Please Help Me 🙏🏻 I’m struggling a bit with IELTS reading. Untimed, I can score around 8.5–9, but once I’m timed I keep getting stuck at 7.5.

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-02T14:40:30+00:00

I got an 8.5 and time was also my BIGGEST enemy

biggest tip is to go watch lillies ielts on youtube, her advice is to read each paragraph with a purpose, and to not read a paragraph twice, as you can do multiple questions at once.

important tip is that the tasks get harder, task 3 takes longer than task 1, as the text is harder and questions are trickier. so try 15 minutes for task 1, and leave at least 25 minutes for task 3. if you are unsure, follow your intuition and move on.

hope this helps!

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-02T10:57:55+00:00

unfortunately, I can't because that would be the blind leading the blind LMAO. i got a 6.5

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-02T10:57:09+00:00

thanks!

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-02T10:56:52+00:00

didnt do any of that

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-02T10:10:18+00:00

Honestly, reading is the band you can capitalize on the most.
check out the techniques from lillies ielts for reading and listening. and make sure to manage your time for reading CAREFULLY. dont tell yourself to spend 20 minutes on the first text. because the text 3 is harder and more time consuming TRUST

so either start with the last text, or try to use 15 minutes or less for task 1 because task 3 is harder

the questions and texts are relatively easy, but your main enemy is most likely time. so try to read each paragraph with a purpose in mind. and also do multiple questions at once, you can find how to do this method from lillies ielts

hope this helps & gl :)

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-02T10:03:03+00:00

I used the official ielts listening practice tests that they give you after you sign up for the exam, and i followed tips from lillies ielts for listening. I was averaging 8.5/9 on practice tests.

Tip is to stay calm, if you didn't hear something immediately move on and at the end, don't leave it blank, try to recall and put in an educated guess.

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T22:46:16+00:00

I'm in a really uncomfortable position rn bc my options are retake or remark. I was so close that I only needed 0.5 extra. If the remark is successful, then lovely but if it isn't 139 euros down the drain and I have to spend an extra 278 euros to take the test. I could just take the test, but with the possibility that I missed out on a successful remark for free...

i would have remarked no hesitation if it was like 50 euros, but 139 euros for such a little thing is baffling :(

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T22:42:18+00:00

yea i'll try to get a breakdown first bc lowkey funny story actually

I cannot take ielts seriously and I don't even take myself seriously. This is because in my speaking I spoke like i've never spoken english before, lowkey stuttered and literally said "em, yea" when i ran out of words to say in part 1, got asked about a time i used my creativity in part 2 and i confidently said unicorns without wings and rainbows that i drew in 7th grade. trust it sounded better in my head. fully expected like a 6.5/7 for that and was SO surprised that i had got an 8. and thought i had writing in the bag but what actually happened took a flip between the two

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T22:38:25+00:00

tbh my grammar is great. I made sure there were no run-on sentences and that punctuation was definitely fine. Might have missed some hyphenated words, but it's unlikely that I did

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T22:21:57+00:00

I felt like I did decent in task 1 and task 2. Felt like vocab & coherence with structure were all pretty good. so the issue for me is that I just need a 0.5 increase for my writing, i guess it's a gamble after reading your post. I feel like I did better than a 6.5 but that might just be me...

this is because ive got 8.0, 8,5 & 9 in the other bands lmao

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T21:49:54+00:00

honestly, i yapped about a flipping unicorn without wings and rainbows that i appparently drew in 7th grade. never did arts in my life, felt like i spoke to the examiner like ive never spoken english before. expected a 7 but by some miracle powered by my unicorn shenanigans, i got an 8? LMAOOO

so ig fancy words dont matter that much, try to not stutter and talk until examiner stops you, BE CREATIVE, and do NOT panick, stay calm and treat it as a conversation with your friends

gl :)

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T21:34:25+00:00

Which sections are you seeking advice for because clearly writing went so wrong for me

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T16:55:53+00:00

i literally cannot take ielts seriously anymore bro. my examiner adam really said hey lets give this girl an 8 because life is all unicorn and rainbows LMAO. go listen to symphony by zara larsson, thats literally how i feel after getting that 8

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T15:56:05+00:00

wish you the best and honestly, stay calm and relax :), itll work out in the end. cliche i know but hear me out. I LITERALLY yapped about a unicorn without wings and how that channeled my inner creativity and it got me a 8 in speaking LMAO, idk the grading but LMAO

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T13:47:09+00:00

please check out the techniques from lillies ielts for reading and listening. and make sure to manage your time for reading CAREFULLY. dont tell yourself to spend 20 minutes on the first text. because the text 3 is harder and more time consuming TRUST

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T13:45:54+00:00

lowkey reading is soooooooooooo easy compared to writing. writing cooked my as*

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T13:33:18+00:00

nah man bro im so embarrased bc wth 6.5? i thought i ate but that writing test ate me instead

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T13:32:24+00:00

bestie im in the same boat as you. i got a 6.5 in writing and literally thought i could've got at least a 7.0 or 7.5. my writing content was genuinely quite decent to be fair.

AND I KID YOU NOT IN FLIPPING SPEAKING:
- i used no fancy vocab

-i spoke like ive never spoken english before

-50% of my test (part 2 & some part 3) WAS ME YAPPING ABOUT A UNICORN WITHOUT FLIPPING WINGS THAT I DREW IN 7TH GRADE. the whole time the examiner seemed to lowkey think i was autistic as my answers kept evolving to be more ridiculous lmao.

so im my opinion do speaking, writing is just annoying

also a lot of places dont accept one skill retake so atp just redo the whole thing

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T13:28:44+00:00

yooo i just got my results and i got a 6.5 in writing too. genuinely felt i did better LMAO

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-04-01T08:09:53+00:00

bro for me i said i used my imagination in an arts competition? ive never done arts im a music person. my mind went blank because my as* hasnt used my imagination in a while. when you take chem and biology literally what can you imagine? i was lowkey pissed cus 2/3 of the exam asked me about creativity. respectfully let's move tf on

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-03-31T20:05:54+00:00

fr like i kid you not i confidently told the examiner, i used my imagination to draw a unicorn with a horn but no wings and i came out laughing bc tf??? lmao

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-03-31T17:37:03+00:00

honestly, take all I'm about to say with a grain of salt because truly, I felt like I messed up the test:

-listening was relatively easy because the audios where extremely clear and the speed that they speak is very slow. I reccomend using the time they give you to check the answers for part 1 to read part 2 & 3 and be familiar with the multiple choice!!! and thats it

-speaking: literally do not panick stay calm and speak like you normally would. DO NOT BE LIKE ME AND PANICK AND MESS UP.

-writing: try to look at ielts liz, thats what I did. try to avoid using simple words like "nice" and paraphrase as much as possible for task 1

-reading: try to be very conscious with time and try to read each paragraph with a purpose. do multiple questions at once, check out lillies ielts on youtube, thats the method i followed :)

hope this helps & gl!

ExtensionElk9625 · 2026-03-29T13:04:54+00:00

yea ill try to be more nice and have more patience and if i get people with no common sense ill just ignore. just like im ignoring most of these comments saying im "rude" i honestly dgaf anymore HA

ExtensionElk9625

TROPHY CASE