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What is IELTS?

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) assesses a person’s English fluency. Unlike other English exams there is no pass or fail. Instead students are given a score from 0-9. To give you an idea of the scores, 4.5 would be considered a regular intermediate, 6 a regular upper intermediate and 8.5 an advanced student. Universities in the US and UK usually require a minimum score of 6.5.

What IELTS exams are there?

There are two IELTS exams: General IELTS and Academic IELTS. The Academic exam is designed for participants who wish to study in an English-speaking country.

How long does an IELTS qualification last?

Two years. As IELTS is designed to test a student’s ability to enter a country for work or academic purposes, the qualification expires after a couple of years. After that a person must take another exam to demonstrate their new English level. This makes IELTS different from other Cambridge exams which have no expiry date.

Does IELTS use British or American English?

Neither (and both). It is an international exam, therefore both language systems are accepted. The important thing is that the student doesn’t mix British and American English. For example, if they choose to write with American spelling, any words spelt the British way would be considered an error.

How does IELTS work?

Like other Cambridge exams, students are assessed on four disciplines: Speaking, listening, writing and reading. Students will take the first three parts: Listening, reading and writing, on the same day and the speaking test either later that day or a few days after.

Listening – 30 minutes of audio with 40 questions (all IELTS students take the same test)

Reading – one-hour paper. Three passages with 40 questions. (General and Academic IELTS students will take different papers.)

Writing – one-hour paper. Two tasks. General IELTS must write a letter and an essay. Academic IELTS must write a report based from a chart or map and an essay.

Speaking – 11-14 minutes. A face-to-face interview with an examiner. All IELTS students take the same test.   

For more on the exam format, go to this British Council post here.

Tell me more about the speaking exam

The speaking exam will be the part that students will be most keen to practice with their tutor.

It consists of three parts.

Part 1: The examiner introduces themselves and asks the student general questions on familiar topics such as home, family, work, studies and interests. This section warms the student up in preparation for more complicated tasks ahead.

Part 2: The examiner gives the student a task card which asks them to talk about a particular topic, along with points to include in the talk. The student is then given one minute to prepare and make notes. They must then talk for 1-2 minutes on the topic without interruption. The examiner will then ask one or two questions on the same topic.

Part 3: The examiner then asks further questions which are connected to the topic of Part 2. These questions are designed to give the student an opportunity to discuss more abstract issues and ideas.

How can I help my student understand more about how the exam works?

There is a free British Council course to explain the exam in more depth.  https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/ielts/free-online-courses-understanding-ielts

How do I help my student prepare for IELTS?

IELTS Liz has loads of free listenings, readings and speaking and writing questions to help your students prepare.

Listening practice: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-listening/

Reading practice: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-reading-lessons-information-and-tips/

Writing practice: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-letter-writing-essential-tips/ and https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/

Speaking questions: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-speaking-free-lessons-essential-tips/

What vocabulary topics should I cover with my student?

To prepare your student for the speaking exam, you should go through the common topics discussed in the speaking part and expand your student’s vocabulary on each one.

According to IELTS Liz, the common topics are

• Work
• Study
• Hometown
• Home
• Art
• Birthdays
• Childhood
• Clothes
• Computers
• Daily routine
• Dictionaries
• Family and friends
• Food
• Going out
• Happiness
• Hobbies
• Internet
• Leisure time
• Music
• Neighbours and neighbourhood
• Newspapers, books and reading
• Pets
• Shopping
• Sport
• TV
• Transport
• Weather

You can find lexical sets for most of these topics right here on the Materials Hub. IELTS Up also offers vocabulary for many topics taken from exam answers and so students can see the phrase in context.

Link: https://ielts-up.com/speaking/ielts-speaking-practice.html

How else can my student prepare for the speaking exam?

Videos

Your student would benefit from watching videos of others taking the test. Test videos gives students a good idea of how they should approach questions and what their general level is.

Check out these test videos here.

Podcast

Students can also stay up-to-date with the latest questions asked on the exam with this short podcast produced by All Ears English.

Link: https://www.allearsenglish.com/episodes/ielts/

Mobile app

Finally British Council have produced an app which allows students free tests, grammar tips, exercises and quizzes.  

Link: https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/prepare/free-apps

PDF worksheet for your student

A pdf of all education vocabulary to give to your student once you have taught them the majority of the phrases on this list.

