ABROADifyBand 8 is a sum of 31.
Four module bands that add up to 31 average 7.75, which rounds to 8.0. Push Listening and Reading to 8.5, hold Writing and Speaking at 7.0+.
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Free IELTS Academic prep
Destination · PhD & Master's abroad
Test in
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days
Listening
8.5–9 · 37+/40
Predict the answer type, track paraphrase, never lose your place. Spelling and plurals decide the top bands.
Reading
8.5–9 · 37+/40
Locate, then read the sentence word by word. Qualifiers decide True / False / Not Given.
Writing
7.0–7.5+
Answer every part of the prompt. Two fully developed ideas. Mostly error-free sentences.
Speaking
7.0–7.5+
Extend answers naturally, speak the full two minutes in Part 2, justify opinions in Part 3.
How to use this site
- Day 1: take a full diagnostic test using an official Cambridge IELTS Academic book (Listening, Reading, Writing in one sitting) and record a Speaking test. Put the scores in the band calculator.
- Follow the 28-day plan, about 2–3 hours a day. Tick each day off; your progress stays in this browser.
- Write and speak every day in the practice tabs. Timers, word counts, cue cards and AI examiner feedback are built in.
- Log every Listening and Reading mistake in the error log. Each Sunday, drill your two most common error types.
Decision ruleIf your diagnostic estimate is 7.0 or higher, four weeks to 8.0 is realistic. At 6.0–6.5, consider moving your test 4–6 weeks later and follow the same plan.
The test at a glance
| Module | Time | Structure |
|---|---|---|
| Listening | ≈30 min | 4 parts, 40 questions, audio played once. Parts 1–2 everyday, Parts 3–4 academic. |
| Reading | 60 min | 3 long passages, 40 questions, no extra transfer time. |
| Writing | 60 min | Task 1: report on a chart/process/map, 150+ words. Task 2: essay, 250+ words, worth double. |
| Speaking | 11–14 min | Part 1 interview, Part 2 two-minute talk from a cue card, Part 3 discussion. |
28-day plan
Daily core (≈45 min): 20 min speaking, 15 min listening + dictation, 10 min vocabulary. Plus the main session below.
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Writing practice
40:00
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Part 2 · Long turn
1:00Prep
One minute to make notes, then speak until the timer ends. Record yourself on your phone and listen back.
Part 3 · Discussion
Transcript feedback
Paste or dictate (phone keyboard microphone works) what you said for the cue card or a Part 3 question. Feedback covers fluency, vocabulary and grammar. Pronunciation can't be judged from text.
Band calculator
Enter correct answers out of 40 for Listening and Reading, and your estimated Writing and Speaking bands. The overall band uses the official rounding: .25 rounds up to .5, .75 rounds up to the next whole band.
Overall
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Example values shown. Raw-score cut-offs are the commonly used approximations from official practice tests and vary slightly between versions.
Listening conversion
Academic Reading conversion
Listening — target 8.5 to 9
Routine for every part
- Read the instructions: note the word limit ("ONE WORD ONLY", "NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER").
- Underline keywords. Names and dates stay the same; idea words will be paraphrased.
- Predict each gap: noun or adjective? singular or plural? number, date, price, name?
- Listen for signposts ("moving on to…", "the second factor…") and for paraphrases of your keywords.
- Write while listening. If you miss one, mark it and move on. Answers come in question order.
The four parts
| Part | Situation | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everyday conversation, form filling | Spelled names, numbers, dates, addresses. Aim 10/10. |
| 2 | Everyday monologue (tour, facility) | Map direction language; corrections. |
| 3 | Students and tutor discussing | Who thinks what; opinions change. The agreed outcome is the answer. |
| 4 | Academic lecture, no break | Less common academic nouns; spelling them correctly. |
Distractors
- Corrections: "Tuesday… actually, make that Thursday." Write the final version.
- Rejected options: "We considered the museum, but it's closed."
- Past vs present: "It used to be in the main building; now it's in the annex."
- Similar numbers: fifTEEN vs FIFty.
Costs top-band marksMisspellings (accommodation, environment, questionnaire, Wednesday), missing plurals, and going over the word limit are all marked wrong.
Drills
- Transcript gap-hunt: after each section, find each answer in the transcript and underline the words that paraphrased the question.
- Dictation, 10 min a day: write 1–2 sentences word for word, compare with the transcript.
- Map language: opposite, adjacent to, at the far end, on the corner of, beyond, just past, clockwise.
Reading — target 8.5 to 9
Timing
Passage 1: 17 min · Passage 2: 20 min · Passage 3: 21 min · Final check: 2 min. Never leave a blank; there is no penalty for guessing.
Locate → compare → decide
- Skim the passage (2–3 min): title, first sentence of each paragraph. Write a 2–3 word note per paragraph.
- Find an anchor in the question (name, date, term) and scan for it or its paraphrase.
- Read the located sentence, plus one before and after, word by word.
- Decide using the logic of the question type, then move on.
True / False / Not Given
| Answer | Means |
|---|---|
| True / Yes | The passage states the same idea, including its qualifiers. |
| False / No | The passage states the opposite or something that makes the statement impossible. |
| Not Given | The topic is there, but the specific claim is neither confirmed nor contradicted. |
Qualifiers decide most answers: all / most / some · always / often · proves / suggests / may · the first / the only · originally / currently. "Proved" vs "suggests" is a different claim.
Common mistakeUsing your own knowledge. If the passage doesn't say it, it's Not Given, even if you know it's true.
Matching headings
- Do this question first for its passage; it builds your paragraph map.
