Recent Exam Questions

Please share your recent exam questions here.

• Writing and speaking questions are more useful
• Don't worry about listening and reading

It might help other students if you put the country and city.

Thanks for sharing!

Comments

[Mona]

yesterday my speaking exam was (((Melbourne-Australia))
- in part 1:
about my name & where is my home town & describe your home town &
using email instead of hand writing
-part 2:
describe place u visited with a lot of noise:
why u went there - with who - when -do u liked it
- part 3:
about noise pollution & solve this issue

[Jay]

On 22/01/11 Australia
I got speaking topic.....
Part 1.
Name, What yo doing?, More questions on my qualification....like why u like it? What will future scope? How important for you this course?
Part 2:
Describe a latest news you watched...
What was the news?
Who involved?
What happened and why it was interesting for you?
Part 3:
About media and technology...

[huecam]

My Speaking Test on Monday 7/02/11 (Melbourne, Australia)

Part1.

-Introducing and telling my hometown?
-what do you like to do in your free time?
-How does your free time important to you and will it change in the future?
-Do you like dancing?
-What and where was your last time to dance?

Part2;

-Describe one of Practical Skill that you learned (ex: cooking, driving).
- How was it?
- How difficult it was?
- Why and where you toke it?

Part3;

-Do you think Practical Skill is important? Why?
-What do you think about learning a Practical skill without a teacher?
-What are the differences of learning skill now a day and the past?
-What you do think about Skill and Fact?
-Does skill necessary for working place?
-Who should response for the fee to learning a skill? Employer or Employee?
- And some more questions related to skill which i can't remember...

Cheers...

[Sara]

Thanks every body for sharing your questions. Please, could you share us the writing task? :)
Cheers

[saeed]

task 2
It has been said that an individual behaviour in anti-social way, such as commiting a crime, society in general is to blame.
What causes anti-social behaviour?
Who shoud be resposnsibile to deal with it?
AUSTRALIA

[Gi]

I just came back from my IELTS exam. The speaking and writing topics were:

SPEAKING

PART 1

- Introduce yourself.
- What do you do? Are you a student?
- Which sports you used to play when you were a kid?
- There is any distinction between sports for boys and girls in your country?

PART 2
- Describe a television quiz show that you would like to participate.
- What's the name?
- How would you prepare yourself for that?
- Are those quiz shows famous in your country?

PART 3

- Are you a competitive person?
- Do you find competition in your work?
- What do you think about being a competitive person? Pros and Cons?
- Do you think that to be competitive is part of the human being?

WRITING

TASK 2

-To rise standards of living in a country can cause problems in cities and rural areas. Talk about those problems and sugget solutions.

( Simon, I wasn't sure about what should I write on that, I followed your advice and I structured my text with an introduction, a paragraph about the problem, a paragraph with solutions and a conclusion. Everything was so fast, that i didn't have time to check. I'm not sure if the problem I gave is a real problem, hahha.. I would like to see you answer this one if it's possible.)

Thanks for all your help, and good luck for everyone.

Ps- Just something that I found out while doing the exam. As I'm use to writing my essays in the computer, I had a hard time writing it on paper. Believe me, I should have practice that before because everything is so fast that you don't have time to make any mistakes. I hope this helps!

[Elena]

SPEAKING

task 2
examiner: let's talk about museums -
do you like to go to museums?
when did you go to a museum last time? tell about it.
(by the way, this particular question i had been ask twice - in different exams)

task 3

Noise. Discribe the noisiest place that you have ever been to or experienced. Do you think there should be laws to control law?
Then I have been asked about noise pollution.

another exam task 3: Legislation
Introduce the new law for a existing appropriate problem that a country or a place need (something like this)Then my discussion went to laws, lawers and so on....

[Elena]

WRITING
TASK 2

Tourism develops the country but it can also cause harm.
How does the country ensure that tourism benefits its development.

[QAOPS]

Ielts 12 of feb 2011 Writing topics

(Not exact words but)

Task 1 :

You have purchased a expensive item from a shop recently.You have found the item damaged when unpacked the delivery.

Write a letter to the manager of shop, in your letter you have to mention

1. what was the item
2. What was the damaged
3. what actions do you expect from the manager of shop

Task 2:

Most people these days believes,that, travelling abroad is a great experience for younger generation. But others think, it is a waste of time and money.

Discuss the opinions and mention your point of view with suitabel example.

[Azamat]

12.02.11 Kazakhstan, Atyrau
Writing Task 1 was about change in island.Before there was not almost nothing, after there so many touristic buildings.Describe changes in island.
Task 2:
About advantages and disadvantages of working outside home
Comment: Task 1: i was surprised when saw it such task, because i haven't prepared to this kind of task enough. And there is no direction south,etc. I did it in 25 min
Task 2: it was normal task,quite easy.But some of my friends thought about working outside the country.at first,i thought so however then i understood.Be careful and be ready for every kind of TASK!