Ability

Intermediate

English speakers use ‘at’ to express their ability for something with ‘‘to be good, bad, terrible, great at something.’

‘I am good at history but terrible at geography.’

Also, there is ‘to find’ + gerund + easy, difficult, hard.

‘She finds singing easy but dancing hard.’

To be a talented + occupation.

‘He is a talented painter.’  ‘She is a talented lawyer.’

Advanced

To nail something – to do a task perfectly in that moment.

‘What do you think of the cake?’ ‘You nailed it. It’s perfect.’

To have the right skill set for something.

‘We should give the contract to them. They have the right skillset for this job.’

To be a piece of cake – saying to say that something is very easy.

‘Don’t worry. Navigating this computer system is a piece of cake.’

It’s not rocket science – another way to say something is very easy.

‘It’s alright, I can check the car tyre pressure. It’s not rocket science!’

Speaking activity

Get your student to use these verbs and expressions to tell you who is the best and worst among their family and friends at these activities.

• Cooking
• Navigating in a place they don’t know
• Fixing computer problems
• ‘Small talk’ – chatting with people they don’t know in social gatherings.

Exams

Intermediate

To pass/ to fail an exam.

To cheat on/in an exam – to ‘copy’ someone in an exam.

‘My cousin got caught cheating in his final year exam and so they failed him.’

To take an exam – to ‘do’ an exam.

To retake an exam – to ‘do’ an exam again because you failed last time.

‘He has to retake his psychology exam in order to pass to the next year.’

To get a result, mark, driver’s licence.

‘Rebecca got her driver’s licence at 18. She finds driving a piece of cake.’

To mark an exam – to ‘correct’ an exam and give it a final score.

‘It takes two weeks to mark all the students’ exam sheets.’

To revise for an exam (UK), to study for an exam (US) – to review and memorise the subject in order to get a good mark in the exam.

Revision (noun).

‘I revised a lot for my French exam and it paid off. I got 85%’

Advanced

To pass an exam with flying colours – a popular phrase to express that someone has passed an exam with very good marks (UK and US).

To ace an exam – a popular phrase to express that someone has passed an exam with very good marks (US).

‘My son passed his finals with flying colours.’ ‘Great! In the USA we also say “he aced his exam.’“‘

To fail an exam miserably – to get terrible marks and fail.

‘How did you do?’ ‘I failed miserably. Let’s go to the pub.’

To scrape by in an exam – to pass with the minimum mark.

‘I hate chemistry. I thought I was going to fail but I just scraped by.’

To get stuck on a problem – when you can’t solve a problem and need help (not, ‘to be blocked on a problem’).

‘We’re stuck on this software problem. We need help from the developer.’

Speaking activity

• Ask the student to tell you about their time as a student at school and university.
• Were they good at exams or did they have to revise a lot?
• Have they ever aced an exam or do they usually scrape by?
• What about cheating in an exam? What were the policies if you got caught?

Subjects and qualifications

Bachelor of Arts (BA) – a linguistic, humanities or artistic degree.

Bachelor of Science (BSc) – a science, maths, engineering or technology degree.

Curriculum – what you will learn from each subject.

A degree – your qualification when you complete a university course.

A Master’s of Arts (MA) – a two year post graduate degree.

A Master’s of Science (MSc) – a two year post graduate degree.

Subjects – the ‘topics’ you take during the course.

Qualifications – the general word for a person’s academic achievements (not ‘titles’).

Matriculation

To apply for a course – to send an application to a university to see if you will be accepted.

Application (noun).

‘I applied to four universities. I was accepted into the course that I wanted and so I have just enrolled.

To enrol – to ‘matriculate’ for a course.

Enrolment (noun).

‘My daughter has just enrolled in a BSc in engineering. Afterwards she might do an MSc.’

Tuition fees – the money you pay to do a course.

‘Fees are going up and up. It’s terrible for young people.’

Out of school education

To train someone – short courses to train someone to do a job (not ‘to form.’)

Training (noun).

Vocational training – education to train someone to do a particular job (often this starts at 16 years’ old).

Speaking activity

Ask your student the following questions:

• If your student were the minister of education, what changes would they make to the education system in their country?
• What are the positives about the current system? what are the negatives?

Picture activity

How many of these stationary objects can your student name? Full pdf download below.

Pdf download

Final thoughts

We hope you enjoy teaching this education vocabulary to your students. What have we missed? Add your vocabulary in the comments section below.