IELTS band 8 plan, week 6: Full mock test and the last half band

This week's sessions

Tick each session when you finish it. Your ticks are saved only in this browser.

1. Day 1 · 📖 Reading · about 35 minAcademic Reading full test 1Do two passages in 35 minutes, or the full test in 60 if you have time. Use the four-minute check, and compare your lost marks by type with week 3.
2. Day 2 · 🗣️ Speaking · about 25 minSpeaking practice 2Answer all three parts out loud and record yourself. Check each Part 3 answer for a distinction and a clear final position.
3. Day 3 · 🎧 Listening · about 35 minFull mock test: Listening and ReadingStart the complete mock test and do the Listening and Reading parts in one sitting. It takes about 90 minutes, so set aside the time.
4. Day 4 · ✍️ Writing · about 35 minFull mock test: Writing and SpeakingFinish the mock test: Writing (60 minutes, with 3 minutes to proofread) and Speaking (about 12 minutes). Your estimated overall band appears at the end.
5. Day 5 · 🔤 Vocabulary · about 25 minReview against band 8Compare your mock with week 1 using the checklist in this week's lesson and your error log. Choose the skill furthest from 8 and repeat that week.

This week's lesson: the full mock and the last half band

This week you'll take a full mock test, compare it with week 1, and decide where your final practice goes. At this level, the gap between 7.5 and 8 is often two or three answers in Listening or Reading, or one repeated error type in Writing.

Take the mock like the real test

• Listening, Reading and Writing in one sitting, with no pauses or replays. Speaking can be another day.
• Real timings: 60 minutes for Reading; 20 minutes for Task 1 and 40 for Task 2.
• Use your band 8 routines: read two questions ahead in Listening, leave four minutes to check in Reading, and save three minutes to proofread in Writing.

Review with your error log

Add every lost mark from the mock to your error log, then compare with week 1.

Listening and Reading. At band 8, you can afford only about four or five mistakes in each. Group them:

• Stance and late corrections: you wrote the speaker's first idea, not their final one.
• Location: in matching questions, you chose the wrong paragraph or the wrong person.
• Precision: word limit, spelling, plurals or word form.
• Time: answers you guessed because you ran out of time.

If the same group appears in week 1 and week 6, that's your priority.

Writing. Read your Task 2 and ask:

• Does my position say what it depends on, and does it stay the same from introduction to conclusion?
• Did I answer the strongest objection, not just mention it?
• Is every example specific and believable?
• Are most sentences completely error-free? Count them.

For Task 1: are the key features selected and supported, with an overview that has no numbers?

Speaking. Listen to your recording:

• Were pauses at idea boundaries, not inside phrases?
• Did your Part 3 answers narrow the question and then commit?
• Did any phrase sound memorised?

Your overall band

The overall band is the average of the four skills, rounded to the nearest half band: an average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, and one ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band. So 8.5, 8, 8 and 7.5 averages 8, which is 8 overall. But if you need 8 in each skill, that result is still short in one. Plan around your weakest skill, not your average.

If one skill is at 7.5

That's close. Repeat that skill's week, doing every task twice: the second time after studying the model answer or explanations. In Writing, rewrite rather than write new essays; the rewrite is where your error types disappear.

The days before your test

• Short, regular practice: one listening part, one reading passage and one Part 3 answer a day.
• One timed essay three or four days before, then review your error log instead of writing more.
• Don't change technique now. Use the routines you've practised.
• Prepare the practical details: ID, venue, timing and sleep.

What's next

If your mock shows 8 or above in every skill, keep the short daily routine going until test day. If a skill is below 7.5, the IELTS Band 7 Study Plan covers its foundations.

Weekly check: Complete IELTS mock test

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