(This post was originally written for my blog on 15th Feb 2017. It was added to my blog by taking permission from the writer. Thank you, Dr. Tanher Zaheer, for allowing me to add your post to this blog)
Hi,
IELTS had been a rough journey for me. I suffered quite a few setbacks in 2016, the year of chronic IELTS failures. Overall, I appeared in 8 IELTS and managed to pass my 7th and 8th IELTS. I was struggling in writing part with a constant 6.5 score every time.
For reading, speaking and listening practice is the sole tool to get the required bands. I got 9 bands in both listening and reading twice, however in speaking I never got more than 7.5.
For writing, I think I can be a best teacher now as I have worked almost a year on this thing. Firstly, you cannot ignore grammar and basics. Work on it as it is the cornerstone of your writing. Secondly, ignore vocabulary, it only matters if you want to get more than 7.5 bands. I have written amazing vocab but had never gotten the required bands. Lastly, the mistake that I was making continuously is coherence. Your essay needs to be in a smooth flow with no abrupt change of ideas.
I will try to write in detail after my PLAB 1 along with my PLAB experience.