bell123321

Hi

I would not say one is easier then the other.  My OH kept failing PTE on speaking and then took IELTS and passed first time.  However everybody is different and your husband may find the format of say PTE easier then IELTS. 

My oh is in the process for the skills assessment just waiting on technical interview. He also isn't claiming work experience his just short of 3 years but he still had to submit all the payslips, contracts, qualifications etc etc 

My Oh did PTE twice and scored very low on the speaking element both times so he took the Ielts and scored a 9 first attempt and 8s in the other 3 elements. He loved the idea of PTE but found IELTS easier.

I think a lot depends on what occupation you have.

My OH had this request last week. He spoke to his manager and asked if he could go in voluntary to record himself prepping food/cooking food etc (his going under cook). His manager was fine with that but not during his shift. Good luck 

Congratulations :-)

I always wonder if it was actually safer or if people were less aware due to social Internet presence. I used to walk to school by myself around 10 years. At my daughters school (uk) they say from year 5 (age 9-10) upwards are allowed with written concent. Though as we are a 30 min walk I am not happy with my daughter walking to school by herself. She's currently 10. Maybe at 11 I would be up for discussing the idea. I think high school age is a good age. I can understand why 12 though I would have it from first year of high school.

I have a friend who 10 years ago flew to Vancover and travelled on an organised bus through the rocky etc. She did a month long trip and loved every minute of it. If you want I can find out what company she used.

I thought it was two years but sure someone will confirm for sure.

It varies. My partner took PTE twice but failed badly on the speaking. His since taken ielts and got the results we need. First time he waited 9 days for the pte result, second time he had his results in 2 days. Fingers crossed for the 7s this time for you both.

My husband tree pte twice and couldn't pass. He particularly struggled with the speaking element as I lot was on how well you can interpret graphs etc. His native English and didn't even get 10 points. After advice on here he took ielts and scored 8.5 and 9s on all elements on his first attempt. On both tests he got books and studied. I guess it's completely down to the individual on which suits you best.

Maggie is right I was sleep deprived when writing my response and wrote it the wrong way around.

IELtS academic PTE general in most cases, (in our experience)

I'd like to thank @Kirstyj and @supercow for suggesting the other half try ielts after failing badly on the speaking on Pte. He got his result today on ielts and scored 9, 8, 8.5, 8.5 so thank you for your suggestion super happy he did much better on the ielts.

Just say we feel your pain. Oh has taken Pte 3 times and failed speaking all times whilst scoring fine in the other 3 sections. A week ago he tried ielts for the first time. We are awaiting on the results though he felt it went well. Time will tell. He also went to the London test centre did not think about going to another one, though could help if quieter esp for speaking.

I've down Dubai to Auckland which I think was about 16 and a half hours. I would differently do this! When can I book tickets lol! On my return leg from Dubai I found it stressful with the extra security and plane previously taking off an hour and a half late I nearly missed my connection and was informed if I didn't sprint to the gate I would be staying over in Dubai on my own overnight (travelling along). This was stressful and I'd rather stay on the plane and not change.

Indeed, as someone who is currently on the bones of their backside and relying on handouts cheap primark/kmart clothes for my child would be a godsend!! Snobbery at it's best here.

my daughter lives in primark and Sainsbury's clothes (normally when Sainsbury's have 25% off sale). If I had money to burn I do like next clothing (always have a look when they have a sale on) I still have some from 10 years ago. But needs most and Sainsbury's seem decent quality and with primark if it lasts 6 months I'm happy at their prices.

I completely relate to freelorder relatives we have had my husbands brother stay for months in the past and not pay a penny. When we visit other family in Australia we always offer to go half on the food shopping. When we have stayed at my friends we often whilst she's out working go to Woolworths or coles and buy dinner in and cook her a dinner as a surprise. We also buy gifts to say thank you. E.g. My friend on my last visit I got her a $100 shopping voucher, a DVD she wanted, flowers, chocolates and some uggs she wanted. Maybe we could have paid out more such as petrol when family take us out but when offered they like to pay for some things. so i can relate to your frustration.

in regards to the clothes if you don't like them could you either a: give them to a charity, or b: sell them and buy 1 item for your little one and say it's from her family? With clothes even if not to our taste it's the thought that counts. A bit like when at Christmas someone buys you a shower gel set that you really don't need lol thought that matters even if it's then donated.

So sorry to hear about your scores. We are in exactly the same situation. Husband smashes all parts apart from speaking where his scoring between 40-60. We have taken the text several times and his struggling on describe the graph. His arguement is it's not his speaking being marked but his analytical skills. We have booked him in flr

december to take ielts, though if he doesn't score high enough I'm not sure what else to do as we can't keep taking this test over and over again. Though we need the extra points. Becoming stressful now. Good luck for the future.

I went last year for my birthday and going again this year. I would say it's good entertainment for 2-4 hours and there is plenty to see. There are employees who will tell you about the different exhibition sections eg we had one who told us how they made all the fake snow. We didn't eat there and the photos are expensive if you want one (£10 a photo when I went) but if the adults and kids have seen all the movies I think it's a good half a day out.

Thank you both. His originally from Yorkshire, when I first meet him his accent was strong but it's a lot more tame then it used to be as his lived south east now for 10 years. We have just booked him on ielts to see if he can score better on the speaking face to face instead of PC test. It's frustrating as he scores so well in the other 3 elements on the PTE and it was his second attempt. Fingers crossed for December!

So frustrating. Husband re-took his PTE, again failed on speaking even after doing loads of practice, watching youtube videos, reading books etc. He scored 80s in all other sections, how can we get his speaking up :-( He keeps scoring in the 50s when his English born, no idea what to do to bring his speaking score up.

We are in the exact same shoes my husband did not do well in speaking but fine in the others. I downloaded an app that records voices and recorded him when he was unaware. It appears his very quiet so maybe that was the issue and his speaking isn't as crisp as it may need to be.

Sorry I can't help any other way, his got his second test next Monday so fingers crossed for a better result. Good luck. Will follow this thread with interest.

Not what you want to hear but I retrained got a degree and was working towards me post education experience. I was literally a few months off the amount of experience I needed to submit for the EOI/visa and they took my job off both skills list. Luckily I enjoyed my job but otherwise I would have been more gutted then I already was. Fast forward 5 years and my husband has re-trained as a chef/cook so hopefully second time lucky.

Good luck but whatever you pick ensure your enjoy the job too.

I don't know the answer hopefully someone who does will comment soon. However I would have thought if you now applied for a tourist visa it would look dodgy as if your not a genuine tourist due to you applying for a WHV so it may get rejected? Fingers crossed you get your grant very soon.