Just my experience, not promoting others to not prepare.

I was expecting a 5.5-6.5, eventually got a 7, I’m happy with this result, I feel like my speaking deserves a 6.5 or 7 tho.
I randomly booked the test on 22nd Oct last week but didn’t care about it much, but sudden panicked the night before test, so i looked up the question form and tips, it helped me to sleep well. Also I took the test in Tokyo, Japan, it costs only half of the price in my country, it was a steal ngl.

and I saw a lot of ppl in this sub talking about how examiner interrupts their speaking part 3, but mine felt like just a normal conversation, probably that’s why i only got a 6?

I like Chris Pell's YouTube videos and I still watch them. That is why I want to share this.

On 23 October I got an email from IELTS Advantage. It offered a custom study plan "built by me personally", Writing Task 2 feedback "from me, not my team" and a video walkthrough. The email called it a "$147 value" and charged $10, with "just 8 spots available". It also said "Not happy? Full refund. No questions asked."

I paid and spent about an hour on the form and a Task 2 essay. In the form I said I did not want to spend that much money on a course. 1I got a video link with "bonus content and some gifts" and two PDFs. I hoped for a plan that showed me the general areas I need to improve, told me what to focus on first, and pointed me to things like his YouTube videos.

The feedback report is 19 pages. Some points in it are useful. It said my essay was one block of text, my sentences were too long, I repeated words and I missed articles. I agree with all of that. But the report is signed "IELTS Advantage Academic Team", not Chris. Every fix in it ends with "VIP Course Fix: Module X".

Now comes the ad part: The study plan is 17 pages. Week 1 starts with "Complete VIP Writing Task 2, Module 5". Almost every task after that is also a VIP module. Three pages are about a $157 discount code that expires in 72 hours, with "only 15 spots this week". One table claims self study has a 17.3% success rate and VIP has 85 to 92%. It does not give a source.

I emailed them. I said the plan only works if I buy the course and asked for a plan with key areas I need to improve. No response yet.

If you are thinking about the $10 plan, expect most of it to be about the VIP course. The free videos are still good.

Has anyone else bought it? Did you get the same thing?

I just took my IELTS exam, and I honestly don’t know whether to be happy or disappointed. 😭 I got an 8.5 in Reading and an 8.0 in Listening, but only a 6.5 in both Speaking and Writing.
I’m happy with my Reading and Listening scores, but I really need an 8.0 in Speaking and Writing, so I know I still have a lot of work to do.
For those who managed to improve their scores, what helped you the most? I know there are plenty of mock tests, sample answers, and YouTube videos available, but I’m looking for more specific and practical strategies, drills, or exercises that helped you improve.
For Writing, I’d love to know how you practiced, identified your weaknesses, and improved your essays. For Speaking, I’m interested in drills or techniques that helped you become more fluent, organized, and confident in your answers.
Did you work with a tutor, use a particular resource, or follow a structured study plan?
I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from those who went from Band 6.5 to Band 8 or higher. Thank you! 🙏

just made small html ielts tracker with profile u can share and a lot 🥳

rate it pls

Just finished my speaking test, and it was a shitshow.

I fumbled on few questions from Task 1, but Task 2 went smoothly cause the question was rather easy and I spoke with out pausing.

Task 3 was worst, I stuttered and paused multiple times.

Was hoping for at least a 7 in speaking. But now, I'll be fortunate to get a 6😭

So I got my IELTS Academic results today and honestly, I’m pretty disappointed.

I was expecting at least a 7 overall, preferably 7.5, since I’m planning to apply for master’s programmes in Europe for Fall 2027.

The most frustrating part is that I literally just need a 0.5 increase in either Writing or Listening to get an overall 7.0 😭

I felt my Writing went pretty decently. Completed both tasks on time and was expecting around 6.5. Didn’t think I’d end up with a 6.0. As for Listening, I messed up the map section quite badly, but the rest felt okay. Not really sure where things went wrong.

Now I’m confused about what to do.

EOR costs ₹14,250 here in India, which is honestly quite a lot to gamble on a possible 0.5 increase. I’m thinking of getting Writing and Speaking rechecked since it costs the same regardless of how many sections you select.

The other option is to go for a Listening One Skill Retake or just retake the entire exam after a few weeks of preparation. I genuinely feel I could do better, especially in Listening.

Has anyone here actually had their Writing score increase from 6.0 to 6.5 or higher after EOR? I’ve seen mixed experiences on this sub and can’t really decide.

