pigwhocouldfly

Hi all,

Well needing a 7.0 in all areas of the test I sit here the day after my wife received her IELTS results quite angry and perplexed. After hearing and reading the complaints surrounding people's feelings regarding IELTS I thought just maybe they were over dramatizing things a little.

Well feeling fresh the morning after the day before I am a little concerned about how these tests are marked and the standards the examiners are ultimately looking for. Saturday morning arrived and we were both quite optimistic about the IELTS results, three hours later our post arrived, with a few nerves and slight anxiety my wife opened the results envelope, the results were as follows... Listening 8.5, Reading 9.0, Speaking 8.5, Writing 6.5 arrrghh!! 'For @*$* sake' I said 'just what are they after!' I was quite angry to say the least and yes it was her first attempt at taking the IELTS test so not yet on par with quite a few others just yet!

The results seemed at first glance very good until my eyes met the 6.5 in writing the result just didn't sorry did not (< are you reading IELTS examiners) seem to follow the trend of the other results, well you may ask, maybe just maybe her writing just was not up to standard on the day? Well I asked this very same question to my OH and she told me her writing was in her opinion a very structured piece with good punctuation and correct spelling.

We also bought the Peter May's IELTS practise book from recommendation of quite a few others around the forums and I must say it was an excellent study book with some great material. The writing section of this book also had practise material and tips for a successful result, it carried on to say how to go about writing a good structured piece, for the piece to have an introduction, a good argument and a conclusion, my OH had all this and more!
She was under no illusion about how to set about the writing task .

My problems first and formost with IELTS is firstly why oh why do they insist on vocational English speaking ie born and bred citizens having to do this test at all?!! It ju$t seem$ $o ridiculou$ (apologies for my spelling mistakes there)
I really think this needs to be reviewed. Secondly, I think the speaking and writing aspects of the IELTS are a little unfair as these two parts are subjective, in other words there are no right or wrong answers, and I feel it is down to each examiners leniency on the day of marking, a great innovation for IELTS though (you can probably gue$$ why). Thirdly I believe that IELTS is a private company that are government approved, why are they not government run?? The reason being we all know why private companies exist, and that is first and foremost to make money, IELTS should be a not for profit organization.

As you can probably guess by now we are going to appeal this result at a cost of another £60 of our hard earned pounds, well we do get a full refund if we are successful anyway other than that it will be back to the test centre to try again. My apologies if this thread seems a little arrogant well it isn't meant to come across in that way, I am just a little upset about the whole IELTS machine!!

Please let me know how you feel about the IELTS and any similar experiences you may have had and if anybody has had any success on appeal?

Thankyou for reading and good luck to anybody else in the same position

gere

The result is good except for the writing module. There are some good links on the internet offering tips and leads on the IELTS writing module. You focus on this module and you should be OK next time.

Good luck

pigwhocouldfly

Thanks gere,

Not sure if having such good results for the other sections make it an easier pill to swallow though, just 0.5 short of the mark in writing to get a full pass is a big downer

We just hope we can have some success with an appeal

Vash the Stampede

Because history has repeatedly demonstrated that not all "born and bred" English speaking citizens are capable of using their native language adequately.

markntracy

Hi There,

I took the ielts in oz,and had a very similar result to your OH, 6.5 in the writing module.
I was told by an examiner, that if you stray off the subject,(even though it`s often asking for your opinion), they can only give you a 6.5.
I too asked for a remark.....and it came back in my favour...they had upgraded it to a 7.
So all the best,and its worth trying a remark.
tracy

pigwhocouldfly

While I take on board your comment, I am very confused how 'so called' English speaking foreign nationals who have passed IELTS still do not have a good grasp of the English language IMHO, so could somebody please explain again how IELTS examiners judge standards of English? It seems if a person is a 'born and bred' English speaking native then the IELTS exam is ten times more difficult to pass, English should be English, there should not be any concessions whatsoever even
if English is not your first language, period!

pigwhocouldfly

Thanks Tracy, that has given me some hope anyway

itxrd

Sounds like you've been unlucky. Bit harsh failing you on the whole thing when you're other marks were so high. Have to agree with Vash (and aussies I've spoken to agree). The level of 'English' from some people in the UK is appalling. And thats not even with regards to immigrants. Listen to any footballers giving interviews - they have their own language ;-). And I suppose thats why they have the IELTS test.

Obviously this doesn't apply to you mate - can see your english is fine and am sure your wifes it too - you've just been unlucky. Good luck on the appeal

sandrakettles

Hi
My OH is in the same boat as your OH, got 6.5 in the writing but has got 7.5 and above for all other sections. Just wondering if you can tell me how to go about appealing the results. We are very frustrated as we too were born in Scotland, have been taught and assessed in english through school and university. Goodluck with your appeal, would be interesting to find out how you get on.
Sandra

Bermudashorts

I imagine that it is quite easy to drop marks in the written exam for grammatical errors. Not every born and bred English speaker knows correct grammar. What I am more amazed about is that a native speaker did not get 9 in speaking! I don't think I have come across that before.

I have seen several people appeal results with a fairly good success rate, so worth a shot anyway. It is not a quick process though.

Dorothy

Not all born and bred English speaking people have a high degree of writing skills. My husband, for example, is a university educated engineer. His spelling and grammar are absolutely appalling, however he always managed to pass English all the way through school. Simply being born into the language does not give anyone good language skills. Just take a look at some of the written English you'll find on this site for samples of just how badly English born and bred people write.

Buzzy--Bee

innit.

BB

renth

"You know what really aggravazes me? It's them immigants. They wants all the benefits of living in Australia, but they ain't even bother to learn themselves the language."

http://www.snpp.com/episodes/3F20.html

Vash the Stampede

It's difficult to answer that question without reference to test cases. Can you you provide examples of people who have passed IELTS tests without possessing "a good grasp of the English language"? How many of these people do you actually know, and how do you know they were required to pass an IELTS test?

Do you have any reason to believe that native English speakers are being required to meet a higher standard than non-native speakers?

jenny79

easy... they probably had their lowest grade in speaking, whereas they probably had a high grade in writing....for the simple reason that when you learn a foreign language, a LOT of emphasis is put on the right grammatical structure, hence, their writing skills would be very up to standard. on the other hand, since they wouldn't be speaking the language all day long on a daily basis, they wouldn't be so fluent

as for the IELTS test, I can assure you that it is nothing compared to the NAATI test others have to take in order to claim ONLY 5 points in their native language. have a look at that test, and you'll see how lucky you are to be claiming so many points on IELTS when you get the required grades.