IELTS this week

[Guest issy]

hi

i'm an ielts examiner for speaking and writing.

i asked a colleague who marks the reading and listening papers about this. he said if the question is true/false/not given, and you write just 'T' instead of True, etc that would be okay.

but if the question is yes/no/not given and you write true, he said it would be wrong.

thanks for that, at least I know they would have been marked right if they were right!

Are you sure about the 7 being 30/40...?? I asked one of the people who run the ielts here in Leeds and he told me to get a 7 you need to get at least 32/40.....( I hope your right and not him...!) he also said that each reading test is different so sometimes you need a 31, sometimes it's 32...!:mad: Issy.

[hellsbells712]

thanks for that, at least I know they would have been marked right if they were right!

Are you sure about the 7 being 30/40...?? I asked one of the people who run the ielts here in Leeds and he told me to get a 7 you need to get at least 32/40.....( I hope your right and not him...!) he also said that each reading test is different so sometimes you need a 31, sometimes it's 32...!:mad: Issy.

 

 

On the ielts blog website it says for academic reading 30/40 would get you a 7. 29/40 would get you a 6.5. There is a fine line between them. As far as I know academic and general are marked differently depending on the numbers you get right. To get a 7 in general you need to get more right out 40. So thats where the 32/40 might have come from.

If its not 30/40 i wouldn't have got 7.5 in my listening 2nd time round because I had a lapse of concentration and missed some questions, thought I was finished until i realised the tape was still running, turned over the last page and there they were, 10 more questions...... looked around and saw everybody still writing. Holy Mo.......and by this time I had already missed 5 questions and knew I had already got a couple wrong. I wouldn't mind but I got 8.5 in the listening first time.

So good luck. I just scraped through both times on reading. 7 both times.

x Helen

[Guest thelongwait]

thanks for that, at least I know they would have been marked right if they were right!

Are you sure about the 7 being 30/40...?? I asked one of the people who run the ielts here in Leeds and he told me to get a 7 you need to get at least 32/40.....( I hope your right and not him...!) he also said that each reading test is different so sometimes you need a 31, sometimes it's 32...!:mad: Issy.

 

hi,

your information might be more correct if it comes from ielts. my score sheet just came from a fellow ielts teacher and it's very approximate. i have also heard that each reading/listening test is different, and decided each time by the ielts org. good luck anyway!

[Guest issy]

On the ielts blog website it says for academic reading 30/40 would get you a 7. 29/40 would get you a 6.5. There is a fine line between them. As far as I know academic and general are marked differently depending on the numbers you get right. To get a 7 in general you need to get more right out 40. So thats where the 32/40 might have come from.

If its not 30/40 i wouldn't have got 7.5 in my listening 2nd time round because I had a lapse of concentration and missed some questions, thought I was finished until i realised the tape was still running, turned over the last page and there they were, 10 more questions...... looked around and saw everybody still writing. Holy Mo.......and by this time I had already missed 5 questions and knew I had already got a couple wrong. I wouldn't mind but I got 8.5 in the listening first time.

So good luck. I just scraped through both times on reading. 7 both times.

x Helen

Thanks for that info helen,

I just need to try to do some test samples and improve to get about 32 if I can.....so bloody hard though, and boring!!!

Issy:realmad:

[Guest issy]

I am in exactly the same situation as you Issy only difference is my fella is already over in Brisbane!

He has been there for 5 months. I feel I have hit a brick wall too!

This is my 5th attempt awaiting the result this week, which I know will be a 6 or 6.5 in the reading.

 

Has got me really down, going to see my gorgeous fella in 10 days for 3 weeks. We have decided to commence the fiancee visa, nothing is going to keep us apart.

I am a nurse, in fact a sister of a medical admissions unit and covering a medical ward for 3 weeks as acting up ward manager right now. I have never felt so thick doing this exam. Never failed until this!

