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November 16, 2018
was one of my weakest areas. After I gave the test, I had a gut feeling telling me IELTS Book List
that probably I scored a 9.0 in Reading. I even got to check all my answers in
Listening as well as Reading. IELTS Band Scores
http://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-reading/ 11/16/2018
How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 2 of 14
I re-took the General test. The first time I attempted this test was in October –
that time I scored an overall band score of 8.0 with L – 8.5, Reading – 7.0, W –
8.0, S – 9.0. I retook the test specifically to improve my Reading score so
obviously I relentlessly practiced tests from the General section of Cambridge
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IELTS books. I was aiming for a minimum of 8.0 in reading.
————————————————–
2 friends like this
Tips for Getting Band Score 9 in IELTS Reading
Here are some tips and strategies which you could post. Please feel free to make
any editions necessary. I like to explain things in detail, otherwise I do not feel
satisfied. You can make them more brief and concise.
Tip 1
Effective time management – I can’t stress enough about it. One thing which I
meticulously practiced when I did the reading tests was to enforce a strict time
division for each section of Reading. Even though in the cambridge books, it states
to keep a minimum of 20 minutes for each section. I’d suggest to keep 15 minutes
OR less in Section 1 and 2 and to rely solely on skimming and scanning (I
mastered to finish Section 1 and 2 in less than 15 minutes leaving me with ample
time to solve Section 3 questions). Keep 30 minutes or more for Section 3- where
you will need to do a little bit more than skimming and scanning. I usually
managed to have 5-10 minutes for revision.
Tip 2
Do not bother reading the passages. It’s a waste of time.
First, read the questions and circle the keywords and then try to look for those
keywords or a synonym / paraphased text in the passage. For Section 1 and 2
– skimming and scanning will be your best friends.
I didn’t even waste time reading Section 3. I just read the text associated with
the questions.
Tip 3
One strategy that worked for me best was “not to overthink” when you are solving
the reading questions and to go with your gut instincts – there is no time to think
during the 60 minutes of tackling reading questions. Especially this applies to me,
because I tend to overthink and over analyze a lot when I am stressed. I struggled
a lot with the true false questions. But as I trained myself not to overthink, if the
text is there either it will be the same meaning as the question or opposite. If text
is not there – not given.
Tip 4
For paragraph heading questions, only read the first and last sentence of each
paragraph. A synonym or a related keyword in the heading title should be there. I
also sometimes to be on the safe side for some questions read the second
sentence as well.
Tip 5
Although, you will keep hearing from people practice and practice. I personally
believe practice is inefficient if you do not learn from your incorrect answers. So it
really helps to look at your mistakes and compare with the correct answers in the
answer key and to reflect on where you made the mistake. I feel that way – you
learn more efficiently.
Hope that helps.
Manal
http://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-reading/ 11/16/2018
How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 3 of 14
◾ IELTS Listening
◾ IELTS Reading
◾ IELTS Writing Task 1
◾ IELTS Writing Task 2
◾ IELTS Speaking
◾ Vocabulary for IELTS
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Comments
Ibtee says:
November 9, 2018 at 10:12 am
Hi Liz,
Hope you are fine. I emailed you as well with details about my case. The simplified
version is below:
Since I had already booked another test I went anyway without any real prep even as
these marks were ok.
http://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-reading/ 11/16/2018
How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 4 of 14
I prepared for two weeks only before first attempt and only followed your website and
videos online in addition to a couple of books. I did Cambridge tests from book 6 and 7
only. I think I’m one of the lucky ones who were able to clear this test and the
psychological 7 band mark both times I attempted within a span of few days. You’re
doing excellent work and your advanced videos definitely helped. Even though you don’t
have a problem solution essay advanced writing video, I just used the same technique
from other essays and it got me a 7.5 band in that. My wife continues to use your ever
informative outlet. Thank you again.
Reply
Liz says:
November 9, 2018 at 1:07 pm
You made it! Well done It can be a long struggle sometimes. Band 8.5
overall is great Glad my Advanced Writing Task 2 lessons helped. The techniques
once learned can easily be applied for almost all essays. Thanks for sharing your
results and good luck to your wife don’t forget to mention your profession.
Reply
Chris says:
October 15, 2018 at 6:05 pm
Congrats Manal. That is exactly what I needed right now. I’m sure these
insights will be help a great deal. Good luck with your future aspirations.
