Tips
A few short tips for every task, in the order the tasks come in the exam.
Speaking
Read Aloud
- Use the preparation time to read the text silently to the end — find the long words and where each sentence breaks.
- Every word you say as written earns a point. A word you skip, swap or add is one error.
- If you trip on a word, keep going. Saying it again counts against your fluency; one wrong word costs only that word.
- Pause at commas and full stops, not in the middle of a phrase — a pause where a fluent reader would not stop is what fluency marks down.
- Read at a natural pace. Fluency loses marks for rushing as well as for dragging.
Repeat Sentence
- Order is what counts: a word earns credit only when it comes back in the same order as the sentence.
- Half the sentence, in order, still scores. If you lose the end, say what you have and stop.
- Say it once. Starting a phrase again is a false start, and fluency is marked down for each one.
- Listen for the meaning, not for single words — a sentence you understood is easier to say back in order.
Describe Image
- Open with what the image is: its kind, its subject and what it measures.
- Name the highest, the lowest and the trend. Content is a checklist of what the image shows, and a point counts only when you say it.
- A plain word now beats the perfect word after a pause — fluency is measured from your pauses and false starts.
- Use the study time to choose your four sentences, not to read every label.
Retell Lecture
- While it plays, write content words — names, numbers, causes, results — not sentences.
- Retell the points in the speaker's order, using the speaker's own key terms.
- Missed a point? Go to the next one. An apology is words that carry no content.
- Content is a checklist against the lecture's key points: a point said plainly beats a polished sentence about nothing.
Answer Short Question
- Answer with the word or short phrase the question asks for. There is one point, and it is for content only.
- Unsure? Say your best guess — a wrong answer scores the same as silence.
- Listen to the end of the question: that is where it says what kind of answer it wants — a number, a place, a person.
Summarize Group Discussion
- Note each speaker's position as they talk — one line per person.
- Say what each person argued, and where they agreed or disagreed.
- Report, don't take sides. Your own opinion is not one of the points being marked.
- Keep a steady pace: fluency is marked from your pauses and false starts, as in every speaking task.
Respond to a Situation
- Do what the situation asks — apologise, ask, explain or suggest — as if you were really there.
- Match your register to the person: you speak to a lecturer differently from a friend.
- Use the thinking time to choose the two or three things you will say, and their order.
- After a slip, keep going. A pause to find a word costs more than a plain word.
Writing
Summarize Written Text
- One sentence, 5–75 words. Two sentences, or one outside that range, scores zero for the whole response.
- Join the main ideas with connectives — while, because, which, although — instead of a full stop.
- Carry the passage's main idea and its key supporting points; the examples can go.
- Read it back before you submit: one full stop, at the very end.
Write Essay
- Answer the question that was set. Content is marked on that alone, and a content score of 0 means nothing else is scored.
- Stay inside 200–300 words. Under 120 or over 380 words, the essay scores 0.
- Show your logic with connectives — however, because, as a result — and vary your sentence length.
- Leave two minutes to read it back. Spelling is its own trait, and it is marked in context.
Reading
Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks
- Read the whole sentence before you choose — the words after the gap often decide it.
- Check the grammar first: an option that does not fit the sentence's grammar is out, however close its meaning.
- Never leave a gap empty. There is no negative marking, so a guess costs nothing.
- Learn words in pairs — make a decision, heavy rain, play a role. Many gaps are decided by which words go together.
Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers
- Every wrong pick takes a point away. Choose only the options you can point to in the text.
- If you are sure of only one option, choose only that one.
- Ticking every option rarely pays: each wrong pick cancels a right one.
- Read the question first, so you know what you are reading for.
Re-order Paragraphs
- Find the opening first: it introduces the topic and leans on nothing before it — no “this”, “however” or “he”.
- Marks come in pairs: each box placed straight after the box it really follows earns a point, so a run you are sure of scores even when the rest does not.
- Follow the links — a pronoun, a “however”, a date — back to the box they point to.
Reading: Fill in the Blanks
- The bank holds more words than gaps. The extras fit the topic but not the grammar of any gap.
- Fill the gaps you are sure of first. A placed word leaves the other gaps' choices, so the hard ones get easier.
- Check the form the gap needs — noun or verb, singular or plural, past or present.
- Fill every gap; there is no negative marking.
Multiple Choice, Single Answer
- Read the question before the text, so you know what you are reading for.
- The classic wrong answer is true to the text but does not answer the question.
- Always choose one — a wrong answer scores the same as none.
- Reading is timed as one section, not per question. If one question stalls you, choose your best answer and move on.
Listening
Summarize Spoken Text
- 50–70 words. Under 40 or over 100, the whole summary scores 0.
- While it plays, note three or four content words for each point, in the speaker's order.
- Write full sentences in one paragraph — grammar is marked, and a list of fragments gives it nothing to mark.
- Read it back: spelling is marked in context, so a real word in the wrong place counts.
Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers
- Every wrong pick takes a point away. Choose only what you heard.
- If you are sure of only one option, choose only that one.
- An option that repeats the speaker's words is not always right — listen for what they meant.
Fill in the Blanks
- A misspelled word earns nothing, so spelling counts as much as hearing.
- Type each word as you hear it — the recording plays once.
- Before you submit, check each word fits its sentence — a plural, a past tense.
Highlight Correct Summary
- Note the speaker's main point and conclusion, not every detail.
- Watch for three traps: a summary that reverses the conclusion, one that makes a minor point the main one, and one that says something the speaker never said.
- Rule summaries out: one wrong claim is enough to make a summary wrong.
Multiple Choice, Single Answer
- Listen for the speaker's purpose and main point, not only the details.
- Note key words as you listen — the recording plays once.
- Always choose one — a wrong answer scores the same as none.
Select Missing Word
- Listen past the turn: a “but” or “however” near the end changes what the ending must be.
- Choose from the meaning of the whole recording, not only the last few seconds.
- Don't pick an option just because you heard its words — an echo of the recording is a trap.
- Always choose one — a wrong answer scores the same as none.
Highlight Incorrect Words
- Click only when you hear a difference. Each correct word you click takes a point away.
- Keep your place: follow the text word by word as it plays.
- Missed one? Let it go and keep listening — the recording will not wait.
Write from Dictation
- Every word you get right is a point, so write every word you caught, even with gaps.
- A misspelled word earns nothing. Check your spelling before you submit.
- Capitals and punctuation are not scored — spend your time on the words.
For the four tasks where you compose an answer, the templates show the shape of a good one.