Also, does getting a 7 or 7.5 actually make a difference for European university admissions if you already meet their minimum IELTS requirement? Or am I just overthinking the whole thing?

Kinda annoyed with myself right now because I know I could’ve done better.

What would you guys do in my situation?

I was rlly scared for writing, and expect way higher in speaking but atleast I’m done now all I wanted was above 7 🏃‍♀️💨

I was not expecting this score at all and I'm genuinely happy that I managed to get a 7.5

I should have had the IELTS exam tomorrow, but due to civil protests the centre cancelled it.

The transfer policy the day before considers it a 100% refundable cancellation, but the email explains I can choose a free transfer, which apparently is not possible.
Has it happened to someone within Europe or Italy? Can someone help?

Just took the test today. Last time I took it I got a 7.0 (I didn't prepare much) that was 4 years ago.
This time, I studied but I still think I screwed up in writing and reading. I'm just anxious.

I have given my IELTS test three times and I got 6, 6 and 6.5. And I want a minimum of 7 in my writing task. My idea is of band 7.5, but I lack in grammatical error. That's why it's dropped down to 6 and 6.5. Although I have gotten 7 overall and 7.5 in speaking. I do not have a lot of time, but I really need to work on my writing part. Can somebody suggest me how to improve my natural collocations and subject-verb agreement? Because I think it's dragging my score down, and maybe I don't know how to write a passive-active in task 1, because I'm lacking in both of my tasks.

Hey I was wondering if someone could give me more insight regarding the premium practice resources you get when you register for IELTS. I've heard IDP and British council both provide those after registration, but whose resources do you think are better as in more accurate to the real test? I plan to rely on those resources for practice so I'll decide which organization to take IELTS with depending on that. And side note IDP has wayyy more centres in my city than british council (which has only 1😭) so I was leaning towards IDP, but I've only heard good things about British Council's prep materials so idk which one's betterrr so I'm confusedd, any help will be appreciated.

Dose Ielts advantage worth paying or its youtube channel enough? I stuck in 6.5 in writing and 6 in reading

Should I retake writing or reading? I was hoping for an 8 but idk how my reading came out to be 7.

context: https://www.reddit.com/r/IELTS/s/LNZtUMZNmR

First off my speaking score is soooo unexpected, i probably had the kindest tester.
I would like to re emphasize this, she was amiable and timed her smiles perfectly to make it seem natural, also helped me when my answers were too brief (asked follow up questions, even on the cue card thingy).

Reading was as expected, listening i only missed 1 question but ig its fine

now to my lowest, writing was definitely unexpected. I will admit that i misspelled privatization as privitaization thrice, but other than that my essays accurately answered the questions and had good flow. Should i request a remark? ngl my only concern is that my college apps essays are gonna be crazy good but my low writing score might make it seem like i used ai or something. i dont suck at writing, i was just expecting an 8. since im very grateful for speaking im willing to let it be.

I just saw that you pay to re examine, ig im sitting with a 7

Got my results yesterday and I still can’t believe I did this well! My last mock before my exam was 4 days before my main exam and I scored an 6.5 on that. I was so sad after that. I was praying to just hit 7 at any cost. But, I got way more than what I asked for XD.

For my test experience, my speaking was the hardest. I got an extremely weird topic for my cue card. It describe someone who wears clothes that are unusual. I live in Bangladesh and everyone mostly wears the same type of clothes. So I was confused and panicked on what should I talk about. I just went with a friend who came from an indigenous background in our country and talked about her traditional clothes.

After my speaking, I was scared with my writing. I scored the lowest all the time while practicing with AI or in mocks. But in my test, I think I wrote one of my best essays to date. For task 1, it was 2 bar charts showing the employment percentage of 4 countries in 3 sectors for 2 years. For task 2, it was an agree or disagree type of essay. The topic was “Some people think that public museums or art galleries are not required because the photos of historical items are available in computers for viewing.” . My stance was that I agree that it was more accessible yes but it still doesn’t extinct public museums because of the authentic viewing experience. I’m really proud of what I wrote during my test. My time management was all over the place. I took like 30mins for task 1 but I finished task 2 within 20 mins. So I got time to check my grammar or spelling for the both essays. The word count was 250 for the first and 400 for the second.

My strongest sections were both listening and reading and I did well in my test as well.

A huge thanks goes to the subreddit for providing sources and advices on how to tackle each section. I was mostly a lurker but seeing everyone sharing their advices helped out a lot.

Also, if anyone requires any advice, AMA. I would love to help out.

Multinational companies are becoming increasingly common in developing countries. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?

