Is the IELTS difficult to pass.

Question

Yes and no

If you go by a lot of the information given online or take the advice of teachers who have no real experience with the IELTS, I would have to say it is difficult to pass.

If you go with experienced IELTS teachers like myself, it can actually be much easier to pass. Experienced teachers who are current examiners have inside knowledge and the information to help a student pass the test. The IELTS way is a standardized way of doing things. We expect students to say or write answers a certain way to meet the IELTS standard. There are certain things the examiners are trained to listen for or look for that meet the IELTS criteria,

For example, in the 1st section of the speaking test, most examinees should use the formula

A.

Answer the question.

Do you wear a watch? Yes, I do. No, I don't.

R.

Give a reason.

I wear a watch because I am a very busy person and I like to be on time for my appointment.

E.

Give an example or explanation.

The reason I like to wear a watch is I prefer the convenience of looking at the watch on my wrist. It is less obvious to people am with and it is more convenient because I don't have to take out my phone, turn it on and find the clock function. Besides, I don't want to give the person the wrong impression that I would rather be somewhere else or that there is something more important than the person I am with.

There are better ways to answer the questions that can bring about a higher score.

The A.R.E method is one of them.

Answer 1

When answering questions remember to answer the questions with expanded phrases like the following

because examiners expect the testees to expand their answers to why they said or did something a certain way.

Fluency, Grammar, Vocabulary and Pronunciation are the criteria used for scoring students speaking and writing skills.

Therefore, students need to speak more and the way to do that is to explain their answers.

The reason I ....

I do such-and-such because ....