Free IELTS guides
Practical guides for each IELTS section, then the journal of how this site is built.
Listening
IELTS Listening Map Labelling: A 4-Step Method
How IELTS Listening map and plan labelling works, a 4-step method, the direction language to know, a worked plan with answers, the traps and 5 mistakes.
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IELTS Listening Spelling Rules: Plurals, Numbers, Dates
IELTS Listening spelling and form rules with accepted and refused examples, 30 words often misspelled, number traps, spelled names, a 10-item dictation.
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IELTS Listening Tips: Question Types, Spelling Rules, Traps
IELTS Listening section by section: the 10 question types with examples, spelling and word-limit rules, 20 words often misspelled, 5 traps, the band table.
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IELTS Listening Section 4: How to Follow the Lecture
Why IELTS Listening Section 4 is different, a method for the lecture, signpost language, a worked exercise, and the time budget.
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IELTS Listening Form Completion: A Method for Section 1
Why form completion is IELTS Listening's most common question type, a method to predict each answer, and a worked exercise from two real forms.
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IELTS Reading Summary Completion: A 5-Step Method
A full worked IELTS Reading summary with its 7 real answers, the 5-step method, word-class clues, and the traps that cost marks, built on a real passage.
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True/False/Not Given vs Yes/No/Not Given: The Difference
True/False/Not Given tests facts, Yes/No/Not Given tests the writer's views: comparison table, method, six mini examples, a real question, five mistakes.
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IELTS Reading Matching Headings: A 5-Step Method
A full worked IELTS Reading matching headings exercise with answers, the 5-step method, the traps (spare headings, repeated words), and the time budget.
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IELTS Reading Question Types: True/False/Not Given and More
Every IELTS Reading question type with a method and a real example, False against Not Given, the qualifying words, 20 minutes per passage, 5 mistakes.
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IELTS Reading Matching Information and Features
The difference between IELTS Reading matching information and matching features, with a method for each, a worked exercise, and the time budget.
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IELTS Reading Multiple Choice: How to Spot the Trap Answers
Why IELTS Reading multiple choice costs marks despite looking easy: a 5-step method, the four kinds of wrong answer, and a worked exercise.
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IELTS Writing Task 1 Pie Chart: Vocabulary and Model
How to describe a pie chart in IELTS Writing Task 1: the four-paragraph structure, the language of proportions, a model answer on a real chart, 5 mistakes.
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IELTS Writing Task 1 Process Diagram: Band 7 Sample Answer
What a process diagram asks for, the four-paragraph structure with an overview, a band 7 model answer annotated, sequence and passive verbs, 5 mistakes.
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IELTS Problem Solution Essay: Structure and Band 7 Model
Three wordings of the IELTS problem solution essay, a plan sentence by sentence, a band 7 model on household waste annotated, cause and solution words.
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IELTS Discuss Both Views Essay: Structure and Band 7 Model
Reading the instruction discuss both views and give your opinion, a four-paragraph plan sentence by sentence, a band 7 model essay annotated, 5 mistakes.
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IELTS Band 6 vs Band 7 in Writing: What Actually Changes
Band 6 against band 7 on each Writing criterion: a table, four paragraphs written twice, the error-free sentence rule, the 5 changes that pay most.
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IELTS Writing Task 2 Structure: Band 7 Templates, 4 Types
Four-paragraph IELTS Task 2 structure with word targets, a plan for each of the four essay types, a full band 7 essay annotated, connectors by function.
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Is AI IELTS Scoring Accurate? What the Data Says
What an AI IELTS band can and cannot tell you: how examiners score Writing, how an AI checker scores, what 405 test-takers reported, how to use the band.
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IELTS Speaking Part 3: How to Extend Your Answers
What Part 3 tests, the four-move method to extend an answer, ten real Part 3 questions with model answers, a band 6 and band 7 pair, phrases, 5 mistakes.
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IELTS Speaking Part 2: How to Talk for 2 Minutes
The Part 2 format, the one-minute method with four keywords, a timed structure, two transcribed answers on a real cue card, techniques, 5 mistakes.
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IELTS Speaking Part 1, 2, 3: Cue Cards and Band 7 Answers
IELTS Speaking part by part: the format, 20 Part 1 questions, 20 cue card topics for September 2026, and one Part 2 answer at band 6 and at band 8.
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20 Common IELTS Mistakes by Section, with the Fix
Twenty IELTS mistakes, five per section, each with what it costs and the corrected version next to the faulty one, a Do and Don't table, a checklist.
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30-Day IELTS Study Plan, Band 6 to 7: Week by Week
A 30-day IELTS study plan from around band 6: a day 1 diagnostic, a week-by-week table, all 30 days in a table, the error journal and the last three days.
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IELTS Band Descriptors Explained: Writing, Speaking, 5 to 8
What separates band 5, 6, 7 and 8 on each IELTS Writing and Speaking criterion, the raw score to band tables for Listening and Reading, and how to move up.
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IELTS Score Requirements: Canada, UK, Australia, USA
Minimum IELTS bands for study, immigration and work in Canada, the UK, Australia and the USA, per component, with the CLB table and the official sources.
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IELTS Test Format Explained: Sections, Timing, Test Day
The exact order of the IELTS test: Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking, timing per section, Academic vs General Training, and what test day looks like.
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How this site was built, in the open.
The band I actually got
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A Fifth Full Test in Every Section
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Making sure we grade what you wrote
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Never lose an essay again
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The surprise in my notes: assistants sent me students
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Giving each speaker a different voice
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Putting the exam clock on Listening
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When someone skips a question
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Moving the AI off the browser
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Opening the doors, and keeping them open
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Rewriting the FAQ around proof, not promises
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Starting to measure whether any of this works
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The day a passing test lied to me
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The bug that mattered most: never losing your progress
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The honesty pass: cutting claims I could not stand behind
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Ten bugs, and letting you submit one section at a time
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Teaching a parrot to grade a voice in one day
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