Things to do when you plan to resit for the IELTS exam

Test takers often retake the test, if they don’t score their desired IELTS Band Score to fulfill their academic or professional requirements. If you also feel the same, you can consider to resit for the IELTS test when you feel you are ready and confident enough to improve your band score. Here are few things you should do:

Think over first

Before you think to retake the test, it will be better if you can gauge how far you have progressed in your English language skills from the last time you appeared for the test. Until and unless you have worked very hard and improved quite a lot, there is no point in considering to resit for the IELTS test. Taking up the test without rigorous preparation, could waste your valuable time and money.

Do you know about IELTS? Ask yourself & know them all

If you don’t know yet the level of questions asked in the IELTS exam, duration, patterns of questions, scoring process, kind of score your desired university requires, you should try to learn more about the exam and your specific requirements. Once you figure out your exact requirements, you can start preparing for IELTS in the right direction. Perhaps, you can do the following:

• Find out what is the IELTS scoring process

• What does each IELTS band score means and what each band score says about your English language skills

• Try out activities and techniques that can help improve your English language skills

Are your ready for the IELTS Test?

By now, you should be knowing about the test format of IELTS and what version you are planning to take. It will be helpful, if you could familiarise yourself with various questions and task types for each section. It is important that you go through the official study materials to understand the questions of each of the sections better. Every IELTS aspirant must go through the IELTS official `practice materials as it contains questions with sample answers for each of the IELTS four sections – Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing. And when you are finally ready, register for one of the 1,100 test locations available across 140 countries.

If you are writing IELTS after a long break

IELTS is a test that gauges a test taker’s English language proficiency, so you will need to really work hard and smart to improve your English language skills. If you happen to take the test after a long gap, then you must know that your language skills may not necessarily improve even by living in an English speaking country. You must schedule study timings, go through good study materials, and practice a lot, to increase your chances of scoring higher band score.

If you are good at productive language skills like Speaking and Writing, it will be easier for you to score better. As per a research on international students, it was found that it is easier to improve receptive skills like Listening and Reading rather than improving productive language skills. So if you are already good at the productive language skills, it will be much easier for you to prepare.

If you have already taken the IELTS test, and looking forward to resit for better score, you will need to prepare thoroughly  and joining an IELTS coaching institute or refresher course to improve your score.

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