[Tabriz]

exam date June 2010 Azerbaijan , Baku

SPEAKING: APPROXIMATELY
PART 1
ARE YOU STUDYING OR WORKING ?
HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FIRST GO TO UNIVERSITY ?
WHO DOES COOK IN YOUR HOME ?
DO YOU THINK TAHT YOU WILL COOK IN THE FUTURE ? :))
PART 2
WHAT IS THE THING THAT YOU HAVE BOUGHT BUT HAVE NOT USED ?
HOW YOU BOUGHT IT ?
FROM WHOM YOU BOUGHT IT ?
WHY YOU DIDN'T USE IT ?
PART 3
CAN YOU SAY SEVERAL THINGS THAT CAN BE RECYCLED ?
ACTUALLY I WASN'T SURE MYSHELT TAHT I WILL ABLE TO SPEAK . BUT I GOT 6.5 FROM THIS SPEAKING PART

WRITING
SIMPLE PAY CHART DESCIBING PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS IN FOUR COUNTRIES IN FOUR PAY CHART

SECOND PART IS THAT
WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TO CHILDREN' LEARING DIFFERENT LANGUAGES IN THEIR EARLY AGES ?
I GOT 6 FROM WRITING

[Simon]

Hi Gi,

Have a look at the lesson below. It's similar to your topic about city problems.

http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2010/11/ielts-writing-task-2-city-problems.html

Simon

[Nazri]

Dear Simon,

I think I sat for the same exam as Elena's and our Writing Task 2 is rather ambiguous, don't you think?
The question: "Tourism develops the country but it can also cause harm.
How does the country ensure that tourism benefits its development".
Many candidates said that the instruction is not direct. Should we discuss how tourism benefits development? Should we discuss the possible harm and suggest measures? Your opinion is appreciated, Simon.

Writing Task 1: 4 pie charts that compare the distribution of water use across 3 sectors; Agriculture, Industry and Domestic for 4 countries; Egypt, Saudi Arabia, NZ and Canada.

The listening went really fast and it was quite difficult because some answers were mentioned when you are still writing the previous one.

The reading is also quite lengthy and the choices for NOT GIVEN and NO can be confusing at times.

The speaking part was rather long but very friendly

1. How do you organise your time?
2. What tools do you use to help you organise?
3. When was the last time you give a friend or a family member a gift?
4. Do you think it is easy to find a gift for friends and families?
5. What kind of gift you would like to have?
6. Describe a place near river/lake/sea that you visited when you were a child. Where is the place? Who did you go there with? What did you do there? Why you like/dislike the place?
7. Would you like to go there again?
8. What do you think are the functions of rivers nowadays?
9. What do you think of boats and ships as transportation?
10. Why people live near river/lake or sea?

[Elena]

Yes, the same. I suprised many people here are from Melbourne, Australia...)

[Simon]

Hi Nazri and Elena,

I agree that the task 2 question seems to be written in an unusual way.

Personally, (for the main body of the essay) I'd write a paragraph about the potential harm that tourism could cause. Then I'd write another paragraph about how the negatives can be avoided and/or how countries can make sure they benefit from tourism.

Hope this helps

[Elmin]

Hi. I wanna shre exam questions which I've taken on 17th of february (Azerbaijan, Baku)

Reading:
-Tatoos in micronesia
-hot summer in 2003
- asian technology (satallites)

Writing : chart describing, materials used for packaging in 3 different areas (USA,Japan, Europe)

task 2: Some people think that government should provide care and financial support for people who retired while other believe that it's responsibility of each person. discuss both options and state your own opinion

[aguino]

Some people believe that creative arts like painting and music, should have financial suport from the goverment. other argues that creative arts should get financial support from other sources. discuss both views and state your opinion.

[Sara]

IELTS test on 14/03/1432 "yesterday" in Riyadh

Writing task 1:
It is a chart about the consumption of three materials (aluminum, plastic, glass, ?) in USA, Japan and EU in 2002.

Task 2:
Some people believe that a government's responsibility should provide care and financial support for people after they retire. Other said that people should help themselves.
Do you agree or disagree, and what is your opinion?

Speaking:
Part 1:
What is your home town?
What is your city famous for?
Do you meet new people?
Did you study a history of your home town when you were a child and why?

Part 2:
Describe something naughty you did when you were a child.
What is it? Why you do that? I'm not sure but I think tell a story about it?
Why do you remember this?

Part 3:
Generally, it is about children and parents ( behavior, bad behavior of children now and in the past" compare, how parent can displine there children, should children do what parent say,…….

ـــــــــــ
Hi Simon, could you please do a lesson about how we can aske questions, as I am srtugle with that somtimes.

Thanks,

[Simon]

Hi Sara

The good news is that you don't have to ask questions in any part of the IELTS test!

[Sara]

:) I konw, but I need to learn how to do a good question without any gramtical mistake, for dail coounication.

Cheers

[Simon]

Hi Sara,

Yes, that's true, but I'm afraid that 'question practice' is outside the scope of this website. You really need to find a "general English" website or teacher to help with that kind of thing.

