[IELTS] Advice on re-mark

[Haychel]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum, but I really need some advice on IELTS test.

 

I'm sure a lot of you are like me, struggling with the IELTS test, especially with the writing category. Here are my results from the various tests that I have took in the course of last year:

 

(07DEC13) L 9 R 8.5 W 6.5 S 7.5

(12APR14) L 8 R 9 W 7 S 8.5

(12JUL14) L 9 R 8.5 W 7 S 7.5

 

I need 8 in all category to maximize my chance of gaining permanent residency through Skilled Migration, so I really need to strengthen my skills in writing and speaking, more to the former category. I have tried seeking help from local friends and coworkers and they usually think that I am a local Australian to begin with, judging by my writing and speaking skills. I have practiced numerous speaking topics with them and I have also requested to have them mark my essays for Writing Task 2, both of which always return positive results, that I should have received a better result than a band 7.

 

Recently, after practicing more on these two categories with them, I have given the test another try and here is the preview of my results:

 

(6SEP14) L 9 R 8.5 W 7 S 8

 

Again, I seem to face this impassable hurdle for the writing task. However, I am really confident about my performance this time. I pretty much made sure that I use a lot of advanced vocabulary accurately, some of which my local friends haven't even heard of (e.g. "Apropos of"). I am also pretty certain that I didn't make a lot of errors.

 

Do you reckon I should lodge for a re-mark? I have researched a bit that when some categories have discrepancies of 2 bands, they would have been looked through by two examiners already. Would it be worth it to gamble for a one-band increase?

 

Or, do you think I'm better off trying my "luck" again on another test, but also risking having the same [or even lower] results?

[cherries002]

Its very frustrating when you are only a point away and I feel your disappointment. I too needed 8 in each section on the academic to gain the extra points, I struggled with the reading section each time. Try ielts-simon.com you can pick some useful tips from here and keep on using the online resources that ielts provide free (well, part of the £140 that is!!)

 

Have you booked your next one or are you still undecided on whether to get it remarked, I think maybe if it was 7.5 I would give it a go but not sure about gambling for an extra point.... saying that, I dont know if others have been successful in remarking??

 

Good luck and I hope you get your scores soon xx

[InNeedOfSun]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum, but I really need some advice on IELTS test.

 

I'm sure a lot of you are like me, struggling with the IELTS test, especially with the writing category. Here are my results from the various tests that I have took in the course of last year:

 

(07DEC13) L 9 R 8.5 W 6.5 S 7.5

(12APR14) L 8 R 9 W 7 S 8.5

(12JUL14) L 9 R 8.5 W 7 S 7.5

 

I need 8 in all category to maximize my chance of gaining permanent residency through Skilled Migration, so I really need to strengthen my skills in writing and speaking, more to the former category. I have tried seeking help from local friends and coworkers and they usually think that I am a local Australian to begin with, judging by my writing and speaking skills. I have practiced numerous speaking topics with them and I have also requested to have them mark my essays for Writing Task 2, both of which always return positive results, that I should have received a better result than a band 7.

 

Recently, after practicing more on these two categories with them, I have given the test another try and here is the preview of my results:

 

(6SEP14) L 9 R 8.5 W 7 S 8

 

Again, I seem to face this impassable hurdle for the writing task. However, I am really confident about my performance this time. I pretty much made sure that I use a lot of advanced vocabulary accurately, some of which my local friends haven't even heard of (e.g. "Apropos of"). I am also pretty certain that I didn't make a lot of errors.

 

Do you reckon I should lodge for a re-mark? I have researched a bit that when some categories have discrepancies of 2 bands, they would have been looked through by two examiners already. Would it be worth it to gamble for a one-band increase?

 

Or, do you think I'm better off trying my "luck" again on another test, but also risking having the same [or even lower] results?

 

Hi Haychel,

 

I feel your pain!

 

I also needed 8's in all sections to get 20 points. My writing was always letting me down, I felt like giving up. I was convinced I had done more than enough to get the marks but it wasn't to be. I also thought about applying for a remark, but due to the cost and time, I decided to resit again. I decided to leave in 4 months until the resit and practiced, practiced and more practicing. I bought Kindle books on sample questions and answers, used http://www.ieltsbuddy.com and wrote at least 1 essay a week. I practised my timing, I always spent 10 -15 minutes to begin with to plan and 5 ins at the end to read over and count the words, this also helped with my confidence. I didn't bother too much about advanced vocabulary, I bothered more about answering the question, giving my opinion with examples, structure and writing enough words. I sat it again last month and got an 8.5, 4th time lucky!

 

My advice would be to not lose hope, practice and resit, dont bother with a re-mark. Also, as of November 2014 TOEFL can be used instead of IELTS. It may be worth looking at that option.

 

Good Luck and all the best,

 

Paul

[Haychel]

Its very frustrating when you are only a point away and I feel your disappointment. I too needed 8 in each section on the academic to gain the extra points, I struggled with the reading section each time. Try ielts-simon.com you can pick some useful tips from here and keep on using the online resources that ielts provide free (well, part of the £140 that is!!)

 

Have you booked your next one or are you still undecided on whether to get it remarked, I think maybe if it was 7.5 I would give it a go but not sure about gambling for an extra point.... saying that, I dont know if others have been successful in remarking??