But I believe there is a huge backlog with APHRA, looking in to applying for a nursing assistant post whilst on the fiancee visa.

 

Oh no that is just so unfair, but don't let it get the better of you, you got have this far now, it's just a matter of points....did you do much work for it between tests? It's hard to study for it as you feel so fustrated about the whole thing, and it's really boring:wacko: you will get there, It took me about 5 attempts to pass my driving test, I'm sure this test will go the same way!!!:wink:

[Guest issy]

Hi all,

I have come to the conclusion that the majority of questions on the reading (academic) test are ambiguous, therefore all the studying in the world won't necessarily gain you the mark you require, it will be down to luck that you put the same answer as the person who wrote the test...!!!

This especially applies to the paragraph matching type (ie match the paragraph to the correct heading...)

Any hints or tips hugely welcome xxx

[hellsbells712]

Hi all,

I have come to the conclusion that the majority of questions on the reading (academic) test are ambiguous, therefore all the studying in the world won't necessarily gain you the mark you require, it will be down to luck that you put the same answer as the person who wrote the test...!!!

This especially applies to the paragraph matching type (ie match the paragraph to the correct heading...)

Any hints or tips hugely welcome xxx

 

 

Hi Issy,

These are some strategies I made for myself. I went through the Peter May book and list strategies for each type of question and kept these like my bible. Read them everywhere I went. Hope they help for you. I've tried downloading my document onto here but can't do it. I'll send you an email with them attached. It might just help you.

 

 

Strategies

MATCHING HEADINGS TO PARAGRAPHS

Look at the list of headings

Read quickly through the text, highlighting the key sentence in each paragraph and summarising the main ideas in your mind

Match the main idea of each paragraph with a heading

THE 1ST SENTENCE OF EACH PARAGRAPH USUALLY EXPRESSES THE KEY POINTS OF THE PARAGRAPH

Highlight these

 

MATCHING WITH PARAGRAPHS

Read the text for gist, focusing on the key sentences, and think about how it is organised.

Study the questions and underline the key words.

Remember that the questions are not in the same order as the text.

 

x Helen:hug:

[Guest issy]

Hi Issy,

These are some strategies I made for myself. I went through the Peter May book and list strategies for each type of question and kept these like my bible. Read them everywhere I went. Hope they help for you. I've tried downloading my document onto here but can't do it. I'll send you an email with them attached. It might just help you.

 

 

Strategies

MATCHING HEADINGS TO PARAGRAPHS

Look at the list of headings

Read quickly through the text, highlighting the key sentence in each paragraph and summarising the main ideas in your mind

Match the main idea of each paragraph with a heading

THE 1ST SENTENCE OF EACH PARAGRAPH USUALLY EXPRESSES THE KEY POINTS OF THE PARAGRAPH

Highlight these

 

MATCHING WITH PARAGRAPHS

Read the text for gist, focusing on the key sentences, and think about how it is organised.

Study the questions and underline the key words.

Remember that the questions are not in the same order as the text.

 

 

x Helen:hug:

Hi helen,

Thanks for your support, have been doing some sample tests, sometimes I get 3 wrong per section, last night I got 4 wrong in one section...my poor husband has been doing them with me and going through our results together, one night he got 7 wrong, (in one section) the next night he got 1 wrong....doesn't seem very consistant!

It does help though when we go through the results together. He thought the questions were ambiguous too, thought that a few of the titles matched a particular paragraph...!!!

I shall keep working on it- I did no work before and got 6.5 twice, so hopefully a bit of work should pay off ...LOL!!

Thanks, Issy :smile: xx

[Guest issy]

Hi Helen,

Just another question, I'm planning to apply for my skills assessment and then apply for my visa (PR 175). At what point should I apply for my nursing reg in Oz?? Should I do it at same time as skills assessment (once I pass dreaded ielts) ....I know there is a huge back log with APHRA, do I need to have skills assessment approved before I can reg with APHRA???:chatterbox:

[Guest kknox]

Hi

 

I did IELTS for first time on Saturday 21st August and thought it was ok now just hoping I get what I need!! Just wondering if anyone else did it on Saturday and if so how do they feel it went??

