IELTS- Many people don’t know about it
There are many aspects of IELTS that surprise people, usually when they hit hard. This is a paradox – information is there, available to all, but people are still in the dark. Allow me to draw your attention to several facts that you would not want to be surprised about.
A comprehensive answer is generally considered the best, but not in IELTS. When the instruction says “Give one answer” or “Answer in 3 words”, it means “Give us two answers or 4 words and we will charge you”. The reason for this limitation is very simple and clear – there is not enough space on the answer sheet for more than 3 words. By the way, the articles “a” and “the” are considered one word, but general notions are not.
People forget that they are selected by the answer sheet and not by what is written in the IELTS booklet. If any correct answer is not copied in the answer sheet then exactly 0 marks will be obtained. There is an option to appeal and ask the book to read your answers, but that takes time and costs money.
Most people don’t think about what they write with a pen or pencil. However, there are rules: listening and reading responses should be written in pencil and writing – in pen. This is another example of how small details can be very important in IELTS.
Writing and speaking are classified differently than listening and reading. There is no half-band grade, which means that a 6.5 cannot be achieved in writing or speaking. The reason for this is currently the way testers are trained, but hopefully, this will change in the future (according to the official IELTS website, probably even in 2007).
Spelling is important in reading and listening tests, which means that points can be lost for misspelled words. The best way to overcome spelling problems is to copy words. It is very easy and natural to copy words from the text while reading. On a hearing test, as easy as it sounds, it’s better to write down what you hear, not repeat it. It is acceptable to omit words – after all, there is a limit of 3 words, as long as the required words are not replaced by their synonyms.
