logo
Courses Blog Login

How to check your level of IELTS preparation for listening and reading?

Going abroad after taking an international English exam has become an Indian trend these days. A lot of students are taking the IELTS exam intending to achieve higher bands for better opportunities overseas. The exam consists of four modules (Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking). Additionally, out of four modules, the IELTS reading and listening sections are the lengthier sections comprising 40 questions each so students have to prepare themselves hard enough to attain at least 38 or above for their overall good scores. They can even apply for IELTS training online and make the most of their time in good preparation.

Achieving 8 or higher bands in the IELTS exam becomes child’s play if you are aware of the essential tips and tricks for each module especially IELTS listening and reading where chances seem to be more than the other two modules.

Make sure that you level up your reading skills before taking the exam.

  • You must practice reading books, novels, and newspaper articles to gain considerable knowledge and test your reading speed. With this, you can improve your grammar and vocabulary too. Over time, thus, you will be able to grab the plot of any passage in less time and with a good understanding.
  • Usually, in the IELTS reading test, you do not have to read the entire passages but if your reading skills are strong, you can “skim and scan” the shorter passages and easily target certain keywords or keyword phrases in your passage after familiarising yourself with your reading questions. It saves you time that you may use in other sections.
  • Do you know a habit of reading strengthens your knowledge of English? Especially the synonyms and antonyms. If you keep yourself updated with this knowledge then you will find yourself closer to getting 8 or more bands since the passages contain phrases or words that are similar to your targetted keywords in the questions.
  • Furthermore, you must practice different types of IELTS reading questions to soar your familiarity with them. Keep in mind, the exam is more challenging as you move from the first passage to the third reading passage. Most test takers find “Yes/No/Not Given type” Questions very difficult especially when the answer is “NOT GIVEN” despite the given instruction which says “if there is no mention of something, it is “NOT GIVEN.”
Therefore, the only way to get excellent IELTS scores is to practice mock tests every day. You can also prepare through IELTS preparation books to familiarise yourself with all the concepts.
After that, if you feel that you are fully prepared for your exam then test yourself through free online IELTS practice tests and check your scores each time you give the test. If the reading scores are the same throughout, suppose, 7 or 8 in the three consecutive tests then you are going to score the same in your official test too.
Now let’s move on to the IELTS listening module which, likewise, the reading module, consists of 40 questions. So you are required to score 38 or more out of 40 to achieve good bands by and large.
In the IELTS listening section too, you should follow some tips to get top-notch bands. IELTS Listening requires multitasking which means you are going to listen and pen down the answers (as per the question demands) at the same time. IELTS listening questions check your ability to understand the usual meaning and detail and speakers’ attitudes and views.


To ace the exam with 8 or above bands, you need to brush up your listening skills in the following ways:

  • Take out at least 20 minutes from your routine and spend in listening to English news, movies, songs, etc.
  • Try to interpret the basic idea of what you are listening to and start writing a summary on your own. Try to catch their accent as much as possible to avoid any nervousness and confusion in understanding any term.
  • You must paraphrase what you listen to in small segments. You can record your voice and listen back again to check if you err somewhere.
  • You must ensure that you write down vocabulary words that you hear and find their meanings, antonyms and synonyms, and pronunciation later on for your knowledge. Since many questions contain synonyms or similar phrases, working on paraphrasing and increasing vocabulary is of utmost importance.

After following all the above tips, you can test yourself:
Watch an English movie and see if you can grab the actual plot. Also, start describing the movie to yourself for a minimum of 3-4 minutes to strengthen your understanding and accent in English.

Next, you can listen to an English song and try matching the lyrics by singing it at the same time. It will show you if you can catch the accent and words used and to what extent.

Practice listening to English conversations or inspirational speeches online. With this, you will see how quickly you pick up and understand the English tone, the subject being talked over, and the phrases used. Bear in mind, you have to practice this without turning on the subtitles for your improvement.

Having that followed will buck you up before your exam. Also, you must practice through IELTS online testing system where you can also get to check your scores. Remember, you must take the IELTS practice exam thrice and mark your listening scores each time. If you score band 7 consecutively in your practice tests, you will pursue the same in your official listening test as well. If your scores are variable each time, you need to give more time to your listening practice. But Don’t panic. You can eventually see the difference after giving a couple of practice tests, or you may seek IELTS online course for the best IELTS exam preparation.

Also read: Tips And Tricks To Solve Fill-Ups In IELTS Reading

Final Thoughts

To conclude, if you are determined to score well in the IELTS exam in one go, you need to work your fingers to the bone. You might have heard that “Rome was not built in a day”, so making practice tests a significant part of your routine can get you something remarkable in the end. Also, you will see yourself loving the language more since you will engage with the language more during your practice sessions. By and large, READING and LISTENING are the two high-scoring sections so polish both skills before appearing for IELTS. By doing so, you will be in the vicinity of scoring 8 or above bands. For any IELTS-related help, you may contact Dr. Roma, a well-known English maestro for helping students achieve no less than 7 bands.