[Telmo Costa]

Hi all,

My IELTS test was as follow:

Writing task 1

A figure showing 5 materials used in Japan, Europe and USA for packaging.

Writing task 2

To discuss and give our personal opinion about governments' responsability to care and to financially support people after the retiring age, or if people should save while working.

Speaking p1

general questions about me and my town, and what was my town famous for.

Speaking p2

to describe an ability that I was good at: what ability, where did I learn it,...(can't remember,sorry)

Speaking p3

how can a teacher help a student that does not have particular abilities.

What is the big influence for a child to develop a certain ability.

Do you think is easy for adults to learn.

This is what I remember from my test at Portugal. This was a backup test as i wasn't so confident to achieve a good result in my previous test. In my opinion, the test was similar to my first test, and fairly easy. I have to admit that this website was an excelent medium to achieve the results I wanted, L-6.5 R-6.5 W-6.5 S-8.5, overall 7 enough to apply to almost any university for my masters degree.

Thanks Simon, I hope people find this contribution useful, as I found your website very valuably to study.

good luck for everyone, never give up.

[Kim]

IELTS (Acadamic) HCMC, Vietnam
19 FEB

Writing task 1:
line graph with 3 line about CD seeling

Writing task 2:

some people believe that women should play an equal role to men in contry's police force or millitary force, such as army. Others don't believe so.

Discuss two ieads and what is your opinion

[K]

19-20/02/2011 Japan

Hello Simon,
your blogs really helped. I thank for it
by posting these Qs.

Writing tasks were exactly same as above(in Vietnum.)

Speaking:
part1:About my home town
-Describe it
-Have you learned the historical aspect of your town?
-On what your town is famous for?

About dancing(!);
-Where did you see many people were dancing last time?
-Have you ever learned dancing?

part2:Describe outdoor activites you like
-What it is
-Where you do it
-How often you do it

part3:
-What are the popular outdoor activities in your country?
-Which do you think the outdoor activities more popular, in the younger generation or the older generation?
-How is the outdoor environment changing?

I could have some ideas about the dancing topic thanks for the blog.

Cheers for everyone, K

[Simon]

Thanks for sharing guys. I'm glad the blog was useful for some of your questions.

Simon

[Sara]

Hi every one,
Is there any body take the exame today?

Thanks in advance,

[Azamat]

Hi Simon! Thank you for all! I got band which i wanted. I used some of your phrases and got 6 in writing(i expected 5.5 or even 5)
Regards from Kazakhstan
Azamat

[simona]

Hey are there anybody who takes exam on 10th march ?

[Simon]

Well done Azamat. I'm glad my phrases helped!

[Priya]

Hi all,

I took the exam today in Australia. Here is a synopsis:

Writing:

Task 1

We were shown two plans of a location called Mendow where some changes have taken place for building an international sports centre. The first diagram showed what the place looked like in the year 2000 and the second picture depicted what it looks like now. It also had some future plans listed to be completed in 2015. The task was to compare the two and list any significant changes that have taken place.

Task 2

Countries should produce all the food that is required to feed its population and import as little as possible. Discuss this statement showing whether you agree or disagree with it.

Speaking Module:

Tell me about your hometown?

When in school did you study much historical information about your hometown?

My cue card question was:
Talk about a place where you usually like to eat lunch. Speak about
1. What the place looks like?
2. Who do you generally eat with?
3. What kind of food is served there?

What do you think a restaurant can do to market itself?

Would you recommend this place (the place I talked about in the cue card question) to me? Why?

How do you think kids can be educated about eating healthy?

Do you think food cooked at home is healthier than the food we eat outside? Why?

What kind of food is considered healthy in your country?

These were the questions but not necessarily in this order. The examiner was very friendly and even had a chat with me after he turned the recorder off :p haha

Will update you all about my results. Good luck!

[shameen]

IELTS Academic Exam on 26th Feb'2011 (UK)

1.Listening
section 1:Library information
Section 2:Museum tour
Section 3:student teacher about assignment
section 4:Oak land Farmland scientific research

2.Reading: 1.origin of fruits and vegetables
2.Tidal Power
3.Collapsing Society
3.Writing:

Task 1: graph shows the average working hours of workers in the year 1998-2004.and table show the number of paid holiday in the same period of time

Task 2: Quality of life in big cities is becoming worse.Give the cause and measure that you think should take to solve it.

Speaking:
Part 1:
1.why do I choose my subject of study?
2.how my country will get benefit from it?
3.How many Language I know?
How and when was I 1st started to learn in english?
4.How ofetn I practiced english?
5.how do I spend my day time?which part I like?why?
6. What The thing I dont like in my daily activities?

Part 2 : Cue Card: Favourite Friend:
When meet?why she/he favourite? How do you communicate with him?How she influenced me?

Part 3: 1.What quality one friend must have?
2.Is it hard to make friend ship?
3.How people can become friend?is age can be a barrier?why?

[Ann]

Hi Guys
I took the exam yesterday in Sydney, Australia.

