In order to score a high band it is essential that the students should keep in mind a few points. IELTS is a time based exam. Except for the Speaking module, rest of the three modules have a one hour time frame. Students should start preparing for these well in advance so that they are able to manage their time in the exam. Before sitting for the exam student should be aware how much time they should be spending on each question or task.

Besides time management, familiarity with the questions and the ways to handle them is also a key to score good bands. The Reading module has approximately 14 types of questions. Out of which 40 questions based on 3 passages are given to the students to attempt in 60 minutes. Some of these entail tricks also, thus if a student is aiming to get a high band score, he should be able to analyse those tricks and be able to solve it correctly. Do not spend a lot of time on the question which you are not able to solve.

In the Listening module also the types of questions are similar to those in the Reading module, but instead of comprehensions, a tape is played from where the answers have to be picked up. If a good band score is desired, then the students should try not to miss any answer. Make short notes if required rather than trying to memorize the content. Keep reading the questions, if somehow skipped one answer, quickly move on to the next one, without panicking.

For the Writing module also, there are specific types of graphs for task 1 and essay types for task 2. Students can try attempting all these categories in advance. Analyses of the data, overview and the ways to pick up the key features in the graph should be clear so that in the exam student does not get baffled. Students can read about the general topics so that in the exam they do not have to struggle much to come up with the relevant ideas.

For the Speaking module, the only way to get a good band score is practice. Students can try communicating in English in their daily lives so that they are able to develop fluency. To build up a good vocabulary bank also it is essential that the students use those words daily in the Speaking and the Writing attempts. Words can be picked up from the Reading comprehensions or the Listening tapes.

On the whole, practice and effective time management can push a student’s band score from an average one to a good one.