I scored a BAND 7.0, which is very good, but it could have been easily a BAND 7.5 with little tweaks in the preparation.
Preparation
I started from a B2 English level (Band 6.0) taken 2 years ago. In that time I think my level slightly increased, not to a Band 7.0 level however. Since I gave myself two weeks to prepare, I had to compress several hours of preparation into just a couple of days. The idea is that I could have been more fluent and confident in English if I just studied that for some days.
I mainly used the IELTS Online Tests platform ChatGPT Voice Mode. Specifically
- Reading and Listening: IELTS Online Tests platform
- Writing: IELTS Online + Gemini for corrections
- Speaking: ChatGPT voice mode, uploading past exams and preparing specifically for those.
Another source that was very useful for the speaking preparation is the IELTS Advantage Youtube channel @Ieltsadvantage where you can find several Band 9.0 speaking examples.
Main Mistakes and Result
The exam, in my case, was split into two different days, one for the speaking and the other one for Listening, Reading and Writing. The hardest part is definitely Writing, and it is also the one I achieved the lowest results, a 6.0. Time management is fundamental here: it's a very long task, and you need to write more than 400 words in total.
I made two main mistakes in the writing section
- Not planning enough: I just spent 3 minutes on task 1 and 5 on task 2 deciding the structure of my essay and this led to a bad time management. I spent too much time on task 1 and I had to quite rush task 2, the most valuable.
- Starting from part 1: even though it can sound counter-intuitive, it is better to begin with part 2 essay. In my case, it would have helped me to reach the 250 words in the second part, wich sadly I didn't reach.
Some advice
The first advice is to focus mainly on Writing and Speaking, since those are usually the hardest ones. In the last days I spent too much time on Listening and Reading, but I lacked more on Writing instead. Just focus on what you have most difficulties, and don't take too many tests to feel safe on easier areas (as I did).
Secondly, speak a lot the 2/3 days before the oral exam. You can adjust your tone and flow instead of learning some complex vocabulary (wich is not required) and save lots of time. This is very useful, especially if you don't have much time to dedicate to the test.
Lastly, learn how to complete a task before starting to practice it. For example, I actually looked at strategies for the Writing section the day before the exam, since I focused mainly on practicing for tests. If I had done the opposite, I would have probably probably scored a better result.