originalfunster

Hi All,

Have just heard from our agent saying that there are a lot of people failing the english test!!

anyone have an opinion on that?

mine is booked for the 01.12.07
and after speaking to the agent I have to admit i am starting to panic just a bit!!

Fly Away

Well, I'd say your agent is a bit mean!

Myself and my OH both passed the IELTS. It's not too bad. I guess it depends on your basic standard of English, but I reckon anybody who got GSE's would pass easily.

Maybe people who fail, don't post on here, but I can honestly say that I haven't heard of one British National failing. Maybe your agent was thinking of non brits??

Try not to worry. Buy the practice book and practice! You will feel a lot more confident.

Dorothy

We had an Irish guy who just completed his degree thesis fail. The test is not easy and is not a given for native english speakers. I don't think the agent was being mean, but realistic.

The trick to the IELTS is to practice. For many people it's been a very long time since they wrote tests of any sort, so going in well prepared is your best bet.

originalfunster

Hi,

Thanks for replys, any practice book in particular?

jenny79

cambridge IELTS (pack)... i guess they must be in book 6 now... it's black and pink. make sure to get the pack, because that contains the CDs for the listening part.

Fly Away

The centre where you booked your test should have the packs - ours was £10. You can also get them on Ebay. I gave ours to someone else on BE sitting the test, otherwise I would have sent it to you.

As everyone has said, practice is the key. The actual exam is not too difficult so long as you know what is expected of you. For example, they mark you down on spelling mistakes in the writing section, so avoid words you're not sure how to spell! In the listening section you must follow their instructions for the type of answer. Usually this is no more than 3 words. So if you wrote 4 words and even if the answer was correct, they would mark it incorrect! It's all about technique. The practice book also shows you how to fill in the answer sheets etc, so you don't panic when you see them.

Good luck!

knockoff nige

How much does it cost? How soon can you resit it? There is a guy I work with who is learning english. He's far more advanced than me when it comes to identifying grammar. I can speak as good as the Queen of england though. Perhaps she should be the guinea pig with these. If she fails then rewrite the test.

Fly Away

The test cost us £95 in October. The book cost £10. You may feel that booking a second test 'just in case' will make you feel better. I think it depends on the centre, but the tests are roughly every 2 months(???). I think, they will give you a full refund if you cancel more than 4 weeks before the test, (but you will have to check this out with the centre.)

Good luck!

DivingMissDaisy

I bought the Cambridge 6 IELTS book with 2 CD's in Borders yesterday for £31.27. It is expensive, but having to re-sit the test would be £95 so thought it was worth it. Plus I can sell it on ebay afterwards to get some money back.

I've got my IELTS booked for the 1st December in Glasgow and am ababsolutely bricking it as English was my worst subject at school and dont even get me started on my spelin . It has been soooooo long since I sat any kind of test and thought the practice would help me to not go to pieces on the day. I'm going to go through the book at the weekend, but it does look really good.

My worry too is that each score has to be at least 7, so if I got an 8 in Speaking, Reading and Listening and a 6 in Writing and an all over band of 7.5 I would fail!:curse:

Good luck

lossiepickle

this is probably a stupid question but why do u have to take an english test? this is all new to me

Wandathecat

If you are acedemic then you should fine the test ok, I did the acedemic test (you only need general) and got above 8.5 in all sections.

However, I have a degree and have lots of post uni qualifications so I am so used to sitting exams its untrue!!!

If you more of a trades person and not used to exams or its been a long time then practice.

I didn't but I didn't think I needed too.

Hope that helps.

Cx

jasb

Hi

My husband passed his test a week ago and I was so worried at first. It is just a matter of learning how to pass the test - as a native English speaker you have all the skills required! You just have to learn the format. Spend an hour an evening practising a week or two before the test and I'm sure you'll be fine. My husband got an overall band of 8.5. There's alot of info on the net which can help alot. Get a book aswell - invaluable!

Good luck

charlie-k

I think there is a 60 day wait for resit.
Test consists of:
Listening approx 30 mins
Reading 60 mins
Writing 60 mins
Speaking 11-14 mins
Check out the website: www.ielts.org
There are some ielts blogs around too which are useful.

originalfunster

we went everwhere today trying to get cambridge 6 with cd's, no one had it in stock and SMITHS had never heard of it!!, going to try ebay and amazon now and hope they arrive prompt....

OZ2GO

If its of any help, I passed my IELTS exam last week. I bought material from IeltsHelpNow website. Material was excellent. I found the listening tests really helpful and the format was spot on. Couldn't fault it. May be more expensive than book but if you want something quick I would highly recommend it.