- The heading summarises the whole paragraph, not one detail. Distractor headings repeat a word from the paragraph.
Matching information ("Which paragraph contains…")
- Do it last for that passage. Look for the function asked for: an example of, a reason for, a comparison.
Paraphrase patterns
| Move | Question | Passage |
|---|---|---|
| Synonym | rapid growth | a swift expansion |
| Word form | the economy declined | a decline in economic activity |
| Active ↔ passive | engineers designed it | it was devised by engineers |
| Negative ↔ positive | was not expensive | was relatively affordable |
| General ↔ specific | environmental damage | polluted rivers and lost woodland |
Writing Task 1 — report
Four paragraphs, 170–190 words, 20 minutes
- Introduction: paraphrase what the visual shows (one sentence).
- Overview: the 2–3 main features, no specific numbers. Without it, the score is capped around 5–6.
- Body 1: one group of data with figures and comparisons.
- Body 2: the other group.
Language
- Trends: rose steadily, surged, plateaued, fluctuated, peaked at, overtook, a threefold increase.
- Numbers: just under a third, well over 40%, twice as high as, rose by 10 percentage points to 30%.
- Prepositions: rose to 30% (end point), rose by 10 points (change), stood at 20%, peaked at 50%.
- Process diagrams: passive voice and sequencers (is collected, is then heated, once filtered, finally).
- Maps: was demolished, was replaced by, was converted into, a new road was built.
Don'tGive opinions or reasons. Task 1 reports what the data shows.
Writing Task 2 — essay
Identify the question type
| Type | You must |
|---|---|
| To what extent do you agree? | Take a clear position and keep it to the end. |
| Discuss both views and give your opinion | Develop both views fairly and state your own. |
| Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? | Discuss both and answer "outweigh" directly. |
| Causes / problems and solutions | Answer each question; link solutions to causes. |
| Two direct questions | Answer both roughly equally. Missing one caps the score near 5. |
5-minute plan
- Underline the topic, the angle, and every instruction.
- Write your position in one sentence.
- Pick two main ideas, one per body paragraph.
- For each: explanation → example → consequence.
Structure (270–320 words)
Introduction (paraphrase + thesis) · Body 1 · Body 2 · Conclusion (restate position, no new ideas).
Band 8 habitsDevelop one idea deeply rather than listing several. Use precise, topic-specific collocations rather than rare words. Link ideas with reference words (this trend, such policies) instead of starting every sentence with Moreover. Leave 3 minutes to proofread.
Errors that cap you at 7
| Wrong | Right |
|---|---|
| researches, informations, advices | research, information, advice |
| The number of students have increased. | The number of students has increased. |
| Research is expensive, it needs funding. | Research is expensive, so it needs funding. |
| make a research, discuss about | conduct research, discuss |
| lots of, kids, a big problem | a large number of, children, a serious problem |
Speaking — target 7.5 to 8
| Part | What happens | How to answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Questions on familiar topics, 4–5 min | 2–4 sentences: answer, reason or detail, sometimes an example. |
| 2 | Cue card: 1 min prep, talk up to 2 min | Set the scene → tell the story with one specific moment → feelings and reflection. Keep talking until stopped. |
| 3 | Abstract discussion, 4–5 min | Position → reason → example → nuance ("That said…"). 30–45 seconds each. |
Fluency
- Pausing to think about ideas is fine; long pauses searching for words lower the score.
- Paraphrase around a missing word instead of stopping.
- Correct only errors that change the meaning.
- Prefer natural collocations and phrasal verbs (figure out, keep up with, a steep learning curve) over memorised idioms.
Pronunciation features
- Word stress: deVELopment, CAtegory, phoTOGraphy, ecoNOMic.
- Sentence stress and weak forms: stress content words; "to" → /tə/.
- Chunking: "The main reason | is that most people | can't afford it."
- An accent is not penalised. Being easy to understand is what counts.
Story recyclingPrepare 8–10 flexible stories (an achievement, a difficult decision, a skill you learnt, a helpful person, a place, a piece of technology). Most cue cards can be answered with one of them.
Grammar and vocabulary for Band 8
Structures to use naturally (and accurately)
- Relative clauses: The policy, which was introduced in 2015, has…
- Conditionals: Had the city planned earlier, it would not be facing this now.
- Passives: It is widely believed that…
- Participle clauses: Faced with rising costs, families…
- Concession: Although remote work offers flexibility, …
- Cleft sentences: What concerns me most is…
Topic collocations
- Education: tuition fees, access to higher education, rote learning, vocational training, lifelong learning.
- Technology: automation of routine tasks, data privacy concerns, the digital divide, algorithmic bias.
- Environment: carbon emissions, renewable energy, sustainable development, biodiversity loss.
- Work: job security, work–life balance, the gig economy, brain drain, income inequality.
- Cities: urban sprawl, traffic congestion, affordable housing, public transport infrastructure.
- Research: fundamental research, practical applications, research funding, evidence-based policy.
AvoidForcing rare words. "A plethora of myriad ramifications" sounds unnatural and lowers the vocabulary score.
Test day and if you fall short
- Bring the same ID you registered with. Eat properly: Listening, Reading and Writing run back to back.
- Computer-delivered tests return results faster and allow One Skill Retake: retake a single module within 60 days. Check that your universities accept it.
- An Enquiry on Results is a paid re-mark; the fee is refunded if your band changes.
- Check each university's minimum per module, not just the overall band. Writing is the one that most often falls short.
Error log
Every Listening and Reading mistake gets a reason. Your log stays in this browser.