• Australia
• New Zealand
• The United Kingdom
• South Africa
• Canada

The IELTS Test is quite different from other English language tests available. The testing philosophy behind a number of English tests is to show what people know about English rather than show what they can do in English. The assumption is, for instance, that if people know a lot about grammar and have a good vocabulary, they must be able to use English well. Of course, this is not necessarily the case. Many students are extremely good at grammar and have a good range of vocabulary, but they are not very good at communication in the language.

Unlike may tests, the IELTS Test does not have grammar questions or questions specifically on vocabulary. Instead, the IELTS Test has a number of 'tasks' with specific objectives. In the test, your goal is to achieve the objective. This means that you answer questions about a dialogue or a monologue that you listen to. You have to read a number of texts and answer questions based on the text. You will have to write essays and you will have to speak to a native English speaker. As you can see, the IELTS Test is very much a test of what you can do in English, rather than what you know.

• Remember to read the instructions carefully. The instructions will tell you where to find the answers, what you need to do, what kind of answer is required, and how many words you need to write. The instructions will also tell you if an option can be used more than once, and will remind you to transfer your answers to your Answer Sheet.
• Remember that the questions for certain task types follow the order of information in the reading passage.
• Remember to read all the questions very carefully.
• Practise scanning for key words in the extracts or the reading passage that match the items. You can also practise scanning for paraphrases of key words.
• Remember that in most tasks which involve writing words or numbers, e.g. Short-answer Questions, the answers have to be grammatically correct and spelt correctly. Accuracy in spelling and word form are very important and you will be penalised for incorrect spelling.
• Use the information provided in the notes, tables, diagrams or flow-charts, as well as any examples, to predict the type of information that is required.
• In classroom activities, discuss the type of information you need for each task type you might meet in the test.
• Underline key words and phrases when you read as well as paying attention to key words in the questions.
• Practise using synonyms, summary words etc. to help you locate information.
• Practise different ways of expressing the same ideas or information in a text.
• Practise reading skills such as skimming and scanning for information.
• Some students are convinced that only test practice will really help them, and want to do test after test. This can be discouraging, as they do not see the rapid progress they would like. You should read widely, e.g. newspapers, journals, magazines and books, and use materials from these sources when preparing for the test.
• Be aware of the different text types and how best to approach them. Practise the full range of IELTS Academic Reading task types. Take time in class to discuss the differences between task types and the skills that are being tested.
• You should make sure that you understand that there is more than one way to read a text. Some students believe that they must read every text slowly and carefully, underlining every unknown word and stopping to worry about it. You should remember that your main aim is to locate the answers to the questions. You do not need to read in the same way you would if you needed to memorise something. You should try not to worry too much about the presence of unknown words, and you should also practise guessing meaning from context. Try not to look up every unknown word in the dictionary.
• Make sure that you read the instructions carefully in every case: many task types contain variations, and it is easy for you to confuse them if you do not check carefully what it is you are required to do.
• You should remain conscious of time limits during the test, and you should move on rather than spending too much time on a particular question to which you are unable to find the answer.
• Be aware of the dangers of relying on locating the exact words in the text that you find in a question: practise using paraphrases and locating paraphrase in a text.
• In task types where the information is located in order in the text, remember you don’t need to go back to the beginning of the text for each question.
• Take care when you need to copy a word or words from the text onto your Answer Sheet. Copying incorrectly will lead to loss of marks.
• Make sure that you get some practice in using an Answer Sheet.