Five useful IELTS exam tips from our resident IELTS expert, Jan Ball:
Make sure that you are comfortable talking about yourself and your life. In section 1 the IELTS examiner will ask you questions about your likes and dislikes, your hobbies, your family, why you are learning English e.t.c. For example, if you often go horse riding you should know how to describe it.
Don't speak too fast. Fluency is important, but so is accuracy and pronunciation. IELTS examiners will be much more impressed by simple language used well than by complicated language used badly.
Make sure you know how to use the past simple. One of the most common mistakes that IELTS students make is that they use the present tense instead of the past. E.g. Yesterday I ride a horse. You need to learn the irregular verb forms, and pronounce the regular verbs correctly. Can you pronounce -ed correctly?
Answer the question. This is obvious, but if the examiner asks about television in your country, you will lose marks if you talk about television in the UK. In part 2, you must answer all the bits of the question.
Prepare to talk about problems and solutions. In part 3, the examiner will talk about more serious topics. He may ask you to think of measures for dealing with an issue, so it's good to learn vocabulary that is relevant. E.g. solve, sort out, disaster, benefit e.t.c.
