MyBoyRufus

Will try and make this brief for readers as appreciate comments.

I am 40 years of age and in my profession get 15 points for education, 15 points for work experience and only 15 points for age.

As I am applying for a 190 visa I could get 5 points if state sponsored.

Hence 50

This leaves the IELTS which I am confident that I will get the 10 points to meet the minimum of 60 from practice tests but I am told by my agent that only top marks are being processed and getting 20 is very rare. I put this to the test and paid for several further study materials and I found that a lot of questions are very much open to interpretation and yes I read the instructions. i.e. because I put the transport was by "Ferry" and not "Fast Ferry" I lost a point. The examples go on.

How many people on this forum have got 20 points for IELTS, as I believe that even after sitting it several times it will not improve the score as many Q's in the practice are interpretation not understanding.

Bermudashorts

Are you a native English speaker? If so, then I don't k ow why your agent is saying this. It is a hard test for non natives but for any literate active speaker it should pose no real problems.

To your question, who got 20 points. Well I applied under a different system and it wasn't about points then, but yes achieved sufficient for 20 points on the first attempt with 30 minutes of preparation.

Having said all that, you only need 60 points anyway.

MyBoyRufus

Thank you BermudaShorts for your prompt reply

I am a native speaker and the irony is I get asked to speak at formal and professional forums around this small rock called earth, but then you are not being tested.

I just found my scores on the test material to be odd as whilst my answer was deemed incorrect the listening part you could interpet in several different ways.

Another example was that I was asked to say what prevented boats getting to the shore from the listening material I put the answer "Winds" the answer was "Storms" but on listening back through recording it said severe winds and storms so both answers were correct. Hence I thought the tests are open to interpretation.

Thanks again for your prompt reply (1 credit for doing a favour in return if I can return it in anyway)

GarryP

I get the feeling this post will get moved shortly, but to the Op, yes if you are a native english speaker it's perfectly possible to get a score of 8 and above on all IELTS aspects. Hell, I only dropped half a point for misreading a question.

If you are not confident then lots of practice is in order. If you are a grammer nazi then you should walk it.

MyBoyRufus

Thanks GarryP....I get the feeling I am going to have to buy a lot of tinny's as credit repayments when I get to Aus. Thank you to all for reading my virgin post.

If my post is in wrong area I apologise to anyone it may make

As a 1st class honours degree graduate, professional expert in ITIL, Prince2, PMI-PMP and PGMP, all which I breeeeezed. I have never been more scared but due to the ambiguity of the tests (or certainly the practice material from several sources)

I wonder whether the practice material is like "Border Control" program on TV. Scared the Hell out of me when I first went and declared the pocket peanut remains I had in my pocket and all as well as things I thought would not get through (as gifts) and they didn't even check my bags.

They were more interested that I was dressed head to foot in Harley clothing and what type of bike I had

GarryP

The Immigration, Visas & Citizenship forum is generally the place to talk about the mechanics of getting here in the first place, and dealing with 'government'.

Ahh, you are rational, methodical, 'what's the process' type of person. Not surprised the shape of their test worries you; it's much more ..... well, an English test, where the 'right' answer is more subjective than objective - at least to the logical mind (bloody arts grads).

Thinking back, the reading comprehension test is very logical, you look for exactly what the passage says, not what you know. Doing processes for a living you will walk this. The writing is to show command of English, which as a native speaker should be no problem. The only thing you have to remember is to make sure your text has a structure, and that you hit the word count. I had writing a letter of complaint, which was fun - just think how you'd write a 'dear sir' and give it the rhetorical bite, whilst keeping the spelling correct. Listening is where I lost my half mark (they wanted it in order, which I only realised at the end, cue reordering a list from memory). So make sure you pay attention to the question, make notes, and it's not complex. Finally there is talking - and if you can't do this given your job and background, you deserve to fail!

Dorothy

Tinny's what?

This is the type of mistake that the markers will be looking for.

old.sparkles

Thread moved

As other's have said, getting all 8's or better is straight forward (although do not recommend straight after a night shift - ended up with 7.5 on listening and had to take the test twice )

Bermudashorts

I don't recall any trick questions on the IELTS tests. If you are comfortable using your interact skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening then there really is nothing to worry about.

I have done many exams in my life, right up until the age of 25 and the IELTS test situation is not even remotely like any exam situation I have been in before. It raised my stress levels about as much as doing a puzzle in the newspaper would. In fact it was quite fun, I took my test in Brighton so we made a nice little weekend out of it too.

MyBoyRufus

Thanks all and to GarryP.....once I switched of my rational, methodical, process orientated mind I got 39 out of 40 on the practice test for listening and straight 10's for all others.

The only reason I dropped a point on the listening is because I put "Course Book" as the answer rather than "Course Text Book" ohhhh perhaps I meant it was presented with pictures.......please would I really be marked down for that?

Dorothy - Tinny's = Stubby's = Beer in Aus Twang

Tr1boy

goldchoccycoin

I think Dorothy is making a comment on your use of apostrophes. Something you might want to look into before your IELTS.

Best of luck.

NickyC

Dorothy wasn't asking what a tinny is.

She was telling you that your incorrect apostrophe use might cost you points in the test.

Dorothy

Tinnies = Stubbies = Beer in Australian slang

Fixed it for you.

spouse of scouse

You're thinking about this too much. If you keep second guessing what the examiners will and won't mark as incorrect, all you'll succeed in doing is working yourself up. It is what it is - brush up on the correct use of punctuation, give the test your best shot and if you don't get the points you need, have another go.