Wouldn’t it be nice if somebody who has been through the same journey as you could tell you what things to avoid on the IELTS test?
So let us help you today
In the following lines you are going to learn the most common mistakes in IELTS you should avoid.
Why should you bother listening to us?
Our team is made up of former IELTS Examiners with more than 15 years of experience under their belt.
We are talking about people that used to play the bad cops, evaluating every single detail of writing and speaking skills.
And now they are here to share with you some common mistakes in IELTS, they used to see and how this affected the candidate’s performance.
Common mistakes in IELTS speaking
- Not fully understanding the question
- Not answering the question
- Speaking too little in part 1
- Speaking too much in part 1
- Repetition of words
- Not indicating to the examiner when you finished answering each question in part 1
- Excessive pauses and hesitations
- Misuse of stress and intonation in speaking
- Inability to distinguish between spoken and written structures
- Overuse of Fillers (you know, well, like)
- Speaking for less than 2 minutes in IELTS speaking part 2 (cue card)
- Speaking in an uninteresting way that sounds you memorized your answers
- Excessive grammar mistakes, especially basic ones such as subject verb agreement
- Unclear pronunciation
- Misuse of Countable x Uncountable nouns
- Overuse of passive voice
- Overuse of vague language
- Mispronunciation of common words
- Overuse of basic words such as very, big, many
- Not showing elements that demonstrate a good grasp of the language and its structure
- Not using less common words
- Insufficient use of synonyms and paraphrasing in writing and speaking
- Not using less common grammar structures
- Poor understanding of the marking criteria
Common Mistakes in Writing
- Confusing punctuation
- Writing below the minimum of words
- Not fully understanding the question
- Not properly addressing the question
- Repetition of words
- Run-on sentences
- Inconsistent verb forms
- Lack of linking words and cohesive devices
- Misinterpreting of graphs and charts in the Writing Task 1
- Insufficient development of ideas in the Writing Task 2
- Inaccurate paraphrasing of the question in writing
- Using improper structure for the body paragraphs
- Mixing American and British English
- Mixing Formal and Informal Vocabulary
- Overuse of vague language
- Using unclear antecedents
- Mistakes with subject verb agreement
- Mistakes with articles
- Mistakes with subject verb agreement
- Mistakes with overgeneralization
- Spending too much time in IELTS writing task 1
- Running out of time to review your essay
- Insufficient use of synonyms and paraphrasing in writing and speaking
- Poor understanding of the marking criteria
- Poor interpretation of the graphs in Task 1
- Adding additional information to conclusions
- Giving your opinion in discussion and situation essays
- Not addressing the keywords in the prompt
- Lack of clear organization and progression in the body paragraphs
- Misuse of Collocations
- Misuse of Modal Verbs
- Misuse of Countable x Uncountable nouns
- Overuse of passive voice
- Inability to distinguish between formal and informal sentence structures
Mistakes in Reading
- Not fully understanding the question
- Starting with the hardest questions
- Mismanaging the time
- Relying on previous knowledge
- Failure to read the instructions carefully
- Change the answers
- Not paying attention to the timer
- Reading the whole text
- Read word by word
- Applying the same strategies to different types of questions
- Not taking advantage of the copy and paste
- Lack of understanding of inference and implied meanings
Mistakes in Listening
- Not fully understanding the question
- Misspelling
- Getting distracted
- Changing answers
- Not effectively using the 30 secs in each section to analyze the questions you need to answer
- Ineffective note-taking
- Not being able to identify key information in the listening
Were you aware of those common mistakes in IELTS above?
Such mistakes can be a real B###tch when you are trying to get your desired score.
But, with the right help, you can get closer to mastering the IELTS in no time.
If you spot what mistakes you’re making and have no idea how to fix them, you should get in touch with us for tailored advice.
In this way, you will be learning the right strategies, getting feedback and corrections from IELTS experts who have been having people like YOU for the past 2 decades across multiple countries.