Writing Task 1
You found a small bag which contains name and address of the bag owner. Write letter to he/she in the letter

- Describe where you found the bag
- What is in the bag
- How do you return the bag

Writing Task 2
The modern invention brings many disadvantage to society, do you agree or disagree?

Speaking test, I did it very bad, because it asked me about environment in the part 2. The question asked me like what you should do to protect our environment . I have no idea about environment but I just realize after I finished the speaking test that why why why why why why I don’t talk about recycling. I am so dumb.

Part 3, still asked me about wildlife environment but regarding wildlife. The question was about wildlife in my country and Australia and many questions about environment.

That’s it. Game over…..

[Shirin]

Hi dear friends,

I just came back from the test center in Canada, it was not that tough for me. The listening was a bit hard, mostly in the second part that she was explaining on the map and third part that was multi choice which was tricky.
The writing was about the importance of history and different argument on if it is important. the first writing was a bar chart about the amount of money that 5 different countries spent on health via public or private sectors.
speaking is different for every person...for example, my test was different from the next person that went to the same room. My topics was about my profession and how important is to love your career and why ....
and the second part about one of my close friends and how we started our relationship and ....
the third part was about friendship and different questions on technology effects on relationships....
finding friends via internet, playing game via internet.....
Unfortunately, they asked about OCEANIC SCIENCE from one of my friends in second part which she didn't know anything about it and she became embarrassed.
Thank you very much Simon...your website is really useful and I learnt so much from it.I couldn't find such a huge useful information in any book.The information on the website helped me to be so confident. It is really appreciated.

Good Luck every one

[Simon]

Thanks for sharing guys.

[Sara]

Hi,
please, if anyone took the IELTS exame on 26/02/11,could you write the speaking questions?

Cheers

[CAPTAIN BEAR]

VIET NAM,
Feb 26th 2011

Part 1:
Where is your hometown?

Have you learned about the history of your hometown at schools?

How often do you write letters or email?

What is your daily routine?

Do you want to change your daily routine?

What is your favorite time of a day?

What is the time when you work best?

Part 2:
Describe a job which you want to try.
- what this job is
- where you can do this job
- what skills which you have to learn
- why you want to try this job

Part 3
What do you think about the relationships between colleagues at work?

Do schools and universities train their students well with skills for their jobs in your country?

What are the skills that universities or schools train for their students in your country?

Do you think whether students should go to universities or work immediately after leaving schools?

[Rustam Affendi Abu Rahim]

Dear Simon,

I will be taking IELTS at British Councill of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 19 March 2011.

I am considered myself as ZERO and i will working hard by doing alot of self-study via net.

Anyone can join me as a group communication study at 012.616.9380 or my email - ianketam at hot M and just com.

I am so nervous.

cheers,

Rustam Affendi Abu Rahim

[Veronika]

I'm taking it on this Saturday, in Kiev,so nervous too.=/

[rajan]

hey ...anybody got exam tomorrow? i have exam tomorrow in nepal

[simona]

hey I have exam next week in NORWAY
if somebody would like to have a study partner U are welcome to find me on Skyp by name Anakarde1
Or email me kodel89@inbox.lt
we could have chat for practising and share reading texts

[Shirin]

Hi Sarah,
I took the exam on 26th, you can find my topic in this page. Go back for 8-9 comments.
Good Luck

[rose]

Hi Simon,
Just had my IELTS test(academic)today.For writing task 1,there were three pie charts (Chile,Argentina and Mexico).The pie charts show how these 3 countries distribute their exports in different regions in 2004.Summarize the diagram and compare when necessary.
For task 2,it's about mobile phones and internet.How can this technology be useful to the elderly? What are the suggestions that you can give to encourage the elderly to use this technology.
For the speaking part,i was asked with the following questions:
*do you find it difficult to buy a gift for your friends or loved ones?
*talk about a small business that you know
*Talk about business development
*How important is teamwork in a business.

[rajan]

hey , i had my ielts exam yesterday...my writing questions were the same as the rose ...

For writing task 1,there were three pie charts (Chile,Argentina and Mexico).The pie charts show how these 3 countries distribute their exports in different regions in 2004.Summarize the diagram and compare when necessary.
For task 2,it's about mobile phones and internet.How can this technology be useful to the old people? What are the suggestions that you can give to encourage the old people to use this technology.

my speaking exam is on 9th march...

[Veronika]

the same was in Kiev as in Rajan's and Rose's posts
monologue was the following-
your last visit-tour relative or friend. whom? when? what where you doing?

[georginacheung]

Hi, Simom.
I just read the speaking question of Rose.
In her speaking test, she has a question about the Business Development.
What is that excatly? Because I am not a big fan of business. What should I do if I get that kind of question?

Thank you

[Simon]

Hi Georgina,

It's difficult because "talk about business development" would not be the full question - it's just the topic area.

Maybe the full question was something like: "How do you think a business can develop successfully?"

Just talk about using good advertising, making good products or serving customers really well. Give examples of good businesses that have grown because they do these things well.

