murf80

Applying for a skilled sponsored 176....

Received the all-clear from Vetassess today (a-woo-hoo!) so now moving on with gathering the rest of the things. To reach the points pass mark I need to sit the IELTS for the extra 10 points.

As an English person, with A-Level English and a degree in journalism, is there anything I need to worry about? (Apart from making a stupid mistake) I've looked at a revision book in Waterstones and it looks straightforward....

Have any English people sat this test? Any problems scoring grade 7?

I'm looking at sitting it on 16th February.

FluffieFaerie

My husband, whose English is very good, went into the test thinking it would be a doddle and came out with a 6 in the reading section because he skim-read everything and didn't answer the questions correctly. Thankfully we didn't need the extra points in the end. I've also heard other people struggle with the listening part of the test as it's quite boring and you can drift off a bit!!! When I did it, I found it fine but my overall was an 8 so there's still room for improvement - I guess it's not as easy as us native speakers might think!!!

seat151

I left school with a cse grade 3 in english 20 years ago, and passed my IELTS test 3 weeks ago

newlife_downunder

IELTS....well, I have failed for third time! A doddle I think not! It's just the reading section I am doing crap in! 1st time got 6.5, 2nd time 6.5, 3rd time 6.0 All the rest 7 and above!

murf80

Newlife - now you're scaring me! Thinking I may have to buy one of these revision books rather than the 'browsing' sessions in Waterstones I've been doing....

domco77

I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's certainly not a total walk in the park, but as long as you check out the format of the test at least you'll know what to expect. You'll be totally fine on the listening and speaking parts; the writing and reading sections I found a little more testing. Good luck!

nhkha2

IELTS is moderately difficult, in some sections only. I found listening and reading difficult, and the way I got around that was to read up on the test info on the IELTS website. Alternatively you can enrol in the one day work shops for IELTS, which I did, and by the end, I was comfortable with the test format and structure. The workshop really helped out and scored 8.5 with two 8's and two 9's. (listening and reading 8's)

edie209

I have O level english and and HND to give you an idea of where my english skill is. I studied for a week before about 1 -2 hours a day and passed first time with 7 9 7.5 9 an overall 8

Don't get me wrong its not a walk in the park, but it is easy just know the format do the practice tests in IELTS own book and you will be fine.

It is a long boring day so make sure you are well rested, and during the listening part is easy to drift off and start thinking of other things.

But with your background I would think you will be fine

murf80

Are there any online tests that anyone can recommend? I've found a couple of sample questions on some sites, but is there anything more comprehensive?

edie209

Try this site its the one I used http://www.ielts.studyau.com/

pacey

In all honesty it was harder than i thought, and i'd consider myself pretty on the ball when i come to the old engerlish - obviously you go in expecting it to be a joke, but some sections are obviously more tricky than others. I was convinced i'd be a straight 9's kind of guy, but ended up with an 8.5 average.

On the whole not something to worry about - reading was the hardest part judging by my score (7.5) and other comments here! You'll do fine.

nhkha2

I think that would be a good idea to get some sort of practice material, maybe even an entire length practice test if you can find one.

The workshop I took had the practice test, and as long as you can find a prac with a CD for the listening module and a prac exam, you will be fine. The main thing is familiarizing yourself with the format and remember for the listening module, you have to be listening carefully and answering/recording your answers at the same time so its a good idea to quickly scan the questions before the recording begins. Native English speakers would not have a problem in the other modules.

Best of luck!

reshlobo

Hi... does anyone know if I can use TOEFL scores instead of IELTS?

I have just recently sat for TOEFL ( new format) ... and I've scored 115/120.
Reading, Speaking and Listening sections were 29/30 each and the Writing section I scored 28/30. From what I understand these are good scores and TOEFL is equivalent to IELTS... but I dont see any immi / gov / IEAust sites mention TOEFL. Besides this, I also have 12yrs of schooling and a 4yr Engineering degree, all of them with English as the medium of instruction.

Any thoughts, anyone? I am not an English native speaker, but I can provide any documentation necessary to prove that I have a high level of proficiency in that language - just not too keen on answering IELTS to save time and money.

ANY advice/ help would be appreciated!!!

chococino76

Why are you sitting an IELTS? From what I've read on the Australian Immigration website, anyone that holds a UK passport is exempt from the test. Did the visa department ask you to sit the test or have you arranged it yourself? Really interested as I will be applying for skilled migration in the next few months.

seat151

If you are older, like us. you need to sit and pass the test in order to gain an extra 15 points

We only had 110 points, but now have 125