Many people, who are preparing to take the IELTS test, ask how to prepare for IELTS. They often get the answer "practise, practise, practise!" This is bad advice! Doing lots of practice tests is not enough. In this article, I will give you 8 essential ways to prepare for the IELTS test.

1. Improve your level of general English

If you are at a pre-intermediate level of English, you should first try to improve your current level of English. To do well in the IELTS test, you need to be at an intermediate level of English. So first improve your everyday reading and listening, your speaking and writing. IELTS is a difficult test. Good exam strategies and lots of learning tips are not enough - you need to have good English too.

So find an English tutor online, join an English class or study at home. You should also learn new words and phrases by reading lots of material in English - but focus on learning new words rather than understanding the texts.

One of the biggest mistakes students make is to focus only on IELTS. They do IELTS practice tests and learn vocabulary related to IELTS topics, but they forget about general English

2. Read and listen to IELTS-style material

Read lots of IELTS-style texts, and listen to lots of IELTS-style audio recordings. These will help you to improve your English. You will also find out about the kinds of topics that come up in the IELTS test. Focus especially on topics related to education, health and the environment as these are topics that frequently come up in the IELTS test.

Some great websites for reading IELTS-style articles:

BBC News Magazine

The Economist

The Economist Technology Quarterly

The Economist Magazine

Popular Science

The New Scientist

National Geographic

BBC Focus Magazine

Science Daily

American Scientist

Australian Geographic

And for listening:

TED Talks

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4: The Interview Archive

You could also listen to podcasts. https://write.as/o053i9ef9ei2a.md?Try Stitcher or iTunes.

3. Understand the IELTS

You can prepare for the IELTS by finding out everything you.