We have spoken in depth on the podcast about IELTS maps, and IELTS line graphs before, but today it is the turn of IELTS bar charts. I would say of all the possible charts that you could be given on your exam day, IELTS bar charts are the most versatile. Why? Well, not only can they be used to represent change or to show comparisons individually, but they can also be used to show changes without time! Intrigued? You should be! In this episode, Nick and I will clearly explain how you should look for the key features in both change and compare IELTS bar charts how you can organise the items on ..read more

Hey! Every 6 months Nick and I like to generate ideas for essay questions that have been reported in recent IELTS exams. Today, we look at questions that our students have faced in January, February, and March this year. What do we think of the IELTS Essay Questions 2023? Well, you will need to listen to find out, but there are definitely some completely new topics and some old ones that have been given a facelift! You are welcome to sit and passively enjoy the episode, but you will get a lot more out of the lesson if you actively take part. So why not scroll down now and attemp ..read more

Hey! Way back in 2020, Nick and I discussed the basic techniques for completing IELTS listening match questions. However, these are some of the most difficult question in the exam, especially in Part 3, and we have noticed that many students still struggle answering them even when they know the basic principles. That’s why today, we want to share a more advanced technique that can help you deal with tricky questions in the exam. Plus, we will attempt one of the most difficult questions that we have ever seen in the new Cambridge 17 book – and you will come along with us for the ride. This is a ..read more

Part 3 is definitely the most difficult part of the IELTS speaking exam. This is where the questions move from asking about you, to asking about the world around you, and for many students, it can be hard to come up with ideas for these more abstract questions. Today, Nick and I discuss how to unlock IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions by finding the “hidden topic” inside them. Plus, we are giving you the chance to record your own responses to five IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions and send them to us for feedback on next week’s episode. Just record your answers to the following questions on your ph ..read more

Hey! I have always loved teaching IELTS Academic Task 1. Many students are afraid of charts, but I have always found that if you teach test-takers some basic principles, then it is always possible to find the key features and organise the report well. However, this week, I was looking at the new IELTS Cambridge 17 Academic Report Questions and I have to say that two of the prompts in the current book are VERY difficult. Seriously, I am talking climbing Everest bare-foot with an elephant strapped to your back difficult. Join Nick and I today to see which two questions those are, and how we ..read more

Hey! Today, Nick and I are travelling back in time to complete the IELTS Cambridge 6 Test 3 listening test, which was first published in 2007. Why? Well, it’s not because we were younger and better looking then, but because we want to give you a chance to experience the older IELTS test format, which seems to be making a come back in exam rooms. This is an interactive lesson, so you can download the listening test that we use in this lesson here  If you listened to our episode last week, you will remember that Nick and I discussed some small format changes that have been re ..read more

Please do NOT panic! I want to make it clear right at the start of this blog post that there are no major changes happening to the IELTS exam (that I am aware of) in 2023. Cambridge is not adding a new section to the speaking exam, or changing the amount of time that you have for writing, or making the reading passages more difficult. However, some of our students have reported over the last few weeks that some of the exams that they have sat at the start of 2023 have deviated slightly from the current Cambridge book format. Today, Nick and I explain what those changes are and how the IEL ..read more

Hey! Yes, Nick and I have finally got out hands on a copy of the new Cambridge IELTS 17 General Training book, so today we look at the four essay questions to discuss how difficult they are, how they should be approached, and what ideas we would use as the basis of our arguments in the body paragraphs. As usual, there are some familiar topics here, but there are also two totally new topics, and a question format that neither of us have seen before, do this is not an episode to miss! Below, you can find a summary of the episode, including the four questions that we will analyse and links to use ..read more

Unless you have been living under a rock (or not spending every moment on social media) for the last few weeks, you have probably heard about ChatGPT – the new artificial intelligence search engine that can write advertising campaigns,  poems, or hundreds of pages of code in milliseconds. Oh, and did I mention that it will deliver these to you as if they had been written by a human? Seriously, the future is now! However, while the launch of ChatGPT is causing people to fear for their jobs (and teachers to fear that homework assignments may now be useless!), what Nick and I want to fi ..read more

Ho ho ho! It’s the final Tuesday before Christmas, which means only one thing – it is time for our annual Christmas Quiz! Join Nick and I as we exchange stories from Christmas Past, explain what people in the UK do on December 25th, and attempt to answer this year’s fiendish quiz questions. For example, do you know how many turkeys are eaten on Christmas Day? Or when people in Spain open their Christmas presents? No? Well, come join the fun. Obviously, today’s episode is simply a fun way to end the year, so there is no IELTS content. If your exam is coming up soon and you would like to spend t ..read more