How should you prepare for IELTS on your own?

Use the 4-week column if each skill is within about half a band to a band of your target, and the 8-week column if one or more skills are further behind. Plan about 6 study days a week and keep one day for rest or catching up.

Each recording plays once, and the questions follow the order of the recording (ielts.org). So never pause or replay during a timed set. Before each part, read the questions and predict what kind of answer goes in each gap: a number, a name, a noun. Check the word limit every time, because one extra word loses the mark.

After the set, replay the audio and find the exact moment you missed each answer: was it a distractor, a spelling, or a number you misheard? Our Listening practice tests are grouped by question type, so you can repeat the type that keeps costing marks. On the computer test you type answers as you listen, so practise that way.

Reading is 60 minutes for 40 questions across three sections (ielts.org). Start with a budget of 20 minutes a section and note where you overrun. Do not let one stubborn question eat your time: set yourself a limit of about 90 seconds, guess, flag it and move on.

For True/False/Not Given, ask one question: does the text contradict the statement (False) or say nothing about it (Not Given)? For matching headings, there are always more headings than paragraphs, so read each paragraph's main idea before scanning the list. Drill with Academic Reading practice or General Training Reading practice, and keep a log of each error type.

Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1, and ielts.org says to spend no more than 20 minutes on Task 1 (ielts.org). Practise exactly that split: 20 minutes for at least 150 words, 40 minutes for at least 250. Count your words afterwards until you know how a 250-word answer looks on screen.

After each answer, check it against the four criteria in the IELTS band descriptors: did you answer every part of the question, use paragraphs with one clear idea each, vary vocabulary, and mix sentence structures accurately? Compare your essay with a Band 8 Task 2 sample on the same question type. Our mock test gives Writing a band from BandLadder AI with feedback on each criterion.

Part 2 gives you 1 minute to prepare and up to 2 minutes to talk (ielts.org). Use a timer with IELTS cue cards: note 3–4 points in the minute, then keep talking until the 2 minutes are up. Record yourself and listen back for long pauses, repeated words and grammar slips, which map onto fluency and coherence, lexical resource and grammatical range and accuracy.

For Part 1, practise short, direct answers with one reason or example. For Part 3, practise giving an opinion, a reason and a contrast, because that part asks you to discuss and speculate rather than describe your own life.

The IELTS partners publish free sample questions, a computer familiarisation test and mock tests; see IELTS official practice tests. If you book with the British Council, you get IELTS Ready Premium free, which it says includes more than 40 scored practice tests (British Council). Take at least one test in the computer format before test day.

Booking a date gives the plan a deadline: see how to book IELTS and the IELTS exam fee 2026. Speaking can fall on a different day from the other sections, so keep the week around your test free. In the final week, do one last full mock at the same time of day as your test and read the test day rules.