Hope this helps

[Georgina]

Hey Simon, I get it. Thank you for replying.

[Simon]

No problem.

[Kamran]

IELTS Speaking test in the UK – February 2011

Interview

- What is your name?
- What can I call you?
- Tell me about your home town.
- What do you think it is famous for?
- Where did you learn about the history of your hometown?
- Do you like your home town and why?

Cue Card

Describe a job that you would like to do. Please say:

- What kind of job it is?
- Where would you like to do it?
- How would you like to do it?

Discussion

- Do you like sports?
- What kind of sports have you played as a child?
- Do girls and boys play the same sports in your country?
- What are the ways to search for job?
- What is the most efficient way in you view?
- What are the challenges that one is facing while searching for a job?
- Why is it becoming difficult to find a job these days?
- Do you watch movies?
- What kind of movies do you like?
- Do you prefer to watch a movie at home or in the cinema?

[Rajan]

IELTS Speaking test in Nepal – 9th March 2011

Interview

- What is your name?
- Tell me about your home town.Is it small or big?
- Do you like your home town and why?
- Do u like to do household works?? is it important to do?? why do u think it is important?
- do you believe in lucky number??
- Do u think it is easy to remember dates n numbers?? how do u memorize it?

Cue Card

Describe a vehicle that you would like to buy. Please say:

- What kind of vehicle it is?
- how it looks?
- why do u like it?

Discussion

- Did u ever ride in that vehicle?
- What kind of transportation facilities do u have in ur town?
- what is the difference in transportation system in the past and the today??
- what type of transportation system will be in the future???
- Is there any kind of traffic jams in ur town??
- what r the solutions for the traffic jams?

[simona]

Hey everybody :)

I am just after my Ielts exAM IN OSLO :)

so I should say listening and reading for me was challenging but speaking and writting quite smooth,will see how much I will get total :)

SO would like to share speaking questions and Writting topic :)

writting essay topic was :)
SOME PEOPLE THINK THAT BENEFIT FROM INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IS PROTECTING ENVIRONMENT,OTHERS THINK THAT INTERNATION COOPERATION IS WORLD BUSINESSESS,dISCUSS BOTH VIEWS AND GIVE YOUR opinion.

Speaking part I think was quite easy and simple,no any challenging or smart question,
1 where u came from
2 where young people make meetings in your country
3 how people meetings has changed from past
4 do u often fly with plain?
5 how u often communicate with friends

Topic 2 was Describe a item u have recently broken ,and tell how it happened ,have u fixed it and like that

Some more questions,was DO people prefer repair things if they broke or put in garbage
WHat kind of things mostly tend u broke easily
How people used to behave with broken things in the past,repair or no
Why people buy clothes from SEcond hand shops,
It is easy to find job in your country,

So for me was quite easy,I was lucky at least fro speaking:)

And writting tasl 1 was Line 2 grafs in one,about Japan population from 1960 with forecast in 2040

so Good luck for everybody :)

[Georgina]

Hey simon,

Could you share some ideas about simona's task 2 of writng? Why the benefit of internatinal cooperation is protecting environment? i am going to take the ielts on saturday. Because i am also in the european exam center, so i wont have the same topic as simona in oslo, right? Thank you very much.

[Georgina]

Simona,
Thank you for sharing

[Katya]

Hi Simon and everyone,
I took the test on March 11 in Toronto, and some of my topics were:

Writing Part 2:
Studies show that there is an ever-increasing proportion of the younger population (15 and under) in some countries. What current and long-term effects can this trend cause in those countries?

Speaking part 2:
Describe a friend who is a leader.

Thanks,
Katya

[Simon]

Hi Georgina,

I won't have time to look at that question before your exam. But don't worry - you will have a different topic. Good luck!

[Sam]

Hi,

My writing task 2 topic on 12/03/11 was:

Competitiveness is considered to be a positive quality among people.

How does competitiveness affect individuals?
Is competitiveness a positive or negative quality?

[mahomed]

l took ielts 12 march in london.

writing 2--more and more countries open their doors to the tourists .many people believe that the advantage of tourism outweiht the disadvantage of it.

what is your view.discuss

--
describe a friend you helped him

[Salih]

Hello
My test was in Jordon 12 March

Speaking:
How did you learn your English?
How important is to learn a new language?
Suggest a new law that could help your country. How easy do you think it can be enforced? How popular do you think that law will be?
Why is law necessary?
In which case do you need a lawyer?
What is the most important trait that the lawyer should have?
What's the most significant thing about the lawyer job?
Do you think the law should be updated from time to time? Why?
Do you find police job suitable for women? Why?

Writing:
Advantages of tourism to the host country outweigh its disadvantages. Do you agree or disagree?

[Sam]

Hi Simon,

I appreciate if you answer my below question:

Regarding the topic I just shared:

Competitiveness is considered to be a positive quality among people.

