samsky Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I need some advice i feel as though im already 6 months behind on my application process as i was advised to sit my ielts as i will be a SOL visa applicant. I done it by the book and sat a pre assesment test to see what skills i could work on were i took their advice and practiced where possible sat the test at a cost of £150 and apparently have come out with an overall result of 7.5 as most of you know 8 is the minimum requirement. I flunked on reading and writing ive never been great at either of these dont get me wrong im not a retard but english reading and writing have never been my strong point im litterally in a state now i feel as though im going to be a prisnor in my own country because of my level of writing. I cant afford to keep sitting test after test on the off chance i get that extra 0.5 which is pretty much the only option i see. Can anybody give me advice on what i can do Ironic thing is got a 9 on speaking and 8 on listening and thought i totally flunked on both. Any pointers heads up or advise would be great its soo disheartening to basically be told you arent smart enough to live in an english speaking country when you were born in the motherland of english language Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toNjus Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Do you need the ielts for your visa. There is another option Pearson Test. It's not the overall score you need its 8 in each one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainC Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I need some advice i feel as though im already 6 months behind on my application process as i was advised to sit my ielts as i will be a SOL visa applicant. I done it by the book and sat a pre assesment test to see what skills i could work on were i took their advice and practiced where possible sat the test at a cost of £150 and apparently have come out with an overall result of 7.5 as most of you know 8 is the minimum requirement. I flunked on reading and writing ive never been great at either of these dont get me wrong im not a retard but english reading and writing have never been my strong point im litterally in a state now i feel as though im going to be a prisnor in my own country because of my level of writing. I cant afford to keep sitting test after test on the off chance i get that extra 0.5 which is pretty much the only option i see. Can anybody give me advice on what i can do Ironic thing is got a 9 on speaking and 8 on listening and thought i totally flunked on both. Any pointers heads up or advise would be great its soo disheartening to basically be told you arent smart enough to live in an english speaking country when you were born in the motherland of english language Do you know that if you're a British citizen you don't need an English test for the visa? You only need it to claim extra points to make your points up to 60. If you can make 60 without those extra points then you can apply. If not, then I'd recommend PTE (Pearson Testing of English). It's not an easier exam, but many people think that it is fairer than the archaic IELTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjenky Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Hi, I didn't ever sit the IELTS, I sat the PTE Academic but obviously cannot compare the 2. I had seen so many people on here fall short on the IELTS I thought I would give PTE a go. I'm glad I did I scored superior with 20 points. I would say if you have a decent grasp of the English language you shouldn't have much problem with the PTE. I downloaded practice material on line which is a good idea, just so you know what to expect and the format of the test so you are not caught unawares on the day. Its all computer based too which appealed to me. Its cheaper than IELTS too I believe. If you put in plenty of practice 9I did a couple of weeks practice on an evening0 you should breeze it. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsky Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 Well I have been told by a gentle called Paul at the emigration group that I need a score of 8 when going through the skilled occupation list as an electrician. Must say I felt this was a test of my seriousness however I am now as I said in a predicament that I feel my only option is to resit and resit until the stars align and I chance upon an score of 8 as an average. My current score is Speaking -9 Listening -8 Reading-7 Writing-6.5 To say the least I'm furious I work in a hospital and this is where people who are in charge of our health and wellbeing have the most appalling grasp of English and they are also subject to the same test that I have just sat. I will look into the other options I think the added frustration arises from finding out at the weekend and having to wait until 9am Monday to see what options are available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainC Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Well I have been told by a gentle called Paul at the emigration group that I need a score of 8 when going through the skilled occupation list as an electrician. Must say I felt this was a test of my seriousness however I am now as I said in a predicament that I feel my only option is to resit and resit until the stars align and I chance upon an score of 8 as an average.My current score is Speaking -9 Listening -8 Reading-7 Writing-6.5 To say the least I'm furious I work in a hospital and this is where people who are in charge of our health and wellbeing have the most appalling grasp of English and they are also subject to the same test that I have just sat. I will look into the other options I think the added frustration arises from finding out at the weekend and having to wait until 9am Monday to see what options are available. You definitely do not need an IELTS for the skills assessment, nor do you 'need' one for the visa as long as you hold a British Citizen passport. But as I said in my previous post you may only need the test to top up your points. I understand your predicament. You mention the poor English standards in the hospital you work at. This is the very reason why the English test is required in Australia, to prevent substandard levels of English among its skilled work force. Australia makes allowances for applicants who have UK, Ireland, USA, and Canadian passports, but apart from that everyone has to do an English test. In the interest of fairness to all applicants of all nationalities, they will offer points to people who gain a certain score in an approved English test. A lot of English speakers take the test to top up their points or to make the required minimum points score. Some do it on the first try, others take several attempts, it's just what we have to do, to get the visa. If you feel so strongly about it, or feel that you can't get the required score, then you must consider another way to get the points you need. Maybe by getting more years of experience that you can claim. Obviously this has a downside, as you will get older and may reach a point where you lose points for that. Other than that, I'm afraid you may have to just study hard and try again. To give you some perspective, I studied probably 60 hours, over a three week period and I got 9/9/9/7.5 on my first try, so I missed out on 10 points by half a mark. I was really disappointed in myself, but luckily I had enough points to get through based on that. What is your current points breakdown? And how old are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainC Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Also, you mention in your first post that you need to gain 0.5 mark. Based on your scores breakdown, you actually need to improve by 1 mark in reading and 1.5 in writing. You need minimum of 8 in each section, not just overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsky Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 Well there will be a follow up post to this once I have spoken to ielts and the visa company just gonna have to sit tight but appreciate the input sounds promising just hope it is applicable to my circumstances Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsky Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 Will say being under 30 skilled occupation and native British I'm sure my points were high enough but was told I still needed an ielts average of 8 to qualify Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainC Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Well there will be a follow up post to this once I have spoken to ielts and the visa company just gonna have to sit tight but appreciate the input sounds promising just hope it is applicable to my circumstances If I were you I'd forget about IELTS and take the PTE test instead. PTE is much fairer, and the results take 24-48 hours to come back, not two weeks like with IELTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainC Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Will say being under 30 skilled occupation and native British I'm sure my points were high enough but was told I still needed an ielts average of 8 to qualify If you provide your points breakdown and your age I might be able to offer some help, otherwise it's very difficult to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamffc Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I need some advice i feel as though im already 6 months behind on my application process as i was advised to sit my ielts as i will be a SOL visa applicant. I done it by the book and sat a pre assesment test to see what skills i could work on were i took their advice and practiced where possible sat the test at a cost of £150 and apparently have come out with an overall result of 7.5 as most of you know 8 is the minimum requirement. I flunked on reading and writing ive never been great at either of these dont get me wrong im not a retard but english reading and writing have never been my strong point im litterally in a state now i feel as though im going to be a prisnor in my own country because of my level of writing. I cant afford to keep sitting test after test on the off chance i get that extra 0.5 which is pretty much the only option i see. Can anybody give me advice on what i can do Ironic thing is got a 9 on speaking and 8 on listening and thought i totally flunked on both. Any pointers heads up or advise would be great its soo disheartening to basically be told you arent smart enough to live in an english speaking country when you were born in the motherland of english language Sorry to be blunt but I can't say I'm too suprised. Maybe a few lessons would be a good idea? I agree completely with your last point though, it's hardly as if every Australian citizen speaks the queen's English! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.