(READ)WARNING:YOU, THE ONE ONE READING THIS CAN GET BAND 0

[steakpie]

You read that right, let me tell you a real story to demonstrate this.

My best friend and I registered for the ielts test together, on the same date, for the same date and for the same city.

SO we got the same centre for the test, which was around 2 hours away from where we lived,the reporting time was 11.30 am even though the test was at 1 pm.

This is about the December 13th test.

Since the centre was far away, I decided to leave at 7 in the morning and I reached there around 10.20 am!

My friend, took it lightly saying the 11.30 time was only for making sure students report by 1pm
He decided to leave late, but not so late.

He left by 9-9.30 as I was told, and reached the centre at 11.45-11.50

While he was about to enter the centre, a guy who seemed to manage a part of the exam stopped him ,and said
"I'm sorry ,you cannot get in."

He was shocked and scared because the manager by looks was very STERN and STRICT ,and a part of him was sure he won't let him in no matter what,but responded by saying,
"Sir, my train was late and I say at X, which is really far away from here...I also had issues reaching the here after getting off the train."

Manager says:
"I'm sorry the reporting time has passed and we cannot take in any students anymore. The official ielts examiners have already arrive and these are the rules"


My friend cried , cried miserably...as if he lost his dad!
All this because this was the last test before his university application deadlines , and the next registration date available was in late February.

He cried he pleaded, but the guy didn't move an inch, as if he was a devil and his job was to ruin people's lives.
I say so because he was very,very stern and didn't try anything.

Finally this guy manager to run in and the manager ran behind him.
The guy was crying and another manager noticed this and spoke to him.

By this time ,it was already 12.20 pm.
The official ielts examiners arrived at 12 noon(They were not there before as the manager lied before)

Manager2 explained him saying there is nothign they can do now, these examiners are foreign British examiners, which rarely happens, but since they have come , he can't do anythign.

Friend asked,
"When I arrived these guys were not there...I saw them coming in at 12, why wasn't I allowed to enter at 11.45?"

manager 2 says:
"I can't help it, its manager1's duty to let people in or let them stay out...if I was there I would have let you in immediately"

Manager2 immediately calls a british council lady and explains the situation.
Lady tells my friend
"Listen , there is nothing I can about this"

My friend kept on crying and crying, as if he lost BOTH HIS MON AND HIS DAD THE SAME DAY,OR JUST HOURS AGO.

He told her " Ma'am this is my last chance, I cannot apply to universities if I miss their deadlines..please help me,this is about my future and there are still 35 minutes reamaining before THE ACTUAL TEST STARTS!"

She kept on telling her to stop crying , because she cannot do anything about this.

Finally my friend got an idea..he asked if she can get a date for december or Jan if he quickly regusters for feb/march test immediately..

She said its doubtful but she can look into it.

She gave him her name/number and british council office address and told him to be there in the office on Monday and meet her.


My friend left the venue at 12.40 seeing that his real crying and begging didn't do anything (still 20 mins to go for the REAL TEST to begin!)

He reached home as soon as possible and registered and PAID full fees for february 7th Test.
He ran to the office on Monday and luckily, she was able to get a vacant seat for the December 20th Test.

She asked for an extra $60 for the convenience(apart from the FULL new test registration fee) and she changed his date.

He was happy in the end, because this was the best he could get after what had already happened.

Take care guys, IELTS hires strict people only.
From what I gathered at the test centre that day, ALMOST 80% of they people they hired were equivalent to your most hated strict teacher at school, or anywhere else...
Imagine so many of those around you, you better be on time or you lose your time ,money and your FUTURE plans go down the gutter.

I hope this helps future test-taking students.
I request readers to post something so this topic keeps on coming up, thus ensuring least number of students that might have a similar story to tell in the future.

[Robeena]

Ah yeah that's right! .... I jus had my test on Jan 17th ... I arrived more than 1 hour earlier than the registration time! ... cuz it's like a terrible nightmare if i arrive or think to arrive a bit late .... I'm always scared from getting late cuz it happened with me once ... but not for IELTS ...

[billgate]

Hi guys,
This is for the people who are planning to migrate to Australia.I would suggest you to take PTE exam instead of IELTS.
The syllabus of PTE might look scary but actually it isn't. I had taken IELTS exam 3 times and got 6.5 in writing all the time.
But i cracked PTE in my first attempt. Surprisingly,i got my results within a day.