 

Good luck and I hope you get your scores soon xx

 

Thanks, I have indeed used some of the materials on ielts-simon.com, and also a lot more that I could gather from other websites, but it seems they didn't help me that much, which is unfortunate... :-/

 

I have booked for my next one yet because my financial ability is rather limiting at the moment, which is then again a problem with IELTS test, that it is not cheap at all. I do think after all the practices and the constant conscience of not making errors should at least earn me a 0.5 band increase though. So yeah, it is such a let down to know that it has not improved even for a bit. That's also why I'm sitting on the fence when it comes to whether I should apply for a remark...

 

I really appreciate your opinion though. I learn that you have achieved all 8. Do you have any tips regarding writing that you have picked up through your attempts? It might be helpful to others who read the posts as well.

[Haychel]

Hi Haychel,

 

I feel your pain!

 

I also needed 8's in all sections to get 20 points. My writing was always letting me down, I felt like giving up. I was convinced I had done more than enough to get the marks but it wasn't to be. I also thought about applying for a remark, but due to the cost and time, I decided to resit again. I decided to leave in 4 months until the resit and practiced, practiced and more practicing. I bought Kindle books on sample questions and answers, used http://www.ieltsbuddy.com and wrote at least 1 essay a week. I practised my timing, I always spent 10 -15 minutes to begin with to plan and 5 ins at the end to read over and count the words, this also helped with my confidence. I didn't bother too much about advanced vocabulary, I bothered more about answering the question, giving my opinion with examples, structure and writing enough words. I sat it again last month and got an 8.5, 4th time lucky!

 

My advice would be to not lose hope, practice and resit, dont bother with a re-mark. Also, as of November 2014 TOEFL can be used instead of IELTS. It may be worth looking at that option.

 

Good Luck and all the best,

 

Paul

 

Thanks for your opinion and congratulations on your success!

 

Yeah, I tried that a lot too! I found planning before writing the actual essay to be immensely useful! I would definitely practice more if I need to resit. The grade this time actually caught me off-guard, too. It's mainly because I did my plan thoroughly, had time to structure and got around like 10-15 minutes to proofread for mistakes. Unfortunately, it's still a disappointing 7.

 

I don't know, it is definitely very disheartening and I'm on the brink of giving up too... I think I'll just wait for the final result to be posted here, which should be next Monday, and I'll see what I will do.

[Pumpkin]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum, but I really need some advice on IELTS test.

 

I'm sure a lot of you are like me, struggling with the IELTS test, especially with the writing category. Here are my results from the various tests that I have took in the course of last year:

 

(07DEC13) L 9 R 8.5 W 6.5 S 7.5

(12APR14) L 8 R 9 W 7 S 8.5

(12JUL14) L 9 R 8.5 W 7 S 7.5

 

I need 8 in all category to maximize my chance of gaining permanent residency through Skilled Migration, so I really need to strengthen my skills in writing and speaking, more to the former category. I have tried seeking help from local friends and coworkers and they usually think that I am a local Australian to begin with, judging by my writing and speaking skills. I have practiced numerous speaking topics with them and I have also requested to have them mark my essays for Writing Task 2, both of which always return positive results, that I should have received a better result than a band 7.

 

Recently, after practicing more on these two categories with them, I have given the test another try and here is the preview of my results:

 

(6SEP14) L 9 R 8.5 W 7 S 8

 

Again, I seem to face this impassable hurdle for the writing task. However, I am really confident about my performance this time. I pretty much made sure that I use a lot of advanced vocabulary accurately, some of which my local friends haven't even heard of (e.g. "Apropos of"). I am also pretty certain that I didn't make a lot of errors.

 

Do you reckon I should lodge for a re-mark? I have researched a bit that when some categories have discrepancies of 2 bands, they would have been looked through by two examiners already. Would it be worth it to gamble for a one-band increase?

 

Or, do you think I'm better off trying my "luck" again on another test, but also risking having the same [or even lower] results?

 

You could try for a remark but I don't know if it would go up a whole point, mainly I have seen half a point increases.

 

My tip, stop trying to use advanced vocabulary, keep it simple. No I don't know what "Apropos of" means either and I might think you have made a mistake. I think your English is quite good, but I can tell you are not a native speaker at times and advanced vocabulary is not going to sound natural.

 

Good luck.

[jac2011]

I was going to say, I can tell you are not a native speaker, in your writing there are a few instances where things dont quite fit, even though I can tell what you are saying. Is it possible to get one of your Australian friends to correct your grammar for you?

[MikeG]

Hi, Just thought I'd give you some glimmer of hope with regards to having your score re-marked. I sat my IELTS 19.04.16 and scored: S8.5 R8.5 L8.0 W6.5. All I needed was 7's in all, so I called the test centre to have my writing re-marked. They spent approx. 25 to 30 minutes on the phone trying with all their might to talk me out having it done. They used all sorts of tactics saying "it's already been marked twice, your best resitting" blaa blaa blaa... Anyway the writing was re-submitted and the excruciating wait started.

I was still chasing them yesterday morning as they said "Head office in England are running slow at the minute" I was just about to pay for another test on the 25th June when I was sent an email. My mark had been changed to 7.0. Pheeeeeeew. I was the happiest guy in the world.

 

So.. Yes, ask for it to be re-marked. All you have to loose is 9 weeks of your life and £60 if unsuccessful. I'll be receiving my cheque and my new certificate this week.

Hope this helps.