Reply
Avantika says:
August 10, 2018 at 1:10 pm
Hey Liz
I was hard pressed on time to prepare for the IELTS Academic(had only one day to
prepare to be precise).
I relied solely on your videos for both speaking and the written parts.
I can’t thank you enough Liz! All credit goes to you and your concise, to the point, fun
videos!
Thanks a ton
Reply
Liz says:
August 10, 2018 at 3:56 pm
That’s a great result – well done Glad you found my videos useful
Don’t forget to let me know your profession.
Reply
http://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-reading/ 11/16/2018
How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 5 of 14
Avantika says:
August 10, 2018 at 4:53 pm
Best,
Avantika
Reply
Serkan says:
October 23, 2018 at 8:54 pm
Reply
Naz says:
May 20, 2018 at 7:54 am
Dear all,
It is taking the test, NOT giving the test. In English language, students take the
examination and teachers give them. Please correct yourself!
Reply
Dear Liz,
Wanted to share my results and thank you for the online guidance which really helped in
the preparation.
My Scores
Overall – 8
Listening – 8.5
Reading – 8.5
Writing – 7.5
Speaking – 7
One important tip from my side would be on Speaking – You need to practice (with
friend, in front of mirror, thru recording) irrespective of how good your speaking skills
are.
Regards
Mohit Kumar
Mumbai, India
Reply
Liz says:
May 5, 2018 at 2:15 pm
Reply
http://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-reading/ 11/16/2018
How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 6 of 14
Dear Liz,
I’m Microbiologist by profession.
Tons of thanks to you for your valuable advice and this website.
Reply
Liz says:
May 22, 2018 at 10:12 am
Reply
Aishwarya says:
April 10, 2018 at 7:15 am
Thanks a lot Liz for your wonderful and meticulously structured lessons for
cracking IELTS.
I like to share a tip here. I want to emphasize the importance of reading newspapers
regularly, especially the editorial section which would provide us with a variety of
vocabulary. By this we would be acquainted with many new words and their
corresponding synonyms.This will definitely help us in scoring better in almost all sections
of IELTS.
-Aishwarya
Reply
Hi Liz,
Please post this comments as it will be very usefull for candidates giving tests in India
particularly in this Summer season.
http://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-reading/ 11/16/2018
How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 7 of 14
1 – Generally test starts on 1.00 PM and they mention reporting time as 11.30 AM. Once
you entered into the test hall they force you to go for registration process. It usually
takes 10 minutes. Though you reach on 11.00 AM they force you to go for registration.
Once you registered, they give you seat and you can’t leave your seat at any reason,
even for washroom breaks.
Usually in summer season, you drink plenty of water and it ends up with many washroom
breaks. If you entered 2 hours before starting of exam then it will be problem for you,
you have to hold yourself till 4.00 PM. During exam you can loose concentration. I saw
this was happened with many people there. Therefore go on 12.20 to 12.30 to the test
center after usage of washrooms.
2 – There are around 200-240 people giving test at the same time so there will be chance
that you will loose concentration. Please be focused, never look around, concentrate on
your question and answer sheet.
3 – To show current time, they usually use digital clock and it is displayed in front stage.
These days people mostly using analog watches so it is very difficult for people to quickly
check how much time remaining. I saw people complaining about this.
Remember you are not allowed to take your watch to exam hall therefore do practice in
home using digital watch.
4 – You will get 2 different answer sheets for writing section. One is for Task 1 and
second one for Task 2. Use right answer sheet for tasks. Some people mistakenly used
answer 2 sheet for task 1 and vice versa so they will end up with 0 marks in writing
section as per IELTS examiner told to us.
5 – You will get supplementory answer sheets for writing section. Today one bastered
examiner told this us after 30 minutes starting of the writing test, till that moment many
people had finished either task 1 or 2. So always keep in mind that you will get
supplementory answer sheet at any time.
I hope this will help students who are giving test in coming weeks.
Reply
Liz says:
April 7, 2018 at 8:16 pm
Reply
Pranav says:
September 23, 2018 at 12:56 pm
Thanks Sandip! I had these exact doubts and am so glad that it is cleared
now!
Reply
Sandeep says:
March 21, 2018 at 4:24 am
Congratulations Manal.
Liz/Manal,
http://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-reading/ 11/16/2018
How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 8 of 14
I plan to take my exam through British Council. In your comments, I read that Manal has
practiced using Cambridge IELTS book.