How does competitiveness affect individuals?
Is competitiveness a positive or negative quality?
---------------------------------------------------
Is it acceptable if we talk about the effects of competitiveness in the first body paragraph, and in the second paragraph, we begin by saying:
TO A CERTAIN EXTENT I BELIEVE THAT competitiveness is a positive quality; However, it may have some drawbacks....

Since the question is not asking directly to "give your own opinion", IS IT ACCEPTABLE THAT I HAVE USED "I BELIEVE" in the second body paragraph???
However, the question required us to give reason and example from our own experience.

Thank you

[Simon]

Hi Sam,

I've used this topic as a lesson (see today's blog post).

Your suggestion is fine, and "I believe" is a good phrase to use - even though it doesn't say it directly, the question is asking for YOUR opinion.

[Didem]

Hi Simon,
thanks for your great help! i got a really good score just reading ur advice about writing (esp. keeping the intro very short and working on body p.)
my questions:HONG KONG-MARCH 2011
speaking:
Tell me about your hometown?
What do you think about museums?
Why are they important?
What do you celebrate in your country?
How and where do you celebrate it?
When do you celebrate it?
How do you learn about your traditions?
Is it better to learn them from older generations or book?
Do you think other countries influence your country's culture?
Is it a positive or negative thing?
Do you think younger generation care about traditions or older generation?
that is all i can remember

writing:
task 1:
Two charts comparing female and male driving licence holders
task 2
Some ppl think governments should spend money on saving languages which are not spoken widely whereas other think they should not since it is a waste of money.

[Simon]

Thanks Didem. I'm pleased to hear that you followed my advice!

[Ming]

Hi Simon,

Writing Task 2:

Around the world, more adults will work from home, and children will study from home, as computer technology becomes cheaper and accessible. Do you think it is a postive or negative development?

I have written it is a positive development. I gave reasons why adults work from home is good (1 paragraph) and why children study from home is good (another paragraph)

However, I also one more paragraph how cheap computer technology help the people in developing countries. Do you think this paragraph is relevant to the question??

[ara]

Hi simon
March 2011 question (general training) from bangladesh

writing task-1
Complain to the local environmental officer of your locality about a lot of rubbish in your area.describe the rubbish come from where, what problem did, give some suggestion to officer to prevent it.

task-2
Some people think that student should attend the extra classes after finished their school, some others believe that allowed them to play. In what extent do you agree or disagree?

[Tabriz]

Hi, Simon .
I'd like to share with the people my
yesterday's exam questions .
exam date 03.19.2011

Speaking
where are you from
About your hometown
tell me about history of your hometown
Are you tought about your history at school

Part 2
Describe a gift that you purchased to give somebody
who this person is
what you give and when
why you choose him
Did he like it

Part3
in your country what you give as a gift ?
Is this possible to give money as a gift ?
is there any special ocassion that you give a gift to each other

Listenin was difficult because besdies first section all other sections were just text and this made questions very difficul to be read.

I found reading quite normal.there almost wasn't any insolvable question.

Writing
about modern life and its influence to the dependence and independence of people from each other .what is your opinion are people more dependent from each other or not ?

another part was about cinema and visit here in three country .However I couldn't come to an end it was quite easy

thanks

[shani]

hi simon..

I took the exam yesterday in London. And its all the same with Tabriz.

The reading part was difficult as we have to struggle with the time. The long passages made it difficult. Theres like 10 paragraph in each pasages.
1. Dinosaur
2. The Ebook
3. The Sun

About the writing:
Task 1 is to compare 3 different countries in terms of the cinemas,total number of visits per year and the average. It was a table though.

Task 2:
the same thing as Tabriz.

Listening:
It was difficult because most of the part are fill in the blank. Either one word or two words.

And if you cannot go with the flow,youll lose points because every speaker would include 10-12 questions.
Speaking:
About a new law youll propose to your hometown or government.
How will it affect?
How can the new law make your life easy?

[vidya]

Hi simon,
i just had my academic exam yesterday.
the listenig part was ok, eventhough there was no head set for candidates and there was one loud speaker for everybody.
reading was quite difficult.
The topics included:
research on dinosausers size
popularity of e-books
planets and space

Writing
Task 1 : A table showing number of cinemas in Three countries in 1995 & 1999 and number of total visits made by people and frequency of individual visits.

Task2 :some people think, in the modern world people are more dependant on each other while others think people are more independant. Discuss both views

Speaking :
Hometown and its history
What it is famous for
Holiday and what do you do on holiday
What kind of news is interesting to you
How important is live news to you

Cue card
Describe something naughty you did when you were a kid
-what
-why
-what happened next

part 4
problems of parents in bringing up their kids
Should kids always obey what parents say
why some kids are disobedient at some times
compre the problems parents face today and in the past.
It was quite easy questions.
Now i am waiting for the result.
thank you for all the support.
Your site was really helpful

[Gabriela]

Hello Simon.
I found this website by accident but it proved very helpful. Thank you for the precious piece of advice you share with all of us. I took the exam yesterday in Bulgaria. My writing task was:

1) a table comparing the number of cinemas and cinema visits in three countries over a 4-year period ( I followed your recommendations and I hope I did well)
2) Are people in the modern world becoming more or less dependent on each other? Discuss both sides and give your opinion.