[Guest issy]

Hi

 

I did IELTS for first time on Saturday 21st August and thought it was ok now just hoping I get what I need!! Just wondering if anyone else did it on Saturday and if so how do they feel it went??

Hi, Glad it went ok for you, was it academic or general training? What scores do you need?:spinny: Good luck with the results, the waiting 2 weeks is awful !!

Issy xx

[Guest kknox]

It was the academic test I need 7 as I'm a nurse already sick of waiting you just want to know now don't you. I get my results the day I go on holiday I hope I pass but it's so hard to think what do they want in the test there was lots of people in the exam that English wasn't there first language and I could see some of them struggling it's a pointless task I think but I need it fir the points as will be applying for 175, have you done it before?

[Guest issy]

It was the academic test I need 7 as I'm a nurse already sick of waiting you just want to know now don't you. I get my results the day I go on holiday I hope I pass but it's so hard to think what do they want in the test there was lots of people in the exam that English wasn't there first language and I could see some of them struggling it's a pointless task I think but I need it fir the points as will be applying for 175, have you done it before?

I've done it twice, first time didn't really prepare, thought it would be ok, got : L8, R6.5, W7.5, S9....did it again in July did a bit of work on the reading thinking I would get a 7, got exactly the same scores.....Doing it again on 4th Sept, I'm trying to do some reading prep but I get stressed as soon as I start reading the text!!! I too am a nurse, requiring 7's in academic, I'm aiming to get my skills assessed then apply for the PR 175 visa and head to sunny Brisbane with my husband a 2 small girls....if I can get past this dreaded ielts... If you read this thread you will see that many people don't get the results they need and some do it 4 and 5 times....alot of people are struggling on the reading and some the writing, the whole thing is ridiculous, we are all professionals, alot who have studied at degree and masters level, English is our first language, we are planning to work in an English speaking courtry....why is there the need to make us sit this pointless and tedious exercise......:arghh:

I know how it feels waiting for the results, when I got my 2nd results I was really gutted, thought I might have scraped a 7 in the reading....Good luck for the results, you might be lucky and get it first time, I hope you are! I did my driving test about 5 times before I passed it so this could be the same for me...!!! LOL:hug:

Issy x

[Guest kknox]

I hope so I prepared a lot because of what everyone on here was saying I'm more stressed now than before I took it. Good luck to you too for the 4th sept. We're going to Brisbane too we'll have to keep each other informed on progress especially with jobs.

 

Good luck xx

[Guest issy]

I hope so I prepared a lot because of what everyone on here was saying I'm more stressed now than before I took it. Good luck to you too for the 4th sept. We're going to Brisbane too we'll have to keep each other informed on progress especially with jobs.

 

Good luck xx

yep, defo....If you have done quite a bit of work for it you should be ok, what preparation work did you do for the reading?? Any hints/tips...?? You don't really need to do anything for the listening, perhaps just listen to the cd once, and definately nothing for the speaking...!! I did a couple of essay practices, but it's pretty straight forward (unlike the reading...!)

I'm a paeds nurse (RGN too) with itu/A&E experience, hoping to get work in the Matter, I have registered with their jobs link, basically they email me when posts are advertised, seems promising. I emailed someone in recruitment there and they mailed me back saying that there would be work for me but to apply nearer the time (like 3-6 months prior to flying out). The Matter is a really big teaching hospital, and I've heard only positive remarks on it. My husband's cousin lives in Brisbane, her husband is from Brisbane, we're hoping they will be able to give us some advice on the area etc.

Issy :chatterbox: xx

[Guest kknox]

For the Reading I just did lots of practice tests. Have some practice books and got some things of the Internet.

