to it later if you still have time. Use red pen for your marks.
Many sources suggest, scan the text, do not read it. That did NOT work for me. If your normal reading skills are good, DO read the text before answering questions. Switching to that saved me like 20 mins.

Good luck!