How to achieve your target band score in IELTS

There are many purposes to take the IELTS test, for some the reason may be to migrate to another country, for others it may be for admission to a foreign university for study abroad. Whatever the reason, there will be a definite score range one has to achieve to meet the objective.

The idea of a ‘good score’ in your IELTS exam is therefore subjective and depends on the objective of giving the exam.

Score requirements

Score requirements for the IELTS exam usually indicate a minimum score in all the components. There are four components in the IELTS- Reading, Writing, Listening and, Speaking. You will get a separate score for all the four sections which will be between 0 and 9 and their average will be your overall band score.  According to the IDP, which is one of the publishers of the IELTS explains how the average score is calculated.

“The Overall Band Score is the average of the four component scores, rounded to the nearest whole or half band. The component scores are weighted equally. If the average of the four components ends in .25, the Overall Band Score is rounded up to the next half band, and if it ends in .75, the Overall Band Score is rounded up to the next whole band. If the average ends with a fraction below .25 or .75, the overall score is rounded down.”

So, it works out like this, for instance, if you get your scores as reading 6.0, listening 6.5, writing 5.5 and speaking 6.5, the total is 24.5. If you divide this by four you will get 6.125. That means your band score will be 6.0.

Target score

To get your target score, you will need to perform well in all the sections of the exam. For this it is important to know both your strong and weak areas for you to assess how much you can score in each section.

Ways to Improve your score

One way to improve your score is to do a lot of practice tests. The more familiar you are to the test environment, the less stress you'll experience. Try simulating test conditions by sitting and timing yourself in a quiet room. Ideally, do this with friends who take IELTS too to make the situation even more realistic.

Make sure you understand well in advance what the exam will expect of you. You really have to become familiar with the question types and task types. The first time on test day, if you see an unfamiliar task, it is guaranteed to raise your stress levels.

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