I would like to know if the strategy should differ if I plan to take the exam through British
Council.
Regards
Sandeep
Reply
Liz says:
March 21, 2018 at 11:31 am
Cambridge write all the IELTS tests – BC and IDP do not write the tests
themselves.
Reply
Kendall says:
November 11, 2017 at 6:43 pm
Reply
Reply
Hi Liz! Thank you very much for your lectures on IELTS. Manal’s reading tip is
everything you need to know on reading. I just checked my IELTS result. I got 8.5 in
Listening, 9.0 in reading (Thanks to Manal’s tip), 7.0 in writing and speaking respectively.
Overall score of 8.0. In the reading, i had 20mins to spare. I was so shocked, right there i
was convinced i’d probably score a 9. Another thing to note is that i underrated the
writing and speaking as i didn’t practice, hence the low score. In addition, always practice
the Listening, reading and writing together. In my case i didn’t so i was tired after the
reading and i spent time on the first task(Letter Writing). I used only 15 mins to complete
Task 2 and there was no time to check my work. Always start with task 2 as it carries
more marks. Although i was scared, but then i knew i had a good introduction and
Conclusion (Thanks to Liz paraphrasing tips).
Reply
Liz says:
May 26, 2017 at 10:46 am
Very well done! I’ve emailed Manal about your score – I’m sure she’ll be
pleased her tips helped you You are absolutely right about how tiring the test is.
Students really should practice a full test of listening, reading and writing at home
under the same time constraints before their real test. Thanks for sharing your results
Reply
http://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-reading/ 11/16/2018
How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 9 of 14
. Thank you Liz! Considering the fact that it was my first attempt and I smashed
it, i really appreciate your kind deeds and efforts so far. You are the best Liz, Keep
up the good work. In a related post, you said u weren’t going to post any video
lectures for now because of some health challenges. I hope you are much better
now. The world needs more people like you. You should know we care about your
wellbeing and you can also reach out to us… Stay fit dear
Reply
Liz says:
April 22, 2017 at 12:08 pm
Reply
Finally got my results – had taken the Academic one (UKVI) on the 11th of
February, which was withheld.
Thanks for your tips, helped me a lot considering this is my first attempt.
Reply
Liz says:
March 17, 2017 at 12:24 pm
Reply
It’s cool and refresh me that I can do as I failing for several times. Mind says,
this idea can do something.
Congratulation Manal
Reply
Considering the request for tips for L/S/W, I will post some tips which I’ve
found useful while preparing for the Listening test. I will post speaking and writing tips
later.
http://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-reading/ 11/16/2018
How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 10 of 14
1) Join an IELTS face-to-face preparation course. – and supplement it with Ielts Liz
videos. I won’t deny there are innumerable online resources but I still can’t appreciate
well enough the importance of attending an course where you will interact with the
instructors
face to face and ask any questions or doubts. I was lucky that the course I did was
conducted in the test center itself where the IELTS exam and Speaking test take place. I
also gave mock tests there. I can’t stress enough the importance of doing a whole-length
practice test along with the speaking test in the place where you will actually give the
exam. It helps you familiarize with that place and will also alleviate anxiety in the day of
the test. The teachers who took the classes are certified IELTS instructors as well as
examiners but caution is taken to ensure that the ones who take your classes do not take
your Speaking exam or check y/ ur Writing test to avoid bias. More or less the strategies
provided by all IELTS websites and teachers worldwide will be similar, but it is imperative
you get yourself familiar with the Writing and Speaking strategies specifically from the
teachers in your country because they will checking your Writing test and grading your
Speaking exam. This was important for me, because the country where I took the test –
their concept of indentation in Writing was different from the one I encountered in the
IELTS books I studied. The Listening and Reading answer scripts will be sent to UK for
grading.
2) Listening tips – it may seem like the easiest module but I personally battled with it a
lot. I felt like I was playing Tom and Jerry. It is so easy to make mistakes here even if
you miss something in a split of a nanosecond. I never got a 9 in a single Listening
practice test. I tried really hard. It is so easy to make mistakes in Listening. You may
think you heard something but in reality you heard something else. Your brain has to be
literally glued to the audio waves emanating from the Listening tape for each and every
split of a nanosecond.
