How to Improve your reading score from 6.5 to 9 in IELTS?
- Maddy
- May 14, 2020
- 3 min read
“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.”
–Ralph Marston
Introduction
We talked about IELTS before. So today we will get more specific about reading task in this exam. As a result of that, I asked one of my friends, Parham , to tell us how did he manage to get band 9 in the reading module of IELTS , so let's dive in.
When it comes to studying abroad, IELTS is one of the challenges that you face.
At the beginning of my preparation I was struggling with the reading task. After getting 6.5 I decided to change my studying method which helped me to achieve 9 at the end.
In this post I will talk about some of the tips that I used.
1. Read books
Reading books helps you to not only read faster but also understand the concept better even if you’re not familiar with some words.
I personally started from Harry Potter books. I really liked the story, so remember to start with something that you enjoy reading because it helps you to remember new words, and keeps you motivated.
2. Time management
You have to complete the reading task with 3 passages in 60 minutes, and there are 40 questions split between all 3. Generally speaking, passages get harder as you go along, and you may need to allocate more time for later articles.
Do as many past papers as you can and make sure you time each of them strictly. Remember to score each of your papers and continue doing the same one, to see what would you get if you had more time.
3. Questions first
First, get yourself familiar with questions because then you know what to look for in the passage. My technique was to underline key words in questions so I could identify them much more easily when I was reading the article.
4. Read the whole article
You might have heard about skim reading. Well let me tell you, I did not find it useful, because I believe by skim reading you skip many important points. You will end up reading the same paragraph again, and lose time. So read and understand the whole article once and buy yourself more time.
5. Underlining technique
For this one you should be creative. As you will be provided by only a pencil, use different shapes to underline different categories of words (names, years, etc.). This made it much easier for me to go back to questions and recall what was underlined, while reading the passage.
6. Mind the challenging parts (matching heading questions, choosing title)
These sections, matching heading and choosing title, were by far the most challenging parts. So my advice to you is when you are going through these type of questions have the other questions also in your mind, and answer them while thinking about these challenging parts.
7. Practice
Let me spoil it for you, you need to practice to get a good grade. So just grab your electronic device and download yourself some past papers. You can also use the following link as a resource.
Conclusion
Reading is by far one of the most challenging sections in IELTS. It requires practice and determination to achieve high score. It is worth mentioning that, if you are thinking about enrolling in A level course, take your IELTS exam before applying to university, or ask universities when is it their deadline for IELTS .
Personally I applied for medicine, and I got rejected from one of my choices straight away as I didn’t have my IELTS score, even though the deadline for IELTS is usually just before starting the university.
Ultimately, don’t forget IELTS is challenging and you may take it few times to get your desired score. So, take a deep breath and don’t give up.
XOXO
Parham and Maddy
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