I spoke for less than a minute in Part 2 of the IELTS speaking exam. How will this affect my score?
We received this question from someone in our private Facebook group (Feel free to join) and one of the examiners that works for us has this to say. Less than a minute in Part 2 is very short. If this happens then the examiner will point to some of the prompts and say “Can you tell me more about this?” to try and get you to speak for longer. If you cannot continue for whatever reason, you can still do ok...
How to start (and not to start) an IELTS Task 2 writing
We see a lot of people use a phrase similar to this when they write an introduction “In this essay I will explore the cause of the problem and offer some solutions” or “This essay will show the advantages and disadvantages of ……..” Stop! Don’t do it! Why not you ask? Well, one of the IELTS examiners answers this question. I see this a lot in IELTS candidates’ introductions. I don’t know where it comes from or who is teaching it but it is a...
Why do we only use native IELTS examiners to evaluate your work?
upmyielts.com is where IELTS examiners work for you. So many people come to us having done IELTS numerous times and they haven’t got what they need in IELTS writing or speaking. Some of these people have even done IELTS courses with teachers in their countries or used other IELTS writing correction services. And here lies the problem. Unless you are an examiner, you will have no idea how to score your essays. We have had people come to us showing their...
How to write a Task 1 and 2 in 60 minutes
This is a common problem for a lot of people. A member in our private Facebook page “IELTS Writing and Speaking support” got in touch and left this question. “Sometimes we are given to much information in the task 1 and this makes it very hard to include all the data to the writing, just as it is very difficult to fill 150 words when there is very little to write about. However, I think the hardest part of the writing...
I can’t think of ideas for IELTS Task 2.
In Task 2, you need to support your ideas with examples. So, let’s take an example question like “The government should ban smoking in all public places, even though this would restrict some other people's freedoms. Do you agree or disagree?” First, you need to know that the question is asking for your opinion, nothing else. You don’t have to balance this type of question and argue both sides. Imagine if you were in a café and were asked this question, would you...
The IELTS speaking test – Why is Part 2 so important?
The IELTS speaking test is designed to get progressively more difficult so the examiner can see what you can do in English. Part 1 is very simple. It is just a question-and-answer session about you. You just have to say what you think and why you think it. The questions are relatively simple. However, Part 2 affects what questions you will face in Part 3. How so? Well, in Part 2 you, you have to talk for 2 minutes about a topic...
Can we use contractions in IELTS writing?
This is a question we received last week and we have seen it time and time again. It comes from the idea that IELTS, especially Academic IELTS, is a formal exam and should be treated us such. This is wrong. Academic IELTS is a test of your English for academic purposes (this means for university, post grad courses and also jobs). It is NOT a test of your academic English. If you go to an English school/academy to study English, the...
Is IELTS writing a scam?
We see this a lot from people who haven’t got the score they feel they deserve. Now, we need to address this. Why do people think they are being stopped from getting Band 7.0, for example, in writing? Firstly, some people don’t get Band 7 in writing because they are not band 7.0 level. To get to Band 7, the majority of your sentences need to be correct (grammatically and lexically). This is tough for a lot of people. Secondly, people don’t...