Especially I struggled with those situations in Section 1 (seemingly the easiest section
right?) where the lady / guy tells you a street name and you are just waiting there for it
to be spelled and spoof – they move on to the next part of the conversation. I made
mistakes like that in situations where the answer was King Street (I heard Kingsley) or
when they are reading out a credit card number / bar code number – I end up confusing
between certain alphabets-like maybe the person said V, but I heard B. In normal
situations when you are calm, you can easily differentiate those phonetic sounds but
when you are stressed out with elevated levels of cortisol, you’d make the silliest
mistakes ever which you normally wouldn’t make in “luxurious conditions”.
a) This may seem basic but familiarize with yourself the British pronounciation of the
alphabets and letters and maybe just
b) Skim / scan through some popular street names of London / UK which IELTS expects
you to be able to write it correctly without it being spelled for you.
c) Since you hear the tape only once, one strategy that helped for me was to circle the
keywords of the questions before the tape is played and only look for those keywords /
synonyms in the tape.
d) What helped me in sentence completion tasks (Section 1 and Section 4), was to put a
tick in that part of the text where I already got the answer and inserted the answer in my
booklet – that way my brain knows not to make my eyeballs linger there and to focus on
the keywords in the next part of the text.
e) In multiple choice questions, circle the keywords in the question itself as well each of
the possible answers. This can be quite tricky especially in Section 3 where 2-3 people
talk together. And when they are talking, eliminate the wrong answers everytime you
hear a line which is contradictory to a choice, chances are you may not hear something
which is synonymous to the correct answer but it can also be antonymous or they can
indicate the answer in a very subtle way. You need to be really really careful. There are a
lot of traps in Listening. Watch the 25 tips of Listening from Liz in youtube. I can’t explain
how invaluable those tips are.
f) In matching tasks ( this is so hard in Listening!) – especially in Section 3 where 2-3
people are talking, this can get so challenging. Please circle the keywords in the headings
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How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 11 of 14
as well as the questions. You will get overwhelmed when the tape starts playing if you
just circle the questions and your eyeballs will be jumping around here and there looking
for answers. I made this mistake but hopefully and thanks to Allah I managed to score
8.5 by making either 1 or 2 mistakes.
g) Even in this part of the test, I utilized my gut instincts / intuition – whatever you call it.
This may not be an “exam exam strategy”. But I advise all of you to get in touch with
your intuition. It is an invaluable tool that has helped me throughout my entire life as well
as during IELTS exam – which is basically an intuitive game. Because this is a skill test- it
is not your regular tests where your knowledge of content or any memory tricks are
applicable. I’ve learned to trust my intuition more ever since I sat for my IELTS exams
and I got exactly the range of scores I had targetted for.
Reply
Thank you very much , Manal for your great tips and thanks to you Liz
Ma’am as for sharing this page with us.
– Nirmal
Reply
Syed
Reply
Lynn says:
July 29, 2018 at 8:57 am
Reply
congratulation manal. you done a great job. I cant imagine that I can get band
9 in rearing. pray for me. I am going to face this test very soon.
Reply
Amarnath says:
March 9, 2017 at 3:29 pm
Hello Manal,
Really happy for you and I am so kind of you.
Reply
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How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 12 of 14
Dr watson says:
March 9, 2017 at 2:31 pm
Thank you for sharing your tips. I will apply these tips to my next exam.
Reply
SARWAT says:
March 9, 2017 at 2:30 pm
Hi Manal
I would like to congratulate you at heart. I have just started preparing for GT. your advice
must be very helpful for me . Thanks n good luck
Reply
Hey Manal,
I also would like to congratulate you on scoring Band 9 from the Reading part. That is
really awesome. I was wondering if you would have any tips for Academic Module test
takers? I have my exam on 25 March as well. Therefore, I would be happy to hear from
you. Thanks a lot and congratulations again.
Reply
Mohamed says:
March 9, 2017 at 12:17 pm
Congratulations for Managing. She deserved it. Thank you Manage for your
tips, they are helpful.
Reply
LOL
Reply
Ramez says:
March 9, 2017 at 6:38 pm
Reply
http://ieltsliz.com/how-i-scored-9-in-ielts-reading/ 11/16/2018
How I Scored 9 in IELTS Reading Page 13 of 14
I only would congratulate Manal on her band score 9 of Reading test. Really great! As I’ve
just read her advice, I find them logical so they can be useful. I’m giong to try them.
Congrats again and thank her for advice!
Reply
me says:
March 9, 2017 at 10:52 am
Reply
Bright says:
March 9, 2017 at 10:49 am
Reply
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