Early on this year, I already had plans to take the IELTS - I even bought a full set of reviewers in March but it went untouched till early November :( Kakaiba ang katam! I did not even book my exam yet until I saw Nurse Even's youtube channel (on OSCE) in October and spontaneously booked mine the following month.
Tip #1 on prepping for a goal: Surprise yourself with deadlines HEHEHEHEHE
Since my test date in CPC back in 2015 was November 21st, I decided on the same for my IELTS exam for extra luck. Booked a pen and paper Academic test initially but changed to GT at the last minute.
After booking the test, I dawdled with work and webnovels until I suddenly realized that it was already November! I still had to:
- Change my module to General;
- It's been 9 years since my last IELTS exam and there might be new changes. Haven't started reviewing yet for LRW sections nor prepping for the speaking test (Iba ang confidence!)
- Was there a dress code? What should I bring?
- I should've scheduled it earlier because my school mandated me to take an extra English assessment test (for free thank you Lord) to process my LOA. Good thing I scored high :) pero extra tense moment there!
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| LRW Test at Park Rotana, Nov 21st |
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| School English Assessment Test, Nov 25th (Toronto time) |
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| Speaking Test, Nov 27th |
With all these thoughts swirling in my head almost giving me a second panic attack (char), I started to act systematically to minimize the pressure I was feeling.
- Change my module to General - I emailed British Council for revision and they responded 3 days before my actual test date. Good thing they had extra papers for the GT so I didn't have to reschedule :)
- It's been 9 years since my last IELTS exam and there might be new changes. Haven't started reviewing yet for LRW sections nor prepping for the speaking test - Started reviewing in coffee shops round Muroor & Al Wahda Mall kasi I can't review at home (ended up sleeping most of the time). Focused on writing & reading comprehension mostly though.
- Listening - I did 4 sample tests back to back with Crack IELTS with Rob's Youtube channel and whenever I got stuck on a question, I googled my mistakes and how to improve it. My target timing per question improved per test, so I was able to finish both Listening & Reading tests at least 20 minutes before schedule.
- Reading - practiced my reading comprehension with my IELTS reviewer. Brushed up on my skimming & context clue skills as well to improve my timings per question.
- Speaking - watched a few Youtube videos on my target Band 8-9 tests and timed my responses within 2 minutes. Read up on additional vocab tips on FB and IG as well.
- Writing - did a few exercises on my IELTS reviewer while making sure that all my exercises reached the word limit for both Test 1 & Test 2.
- Was there a dress code? What should I bring? - Dress up in casual, comfortable and in my case, conservative attire. I brought a cardigan as well in case I get cold. I even saw some wearing slippers as in Islander levels so there's no actual dress code. On the speaking test I was dressed more formally so I won't feel self-conscious. We were mandated to take the exam with a mask throughout and were only allowed a pen, pencil, eraser and our registered IDs on the table. For me, I used only a pencil for my LRW tests.
So without further ado, here are my scores:
Even if I did not go to a review center, I wanted to set a personal goal of 9 per section so in case I fell short, it would hopefully be within 7.5-8 (too bad for writing). At least I know where to improve on next time :)
EXTRA: I have this tradition where I go to Church to have all my stuff blessed right before a major exam or event (back in Manila, I always go to Mount Carmel in Quezon City and offer eggs and prayers). Good thing that St. Joseph's Church was now open, though all churchgoers need to socially distance inside (only 2 per pew with 1 empty row in between) and been registered beforehand. Since I can't exactly go up to the presiding priest, I just brought my pencils, erasers & sharpener and placed it in front of me all throughout the mass.
Also, since I took the pen and paper test kasi #oldskul, my exam results were released exactly 13 calendar days after the LRW section (my speaking was moved to November 27th), on the eve of December 4th. Got the hard copy 4 days later via Emirates Post. If you will be taking the computer-based one, I think around 3-5 or 5-7 calendar days you'll be able to get your provisional scores already.
If you're taking yours soon, best of luck and God Bless!
