(This post was originally published on 13th Feb 2017. It was added to my blog by taking permission from the writer. Thank you, Dr. Bilal Afzal, for allowing me to add your post to this blog)
I decided to give IELTS two years ago, during my House Job. At that time I had only heard of British Council. I grew up watching tons of English movies, plus I was a regular viewer of many famous seasons. So naturally I was confident that I would nail the test because my English was good. I didn’t think of joining any academy and applied straight away. I bought all IELTS series numbering 1 to 10 but read only one of them. Anyhow, the day of test came and to my dismay it was quite difficult for me because I hadn’t practiced. I secured overall 7, with 6 in writing. I was disappointed with my performance.
I decided to apply again by British Council. This time I joined an academy but again as I was busy in my House Job, I didn’t study much and I gave exam by just studying for another 2 weeks. And my score improved only slightly with overall 7.5, with lowest again in writing, 6.5.
I knew then that writing was my main obstacle in passing IELTS. Anyway, I did not apply again for 6 months, untill my House Job was over. This time, I was free. After trying British Council twice I opted for AEO exam. Also I practiced alot this time at home. Youtube IELTS videos were my main source of study aid. I also completed all IELTS Cambrige series numbering 1 to 10. With no House Job, I concentrated only on my IELTS exam. This time by the grace of god I got 8.5 in both listening and reading and 7.5 in speaking and 7 in writing, with 8 overall. The thing which I improved in this attempt was I wrote plenty of essays on my own, that too keeping the stopwatch on to be able to finish in time.
So the moral of the story is if you decide to appear in any exam, no mater how easy you think it is, you still need your full concentration and attention. And you have to give time to preparation. Then In Sha ALLah, with God’s help, and your hard work, you can achieve anything.
I passed my IELTS in June 2015.