I will share with you my speaking topics on Tuesday. Good luck to everybody who is about to take the exam (it is not as scary as I expected :D)

[Tabriz]

It is good to share our exam questions .We can see that these questions are the same in all countries.Actually, I think that reading part was't difficult(however time will show whether it was difficult or not).mainly the vocobulary of the third part was some more unfamiliar.but, you were some more awake then answers can esayily be found.for example, there was heading with the phrase 'Solar System' to be matched with the paragraphs .and Solar System was only the last paragraph of the text. that is way you do not need to read hole text to find it.

but listening indeed was very difficult. it is required from you to read fastly long questions and at the time to listen the recording
and one thing , what did you write for the date in first section of listening ? november or october

Examiner, in speaking might be Pakistani beacause she was sounding br br :))

[Gabriela]

Hi Tabriz :) I wrote October 31st in the Listening Section 1. However, in my opinion listening was a lot easier than reading but I assume it depends on the individual. Good luck with the results.

[Simon]

Hi Ming,

Your answer seems fine to me - the last paragraph might be a bit less relevant, but it should be ok.

...

Thanks for sharing this week's questions guys! I used the "dependence" question with my students today, so I'll put our ideas on the blog on Wednesday.

Simon

[kissa]

Hi Simon,

I want to score 8 band in writing. I have already scored 7 band for writing. But, I am finding it hard to reach the level of 8 band. I need your help. Looking forward to hear soon from you.

[Simon]

Hi Kissa,

It's difficult for me to help because I haven't taught you. What you really need is a teacher who can analyse your written work and point out where improvements can be made.

My best piece of general advice for achieving band 8 would be to work on the 'range of vocabulary' that you use to express your ideas.

[Lilian]

Hi Simon,

I need to score band 7 in all components of the test. Your ideas were really helpful for me on the writing task, the problem was that I did not have enough time to study them so as a result I scored only 6.5 on my first test. The most challenging ones for me are the reading and the writing tasks. Is purchasing your e-book the best way to improve my writing skills? and how could I improve my reading besides using the great tips of your website? Looking forward to hear soon from you.

[Simon]

Hi Lilian,

The ebook will help with ideas for common writing topics. All of the ideas are expressed using excellent vocabulary and correct grammar, so I'm sure you would find it useful.

For reading, you just need to keep practising - the Cambridge books are the best because they contain real tests.

Hope this helps

[ahmed S]

Dear Mr. simon,
Thank you for your great efforts.
Referring to the exam that I did three days ago on 02-04-2011 in the UK please find the following questions:

Listening:
First section: General conversation for opening File with GP ( new patient).
Second section: Describe for tow teams one joniors and another seniors>
Third section: academic topic about collect data for research.
Fourth section: Topic gives A Brief History for shuttles and trains.

Reading:
Passage 1:
Title> The last man who new every thing
Thomas Young > auther by Andrew Robinson
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/jan/20/featuresreviews.guardianreview7

Passage 2:
Educations theories about pupils behaviour.

Passage 3:
Marketing study.

writing:
Task 1:
write about tow Bar chart . the first about puplis who studied 4 diffrent subjects in 1995> and the second one about the same things but in 2005.

Task 2: some people agree to use the modern tech. in farming such as factory and creating a new products for fruit and vegatab.others oppose this statment.
Discuss those and give your opinion?

---------------------

Mr simon I need to have an answer for a question :

I'm just wondering : In the reading exam , I wrote T/F/NG instead of True/False/ Not given, is it acceptable or not?
Please give a certain answer because i'm worried about that?

Thanks alot

[Lilian]

Hi Simon,

Thank you very much for your advices. I am sure they will be of great help.

[kiran sharma]

can u plz give me some useful suggestion regading reading ielts practice ,and which council is better whther its idp or Bc .Thanks

[kiran]

Hi Simon, can u plz give me some useful suggestion regading reading ielts practice ,and which council is better whther its idp or Bc .Thanks

[Aisha]

I took the exam last Saturday on 2/4/2011
my exam questions were the same as Ahamed

Simon,

could you please discus writing task 2 the one about the agriculture

[Simon]

Thanks Ahmed. T, F, NG is fine.

...

Np problem Lilian.

...

Hi Kiran,

IDP is like the Australian version of the British Council - IELTS belongs to them both equally (along with Cambridge University).

Click the link below for reading practice:

http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2010/11/do-some-ielts-reading-practice.html

...

Hi Aisha,

I'll do a lesson about the 'farming' question soon.

[ahmed S]

Dear simon,
thank you for the repaly.
I want to be confident again in the email which was done they wrote ( False ) so i understand that even if they put the example in full word like False , F is acceptable by eximaner. It's confusing.

I heard that the answer sheet is corrected by computer , is it true? becuse I'm wondering how can computer read the answers.

