Road to IELTS

British Council offers 30 hours of online self study materials for free, exclusive to all candidates who register for an IELTS exam with us.

See the What is Road to IELTS (MS PowerPoint 5.04MB), the demonstration material and in here for more information.

If you have received your access codes please log on to the Road to IELTS Online Portal.

Preparation Course

We run an IELTS Preparation Course to help candidates prepare for the IELTS test.

The IELTS Preparation course is an ideal way to prepare for this challenging exam. The course is for people aged 16 or above and helps familiarise candidates with the format of the test and what it involves.

One-Day IELTS Workshops

The one-day workshop will give you knowledge of the format of the exam and what happens on the day. In addition you will be given invaluable exam technique strategies and the opportunity to practise them.

The content of the workshop covers:

• an overview of the exam
• listening paper approaches and practice
• reading paper strategies and example questions
• writing paper techniques and sample answers
• speaking paper format and practice
• the grading system and insight into IELTS band scores
• useful websites and further practice material
• how you can continue to study for the exam

The workshop will be conducted by trained IELTS examiners who can offer the best in exam tips and techniques.

Workshop will be held in the British Council high-tech premises from 0900 to 1700. The cost is$180.000 which covers the workshop fee and materials.

For more information and dates when the workshops will be held, please contact us.

Limited places.

Online IELTS Portal

You will be able to explore a great variety of practice materials. You will find:

• sample papers for the General and Academic modules for Reading And Writing
• tips and hints for the Speaking and Listening section
• test day tips and hints
• useful external websites to help you prepare for the IELTS

To enter to the IELTS Portal you must click on BC IELTS Portal and then LOG IN AS A GUEST.

Official IELTS Practice Material

You can find now the Official IELTS Practice Material, the book to prepare for IELTS exam, known before as Specimen Material. Challenge your knowledge with this complete practice of all the four skills, includes a CD with examples of listening and speaking. It also comes with an answer key for you to know your score.

It is available at our office in Bogotá, and it costs $98.500, we accept credit and debit card. If you are not in Bogotá we can send it to your city. Contact us to know how to get it.

NEW! Whether you are in Bogotá or in another city you can also purchase your books by phone, dialing + 57 1 325 9090 from 0800 to 1700. Payments are only received with Visa credit card.

IELTS TOP TIPS

Created by Cambridge ESOL and in colaboration with the British Council, the new books TOP TIPS for IELTS can give you detailed tips, support, and general advice for you to have a better performance in your exam.

There are two versions, one focused only for the academic module and the other for those who wish to take the general module.

You can purchase these books in our office in the city of Bogotá. Each book costs $44.000. You can pay with debit card, credit card or cheque. If you are not located in Bogotá, we can send them to your city. Contact us for further information.

NEW! Whether you are in Bogotá or in another city you can also purchase your books by phone, dialing + 57 1 325 9090 from 0800 to 1700. Payments are only received with Visa credit card.

IELTS Orientation Workshops

Every month we offer a free two hour workshop to all candidates registered for the IELTS, when you register you will receive more information on the next date of this workshop. Limited places.

Find here 2011 workshops dates (PDF 44.6 kb)

British Council Learning Centre

For a small fee you can register with our Learninge Centre (Bogotá only) which has a range of over 60 titles and 200 copies of materials on IELTS test preparation that can be taken out on loan. For more information visit the Learning Centre page.

OTHER RESOURCES

Learn English

Learn English website

External IELTS Courses

If you are unable to attend a British Council IELTS preparation course in Bogotá or if you live outside Bogotá we have provided a useful set of guidelines to help you choose the right IELTS course.

Please remember that the British Council does not accredit language centres and cannot give direct advice on specific IELTS courses provided by external institutions.

External Websites

You can also visit the following websites which give you additional information on taking the test, tips and hints and sample papers:

Independent Learning Center IELTS Test Preparation
Practice exercises for the Reading and Listening Modules and some excellent material on how to write about graphs for Writing Task 1 in the Academic Writing Module.

IELTS Test Practice
Exam tips and free exercises for you to download.

Exam English – IELTS Reading Practice
Practice for the Reading and Listening Module.

The British Council cannot accept responsibility for the content of external websites.

TIPS AND HINTS

How to improve your IELTS performance.

Listening

• Read instructions carefully, don't just glance at them. They are not always the same as in practise or previous tests.
• Often the speaker will give you an answer and then correct themselves - watch out for this. It's a common trick.
• Try and anticipate what the speaker will say. This requires concentration - easy in your own language, but more difficult in English.
• Remember if you want a high score you should aim to get all questions in parts one and two correct. Don't make any careless mistakes in the easier sections.
• Although there are not that many IELTS books on the market, other Cambridge exam preparation materials can provide valuable practise such as FCE and CAE preparation books.
• Small errors can lead to low score such as spelling, omitting 's' or incomplete times.
• Don't panic if you think the topic is too difficult or the speaker is too fast. Relax and tune in.
• Read, write and listen at the same time. Tricky but practise.
• Don't leave blanks, you might as well guess you won't be penalised.

Reading

• Leave a question if you can't answer. To spend a long time on one answer is disastrous. Go back later if you have time and guess if you have too.
• Don't panic if you don't know anything about the passage. All the answers are in the passage and you don't need any specialist knowledge.
• Remember you have no extra time to transfer your answers, many candidates think because they have extra time in listening they are able to do this in reading too. You can't.
• Before the exam read as widely as possible e.g. Newspapers, magazines, journals. Don't limit yourself to one type of text and read articles with an academic style where possible.
• Look at ways paragraphs are organised.
• Try and predict content of paragraph from the opening sentence.
• Give a paragraph you read an imaginary heading.
• Don't concentrate on words you don't know. It is fatal and wastes valuable time.
• Careless mistakes cost many marks. Copy the answer correctly if it is in the passage.
• Check spelling.
• Only give one answer if that is all that's needed.
• Be careful with singular/plural.

Writing

• Highlight/circle key words.
• Clearly divide paragraphs.
• Don't repeat ideas in a different way.
• Stick to the topic.
• Careful with timing - don't rush Task 2, it's longer and carries more weight.
• Paragraph simply with one idea in each paragraph.
• Avoid informal language.
• Learn to recognise how long 150 words is in your handwriting. You don't really have time to count.
• Get used to always spending several minutes re-reading and correcting your essays.
• Don't memorise model answers, they won't fit the question and you will make more careless mistakes.

Speaking

• It tests your ability to communicate effectively not just your grammatical accuracy.
• Don't learn chunks of answers. The examiner is trained to spot this and will change the question.
• Develop your answers as much as possible.
• Speak more than the examiner.
• Ask for clarification if necessary.
• Remember it is not a test of knowledge and there is no single answer, but ensure that you give your opinion. Don't worry if you feel it is not sophisticated enough.
• The areas covered are fairly predictable and not infinite so practise at home recording ides onto a tape recorder.

British Council IELTS website

The British Council IELTS website offer free practice tests, British Council online resources, preparation materials, test day advice, tips from candidates and more. We can help you get the IELTS score you need, however you prefer to learn.