IELTS General Training Preparation

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Updated On Dec 16, 2021

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IELTS General Training evaluates English language skills in an everyday context. The IELTS General exam is held for those applicants who wish to work, live in a foreign country.

IELTS General Exam evaluates your English language skills on 4 bases:

Listening
Speaking
Writing
Reading

Follow these golden rules to prepare for IELTS General training exam

Plan Right

Daily practice is a must while preparing for the IELTS exam. Plan ahead of time; it will help you avoid last-minute rush and help you stay focused. It is necessary to ask yourself before you plan to appear for the exam –

Are you an early riser, or will you burn the midnight oil?
When can you take the exam?
What areas require more practice?
How much practice is needed?

Well, you should prepare and practise hard to get a good band. But ideally, you should spend 2 months on preparation because it will help you get enough practice and stay grounded in your preparation efforts.

Review and Revise

Once you have completed the practice, review what you have learned or practised and determine what you will do the next day. It will help you remain optimistic and enthusiastic for the course of the period you are preparing for the exam. Moreover, revision helps to track your progress and identify areas where more focus is required.

Identifying your strengths and weaknesses

Identify your strengths and weaknesses. This can only be done by practising sample tests. Know your strengths but identify your weaknesses as well. There is no success in preparing for an exam without working on your weak spots. This approach will help you improve your overall band score.

Mock Tests

Train yourself for questions in which two choices look correct. How can you do that? By taking Mock tests. These tests teach time management skills and teach how to analyze questions. It is advisable to solve each module’s practice tests irrespective of your strengths and weaknesses in any particular field. Not being able to perform well in any specific section or question set should not make you reluctant to put more effort. Your determination to move ahead will help you achieve your desired results.

Prepare the 4 sections of IELTS with free practice tests

IELTS Speaking Practice Test

Speaking practice test is the same for both Academic and General Training exams. The speaking test consists of 3 sections, wherein section 1 questions are about your background, family, friends, childhood, etc. In section 2, cue cards are given. Lastly, in section 3, questions are asked based on the topic given in section 2. The speaking practice tests are designed to provide you with a personalized test-taking experience and help you get familiar with the IELTS exam structure.

IELTS Listening Practice Test

Just as the speaking practice test, the IELTS Listening practice test is similar for both Academic and General Training exams. The listening test is 30 minutes long and covers 4 sections comprising 40 questions. You will get audio recordings along with questions and answers at the end of each test to help you examine your test performance. With these tests’, you can familiarise yourself with different types of questions that might be asked in the exam. Moreover, it helps evaluate your performance and increases the chances for a high band score.

IELTS Writing Practice Test

The writing practice test of the IELTS General exam is 60 minutes long and consists of 2 tasks. In Task 1, you are required to write a letter in not less than 150 words. Whereas Task 2 of general writing practice is similar to academic writing practice, and you must write an essay in at least 250 words. Along with the questions, sample band 9 answers are also provided to evaluate and enhance your performance. The writing practice tests are designed and formulated to give you a real-time test experience.

IELTS Reading Practice Test

The general reading practice test is of 60 minutes and consists of 40 questions divided into 3 sections. The first 2 sections are subdivided into 2 texts, and the last section is a long text taken from magazines, advertisements, guidebooks, etc. Instructions about approaching the texts and time to be spent on each section are provided in the instructions. Moreover, you can find the answers to each reading section at the end of the reading test. These tests help you to boost your reading speed and enhance your vocabulary.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum time required for IELTS preparation?

The minimum time required for IELTS preparation is 4 months. Although it might take 6 months for some test-takers, there's no official rule about the minimum time an aspirant must give themselves for IELTS preparation. As a result, the amount of time required for preparation is solely determined by the exam taker's level of skills and knowledge

What is the strategy for managing time during the IELTS General Reading test?

The most successful strategy to manage time during the IELTS General Reading test is to read questions followed by reading the passages, focusing on keywords, finding answers, and ensuring that the answer matches or is relevant to the question

What are the golden rules to follow while preparing for the General Reading test?

A test taker can plan their study schedule, practise a variety of General Reading tests, improve their vocabulary and comprehension skills, and time oneself throughout IELTS practice tests.

How to tackle difficulties in IELTS General Reading?

The IELTS General Reading test is meticulously designed and tested to ensure that all test versions have the same difficulty level. A test-taker must skim & scan, focus on time, check the spelling of the answer and order of the questions, underline the texts to discover keywords and unfamiliar terms, and most importantly, not leave any blank spots in order to overcome obstacles in the IELTS General Reading test.

What skills will be tested in IELTS General Reading?

The IELTS Reading section will assess a variety of abilities, including the ability to complete a diagram, table, or summary, distinguish between main ideas and supporting details, locate specific information, identify the writer's point of view, follow key arguments, and determine the writer's purpose. It is also a vocabulary test because most of the answers will be synonyms or paraphrases of the question.

Ruben Smith

Ruben is a specialist and enthusiast in Linguistics. He speaks French, Spanish and German apart from English. He is a pronunciation expert and has even co-authored some books on the same. In the course of his research, he found the English language gap in non-native speakers. That’s when he decided to train students in English. He joined IELTSMaterial a few years ago and has written over 100+ articles. His articles are written in simple language but with strong attention to detail. His ideas are original and easy to understand. He has also researched on many tips that could help students score a band 9 with ease. These tips can be found across the website.