I'm a paediatric nurse too so that's good to know you are too, been qualified for 10 yrs and worked full time since the day I qualified and also interested in mater hospital. I have relatives in Brisbane and gold coast so that's why we choose Brisbane never been before looking to visit this time next year and move the year after. I'm 32 married husband is 34 prison officer we have no kids. When are you looking at making the move and have you been before?

[Guest issy]

For the Reading I just did lots of practice tests. Have some practice books and got some things of the Internet.

I'm a paediatric nurse too so that's good to know you are too, been qualified for 10 yrs and worked full time since the day I qualified and also interested in mater hospital. I have relatives in Brisbane and gold coast so that's why we choose Brisbane never been before looking to visit this time next year and move the year after. I'm 32 married husband is 34 prison officer we have no kids. When are you looking at making the move and have you been before?

Great, 2 paeds nurses...!!! There seems to be alot of jobs for paeds not as many paeds nurses as general so that good. I'm qualified about 15 yrs, I'm 38, husband the same, he's a graphic designer, we've never been to Oz before but have done quite alot of research on it, best weather there!!! We are going to make the move as soon as it all slips into place, can't put a date on it as not sure when I will pass the dreaded ielts...not sure how things will take to go through, we have done alot of things, ie sold our house, we are renting at the moment, so I guess as soon as we are ready to go we will. We were hoping for Sept next yr, but we are just going to let things happen in there own time, we are in no major rush, but that sort if time scale would be nice!

Thats great that you are going to visit next year, I'm sure you will love it.:biggrin:

Issy xx

Oh ps, when you were doing the practice reading test, how many were you getting wrong per section, I'm getting about 3 wrong per section, not sure if that would be a 7... :twitcy:

[Guest kknox]

We must keep in touch then as nice to know have someone doing same job as me in same area!!

I was getting about 2-3 in each section wrong but not sure how they mark it and i felt ok doing it but you never know with them how they're marking it. I'll know soon but bet it's the longest 10 days of my life.

Good luck with yours to be honest the week before I barely looked at any practice stuff as no point getting stressed I'm sure I'll be eating my words soon !!! Xx

[Guest issy]

We must keep in touch then as nice to know have someone doing same job as me in same area!!

I was getting about 2-3 in each section wrong but not sure how they mark it and i felt ok doing it but you never know with them how they're marking it. I'll know soon but bet it's the longest 10 days of my life.

Good luck with yours to be honest the week before I barely looked at any practice stuff as no point getting stressed I'm sure I'll be eating my words soon !!! Xx

Thats really good if you were getting 2-3 wrong...sometimes I get 4 wrong then sometimes I get 3 wrong, depends how tired I am when doing the test...I also struggle finding the time to study, I'm either at work or have 2 kids (1 and 4) to entertain all day long, when they finally go to bed at 7pm, I'm nackered and can't be bothered to do any work!!! I must do something tonight as did nothing over the w'end...., it sounds like you were really getting the hang of the reading, so I'm sure you will be fine, fingers crossed xx :wink:

[Guest s4mmy]

You no longer require IELTS if you are a nurse.

It has been revoked from APHRA on 18/6/10

[Guest kknox]

I need the 25 points towards 175 visa thanks though

[Guest s4mmy]

oh gutted sorry about that!

 

Best of luck

[Guest issy]

You no longer require IELTS if you are a nurse.

It has been revoked from APHRA on 18/6/10

Do you need it to get your skills assessed, and what about 175 visa...???:wubclub:

[Guest kknox]

I think if you apply for skills first you need ielts but if register with aphra then skills test you don't need it, either way I do it I need the points for visa which is a shame. But maybe something you could look at xx

[Guest issy]

I need the 25 points towards 175 visa thanks though

I'm not sure what you mean about 25 points for the visa.....don't you need it as part of your skills assessment which you need approving before you can even apply for the 175...???