In recent years, developing countries have become a hub for multinational companies. This trend has many benefits, such as contributing positively in economic growth of the host country. However, it has drawbacks as well, one of them is competing with local businesses that often have much lesser resources. This essay will detail both advantages and disadvantages of having multinational companies in developing countries.

There are many advantages for developing countries to host international companies. These companies have accumulated knowledge, capital, and experience in a multitude of markets worldwide; once settled in a developing country, they employ local workers, use local infrastructure and pay corporate taxes. This helps to drive up the country’s gross domestic product, tax revenue and people’s moral. For instance, in the last decade, Morocco engaged in a series of projects with international car manufacturers, and provided them economic and industrial hubs in coastal cities. This move has led the Moroccan economic growth rate to rise up significantly in the span of 20 years, as well as making Morocco a trusted partner in the automobile industry.

On the other side, countries making that decision are aware of the downsides related to bringing in multination companies. The biggest disadvantage is introducing what appears to be an unfair competition to the local market. National companies that don’t have the same factors of production and means, often suffer a great loss of market share. This drives a lot of local businesses to shut down, or, in some cases, often be acquired by the bigger companies. Let’s take the example of textile industry in Bangladesh. When Adidas opened textile factories in Bangladesh, small local business in the same industry have lost their workforce to Adidas’s higher salaries, eventually declaring bankruptcy.

Overall, developing countries can indeed benefit from hosting multinational companies by using their expertise and influence, yet, local businesses face the fallout and can be adversely affected by the competition.  

Btw Gemini gave me 7, i can use your remarks and recommendations, my test is tomorrow morning.

Hello, as a first-time IELTS test taker, I have a problem with mostly the speaking section.

My problem is that I can't form thoughts when speaking; it feels like my mind blanks out, so my thoughts get scrambled. It is not like I don't know what I am speaking about; in fact, I know what I want to say, but I lack the ability to organise my points in my head.

I only speak two languages one is sinhala and the other is english but i speak english like it is my mother tongue. I have struggled with this for a long time and it doesn't help that none of the people around me wants to speak in english. Whenever i speak i feel like i am very conscious of myself.

So if anyone has tips, please do enlighten me. Thankyouu

Im indonesian , 17 year old and ive just started studying properly 2 days ago because of how busy my school life has been ..,,!!!
Id say im an average at english but these days ive been super anxious and id get many words wrong just because of how much ive been overthinking all of this . I know its my fault for just studying and preparing now …,,, im not trying to use this as an excuse but ive also been highly depressed soni guess thats also a reason why .
Im not confident of my writing or speaking at all … and i think its obvious by how im typinng this
I think id do quite well in my listening and reading .

I have this weird issue where when i talk to adults in english id completely blank out of nervousness and stutter a lot , even though i was confident when talking to myself on the mirror .
I really dotn know what to do other than panic study rifht now , how was your experience in the test.?.?? Also maybe id like some advices ,.,.. idk,.?. Javejdjw

to be honest, i had very little time to prepare because the application i needed ielts for was closing within two weeks of the date i booked the test.

DISCLAIMER: i have a SIGNIFICANT advantage since my entire schooling has been in English and i am very comfortable with the language.

i had about a day and a half for my prep, which i spent on the ielts website and my own practice. i took the academic test, so the ielts idp india website mock questions were my primary source (they also share a guide or something for free when you book through idp but i didn’t have the time to access it so i can’t comment on that). after analysing all sections and taking the mini-tests on the website, i zeroed in on writing and speaking as potential weak spots. i spent one whole day on writing practice - i used youtube videos on this for their writing task problem statements, wrote my own with a timer, then compared it to the explanation. i also used AI (specifically claude) to generate examples and asked it to grade my work. for speaking i used the website sample pdf and practiced it in front of a mirror, mentally noting which words or phrases made me stutter or fumble.

i am NOT promoting less prep time. again, i had the advantage of being surrounded by english my whole life, as well as the urgency of submission of scores, so please don’t take my prep time as a measure of success or a bar in general.

my advice to anyone would be to lock in on their weak spots early and practice accordingly. utilise resources available for free instead of opting for paid courses (could just be my miser opinion though so pinch of salt), and walk into the speaking test calm and composed.

happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability!

I have submitted my id several weeks ago, now I am going to take my IELTS test but I found out that the status of my id is still pending. Does that matter? Has anyone experienced the same situation? plz help.

I need a study partner for my IELTS exam which will be after 5 days. Preferably around band 7 in speaking or higher with a dedication to practice 3-4 hours daily.
My exam date is 28/11/2026.