My first IELTS test in 2025
Here’s a brief summary of my experience:
Listening: The level of difficulty was close to that of the practice tests in Cambridge 19. Only one word/number was required in parts 1 and 4. Thankfully, there wasn’t a map in part 2. Maps are my biggest weakness in listening.
Reading: It was slightly harder than the Cambridge 19 tests, but not as challenging as I expected. Again, only one word was required for sentence completion questions. The T/F/NG and Y/N/NG questions were surprisingly simple; I only needed to read one sentence to answer each of them. There were no Matching Headings questions, which allowed me to complete the reading test in less than 30 min.
Writing: The test was easy, but I have to admit, it’s my fault that I didn’t perform as well as I could have. I didn’t practise at all this year — I only read theoretical books which wasn't enough to achieve a band 8+. I’m planning to retake the writing test next month. I have never tried one skill retake before.
@ieltsboyko
Here’s a brief summary of my experience:
Listening: The level of difficulty was close to that of the practice tests in Cambridge 19. Only one word/number was required in parts 1 and 4. Thankfully, there wasn’t a map in part 2. Maps are my biggest weakness in listening.
Reading: It was slightly harder than the Cambridge 19 tests, but not as challenging as I expected. Again, only one word was required for sentence completion questions. The T/F/NG and Y/N/NG questions were surprisingly simple; I only needed to read one sentence to answer each of them. There were no Matching Headings questions, which allowed me to complete the reading test in less than 30 min.
Writing: The test was easy, but I have to admit, it’s my fault that I didn’t perform as well as I could have. I didn’t practise at all this year — I only read theoretical books which wasn't enough to achieve a band 8+. I’m planning to retake the writing test next month. I have never tried one skill retake before.
@ieltsboyko