Get your FREE ticket to the International TEFL day online conference! Get your FREE ticket to International TEFL day! Register here →

Key IELTS Exam Skills

Join a global community of over 200,000 TEFL teachers working throughout the world! Enrol me!

IELTS students need to get to grips with a range of academic skills in order to pass the IELTS exam satisfactorily. Of course, passing the IELTS test is not the goal of taking an IELTS course. Students study IELTS in order to be accepted into a tertiary institution and to be able to survive in an academic environment. As such, the skills they learn in the IELTS classroom need to equip them to deal with the academic classroom of their future and not just the classroom of their present.

There are a few skills which are necessary for the IELTS exam but which are also essential for the real world. These should be dealt with in the IELTS classroom, so the students can become familiar with them and be comfortable utilising them when they need to later on. These skills include: paraphrasing and summarising, critical thinking, and logical writing.

IELTS exam skill 1: paraphrasing and summarising

Paraphrasing is the skill of rewriting an idea in your own words. Paraphrasing is important in an academic context so as to avoid plagiarism. Summarising is the skill of condensing information into its key ideas. At university, students are required to research topics by reading various sources and then summarise these findings into their own research papers. They need to paraphrase the authors they read so as not to seem to be taking credit for other people’s ideas.

In the classroom, activities that promote reformulation should be given. Attention should be paid to synonyms and nominalisation to help with this.

IELTS exam skill 2: critical thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to consider an idea critically – to have an opinion, essentially. Many students feel they cannot disagree with an author’s point of view, but this skill is a necessary one at university. The ability to question and take a standpoint is crucial to be able to construct an argument.

In the classroom, debate should be a regular part of the lessons. Students can be given a standpoint to argue or they can work in groups to construct solid arguments. This should give your students more confidence in presenting their own ideas.

IELTS exam skill 3: writing an argument

A lot of the work students will do at university is writing. Writing well depends not only on the writer’s language skills but also their ability to write logically and construct a good argument. This means including an introduction and a conclusion and structuring paragraphs properly – most popularly, topic sentence, example, and clarification or justification. Funnily enough, language learners are often able to make an argument adequately when spoken but fall down when it comes to doing the same in writing.

In the classroom, writing should not so much be done as be discussed. Writing assignments should be given as homework but time in the classroom should be spent analysing and dissecting model answers.

If you are teaching an IELTS class, bear in mind what the long-term goal of the class is as well as the short-term goal. You may find you need to supplement your course materials to this end.

Get Social

Follow us on social networks, join our newsletter - get the latest news and early discounts

Sign up to our newsletter

Follow us on social networks, sign up to our e-newsletters – get the latest news and early discounts

Accreditation Partners

The TEFL Academy was the world’s first TEFL course provider to receive official recognition from government regulated awarding bodies in both the USA and UK. This means when you graduate you’ll hold a globally recognised Level 3 (120hr) Certificate or Level 5 (168hr) Diploma, meaning you can find work anywhere and apply for jobs immediately.

Product added to your cart

You have added to your cart:

Request call back

    Please leave your details below and one of our TEFL experts will get back to you ASAP:

    Would you like us to update you on TEFL opportunities, jobs and related products & services?

    Yes, keep me updatedNo, but thanks anyway!

    Thank you! Your message has been sent!

    Register Now

    Download the TEFL World Factbook

      Please enter your details in order to download the latest TEFL World Factbook.

      Would you like us to update you on TEFL opportunities, jobs and related products & services?

      Yes, keep me updatedNo, but thanks anyway!

      Thank you for downloading the TEFL World Factbook!

      If the TEFL World Factbook did not download
      > Click Here To Download <

      Download the Online Teaching Guide

        Please enter your details in order to download our Online Teaching Guide.

        Would you like us to update you on TEFL opportunities, jobs and related products & services?

        Yes, keep me updatedNo, but thanks anyway!

        Thank you for downloading our Online Teaching Guide!

        If the Online Teaching Guide did not download
        > Click Here To Download <

        Download Prospectus

          Please enter your details in order to download our latest prospectus.

          Would you like us to update you on TEFL opportunities, jobs and related products & services?

          Yes, keep me updatedNo, but thanks anyway!

          Thank you for downloading our prospectus!

          We hope you enjoy reading our prospectus, we have tried to make it as useful as possible! Please get in touch if you have any questions.

          If the prospectus did not download automatically
          > Click Here To Download <

          $
          $