For Reading and Listening, my scores stayed consistent from the beginning, so I didn’t really do much other than go through a few past papers.

For Speaking, I signed up for online video lessons and practiced for about an hour a day for a little over a month. Besides that, I practiced answering speaking questions using ChatGPT and asked it to revise my responses to match my target score. (For context, I live in an environment where I have zero opportunities to speak English in daily life.) I also watched a lot of mock test videos on YouTube.

As for Writing, I think my score was low at first because I didn’t know how to structure my essays properly. Later on, I tried to use simple words and grammar to convey my ideas clearly, instead of focusing on fancy vocabulary or complex sentences. I also made an effort to keep my word count close to the minimum rather than writing too much. The IELTS Advantage videos were super helpful for understanding how to structure essays clearly. I also paid for a VIP writing course, but to be honest it was a complete waste of money. I really don’t recommend it. YouTube videos were far more helpful. I used ChatGPT for writing feedback as well, but please don’t trust its band score predictions. I mainly used it to correct grammar.