I am pleased for you moneypenny, how many attempts was it again?

My wife's writing skills do stack up very well thankyou, but obviously not when it comes down to an IELTS technicality.

But rest assured I will let you know if her writing is marked higher on appeal.

Oh so now it's a technicality? Changed from a sham then. I hope she does get graded up when it's appealed. I think I said something similar in my first post.

If it matters, I failed it three times but got there in the end and had to pay each time. No one said migrating was cheap or easy.

Well I really do think what I was originally trying to say in my OP has somewhat been blown out of all proportion, many, many people will echo my point on this subject. Many see IELTS as either a money spinner or too difficult to pass on every section (overall score aside), too expensive considering many people have to take the test more than once etc etc.

As I have already said in my OP the main thing I did not want to come across was arrogant, and I do not think it is arrogant to question certain practices in life, otherwise we should all just give up now and follow the crowd.

Hi

I used to invigilate and mark the IELTS test in the UK and I am still heavily involved in tests to prove English ability. You that you can appeal the exam result but it will take you a while and there is a fee to appeal the test. If you wish to appeal your test then contact the test center to discuss this further, you have only a short amount of time between the test date and the appeal so you might need to be quick.

However, please do read the rest of this post for more inforamtion. Many people take the IELTS test in the first instance to use as a guide on how much work they need to put in for their second test. This is because you need to be aware that unless you study for the exam - and study hard- it is highly unlikely you will acheive a 9 in all the sub-tests even if you speak English as a first language. I have a double English Bachelor's degree and I'm studying my MA in English , have taught in Schools and as a TESOL teacher and yet if I took the test without studying there's no way I would get the 9 overall with the 9's in the sub-tests.

The IELTS exam is the highest standard of test there is to prove the English ability of any student. Forget the TEEP, TOEFL, PTE, TOEIC, CAMBRIDGE CPE, etc etc etc. I work in University admissions and the IELTS test is by far and large the best test to take to show the ability of anyone who needs to prove their English skill.

The long and short of it is, if you need to sit an IELTS test you DO need to study. The test is hard. My partner just took his test for the visa and he got a 7.5 in the listening because he got 6 questions wrong. This is just how it goes, if you don't hear something properly, if you are even slightly off, you will not get the points and you need almost 100% in all the tests to get the 9 overall.

What you can do to get a higher score:
Take IELTS practice classes
Buy the IELTS test books
Get someone to give you a mock test based on the information in the books

If your wife really does feel she was tested too harshly then she can appeal, otherwise the IELTS test can be a long hard road. I wish you every success though.

PM me if you want anymore information that I might be able to help with.

also just a quick aside, the British Council who administer the test do NOT pay any money to the Australian Government based on how many people take the test for visa purposes or anything else.

Any money generated by BC goes straight to BC.

I understand what you are trying to say and emphathise with the difficulties of trying to make yourself understood.

I find Expats an invaluable research tool when making the move to Australia and sometimes it can be quite a laugh. I just think sometimes people make unneccessary comments and I would not want to be on the receiving end of some of them!

Good luck to you and your wife and I hope you get things sorted out soon.

Thankyou very much for the info Drell, always good to know there are some people out there who offer their help instead of just criticise your every statement

I am so pleased somebody does lol

That is why I would much rather just read the forums instead of posting on them!

But thanks for the support btw.

point taken, my bad.

But my English gets me by in everyday life just fine by the way, speaking, writing and listening.
I do not need an IELTS exam to tell me otherwise thank-you.

I know I would find the IELTS exam difficult as I have completed a couple of the practise tests, so it is a good job that I don't need to do one unlike my OH who I regard as being a lot more competent at English than what I am.

Edit: Just wondering why it is that some people feel the need to correct grammar on here, I understand it is a thread about the English proficiency exam but it isn't myself needing to do it, I suppose I could understand the need more if it were.

Well there is the problem Jenny, we are not going to oz requiring points, my OH need her IELTS to register as a nurse and she needs at least a 7.0 in all aspects of the test. I believe her overall score (8.0) would have gained us maximum points? somebody please correct me if I am wrong.

But with needing 7.0 in each section I do feel this is where most people taking IELTS fail. I feel it should be judged on a overall score only, because as I have already stated a nurse could register with a 7.0 overall if he/she recieved a 7.0 in each section, but my OH still cant register with an 8.0 overall score.

You are wrong. To get the maximum points, one needs 7 in every section. So your 8 would have achieved nothing.


Certainly most people who fail will do so in one or two of the sections not all of them. I have seen this a lot when English is the second language, I have only seen a small number of native English fail IELTS.

As to whether it *should* be based on section scores or overall score. You don't appear to have any rationale for this, other than you would have passed on your rules.

The rules have to be standardised for all candidates so conceptually, why would it be OK for somebody to have an acceptable level of reading but not speaking or writing say?

I expect people are pointing out grammatical mistakes on this thread because you appear to have trouble understanding why and how a native English speaker would fail IELTS. The things pointed out would have lost points in the test.

You might have got by just fine in everyday life, but perhaps the rest of us would prefer that the medical profession do a little more than this and can actually read and write clearly to minimise the chance of mistakes.

Hmm they haven't passed. I was just being nice re. the 2nd part ;-)

Yeah you're right - most people that fail will think they have good english. If you fail though it can't be that good

Moneypenny's got a point. Its a test and you know you need to pass. If you fail (and its not in farsi - its in your own mother tongue) then no point crying about it. You should be embarrassed and get a dictionary out and start reading it ha ha

Very childish comment. The driving theory test is definitely not relevant here. As has been said, different rules apply in different countries for driving. The English language is 99% the same in every english speaking country and IELTS is based on proper English, not Australian/American english.

People who study english as its not their second language are better prepared to sit and pass an exam such as the IELTS. People who speak and write in English their wholes lives most likely pick up some bad habits with grammar, spelling, punctuation etc. It doesnt mean they are unemployable in Australia. They have 1 thing that many non native english speaking people have and thats non broken English.

If you can prove through your occupation and length of living in an english speaking country that you can speak fluent english, then an IELTS test should not be required.

Even a simple interview would prove this. A pointless test is a waste of time and causes stress thats not needed. Especially when you may have to do it again due to forgetting a few apostrophes.

Australia has a bigger problem than visa appliations when it comes to the English language.