[Simon]

Hi Ahmed,

I'm sure that "F" is fine. To be honest, I'm not sure whether a computer checks the answers - it's something I need to ask about.

[ahmed S]

Thank you very much.
That means originally, Reading and listening are corrected by examiner manually through colouration the column that beside the answers and then computer accounts score. Isn't it ?

Reagrds,

ahmed

[Simon]

Hi Ahmed,

Examiners only mark the speaking and writing tests. Reading and listening tests are sent to a central office (e.g. in Cambridge), so I can't say for definite how they are marked there. I'll try to find out.

[ahmed S]

Thanks Simon for your response.
Anyway, the fundamental thing is if they ask you to write True or False or Not given , they accept your answers which were written in T&F&NG .
warm regards,

[sara]

Hi everyone,

Ahmed, who say that? or it is just what do you think?

Cheers,

[ahmed S]

Dear sara,
What do you mean in your Q?
If you mean writing T&F&NG instead of True & False & Not given in reading section, Mr simon told me that it was fine.

You can ask him youself

[sara]

Hi Ahmed,
Please, don't be angry. I have already asked Mr Simon about that but he said to you and I, he needed to aske. I have asked you because I noticed you are completly confedent with your answer.

Cheers,

[ahmed S]

Hi sara,
Mr simon mentioned that:
"I'm not sure whether a computer checks the answers - it's something I need to ask about". So he needed to ask about how the exam is corrected ". However, He confirmed that T&F&NG are fine. Please re-read his reply.
Is't clear now?

regards,

[sara]

Hi Ahmed,

Thank you for your replying. What I am understanding from Simon's answer is that he wanted to aske if F, T and NG are redable through computers or not.

Thanks,

[ahmed S]

Hi sarah,
to correct your understanding , Mr.simmons' answer is to ask if the exam generally is corrected by computer or not.

regards,

[Simon]

Hi Ahmed and Sara,

Just to confirm - I'm sure that "T, F, NG" are accepted, but I'm not sure whether exams are checked by a computer or a human. I'll find out as soon as I can.

[Aly]

Writing task 1
A line graph shows daily visitor of a museum in autumn and summer.

Writing task 2
Some people welcome cheap air traveling but some argue that it will add more environmental problem. Please provide your opinion.

Hi, Simon. I stumbled upon this blog 3 days before the ielts exam when I was kinda worried because I haven't really prepared for the writing task. I found it very helpful with very clear yet simple explanation given to all.

I applied the writing technique learned from your blog...And, I just got my result today. I scored 7 ^0^

Thank you simon!!!Your blog is AWESOME!!

Regards
Aly, Malaysia

[Pete01]

Hi Simon!
This is from Bangkok, Thailand. 16th April 2011

Many people believe that it is important to protect the environment, but they make no effort to protect it themselves.

Why do you think it is the case?

What actions do you think that individuals can do to protect the environment

I've written the first paragraph why protecting the environment is important.

My second paragraph is about the ways people should do to protect it.

Do you think that my answers are fine?

Thanks a lot

[Simon]

Hi Aly,

That's fantastic news! I'm glad the blog helped.

...

Hi Pete,

Your answer seems fine. Did you explain why people make no effort to protect the environment?

[Pete01]

Simon
If the topic "Describe something in home that was broken/stopped working"

Do you think it's find to tell the examiner that I can't remember about something in home that stopped working, but recently my mobile phone stopped working temporarily?

Thanks a lot for your answers!

[Elly]

16/4/2011 Australia
speaking topic

part1
studying/working
information received from TV or elsewhere

part2
describe something that you are good at doing
what is it
how did you learn
why do you think you are good at it
what do you feel when you are doing it

part3
what parents can do to support when children have special talents?
How children know they have talents?
What problems may smart children have when interacting with their friends?

[Sachin]

16th april 2011- UK.
Task 1:

There were two pie charts. One pie chart showed a foreign language course training done by employees through part time. full time or evening course.
The other chart showed the reasons given by employees for learning a foreign language.

Task 2:

Rich countries should not offer skilled jobs to people from poor countries because they need more. do you agree or disagree?

Speaking:

Historic town.
what is favourite about your place.
about games- girls and boys.

2mts session: a piece of advice. who gave it, why and was it useful.

questions on:

Online business advisors- risks and advtantages associated.
online business declining or growing?

[Tomas]

Hi everyone, I have a question about whether there are any guidelines to writing answer, eg on a practice exam I got some questions wrong because I wrote "A and B" and the answer was supposed to be "A, B" (ie a comma instead of 'and') or used unshortened version of don't, wouldn't (i.e. i wrote "do not" and "would not" but the answer was marked as wrong because the correct answer used "don't" and "wouldn't". Furthermore, I've seen, in a single reading text, an inconsistent use of hyphenated words and when I wrote my answer with a hyphen it got marked as incorrect because the expected answer didn't contain a hyphen... etc.

Are these problem just specific to practice exams and do similar ambiguities in answers appear on the real exam as well? Are there any general guidelines on how to avoid writing down a correct answer in an incorrect form?

thank you