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first of all, im not sure if this is the right subforum to post this so moderator/s pls move if necessary. so i just took my 3rd ielts academic exam with the following scores: L 8.5, R 8.0, W 6.5, S 7.5, overall 7.5. i plan to work in australia and it requires applicants to have a score of 7 in the 4 categories. unfortunately for me, i didnt meet the requirement. i feel demoralized,depressed,angry and thats understating it.there are so many emotions that im feeling right now i cant even use the right words. i guess i feel this way because i feel i did all i could in preparing and taking the exam and told myself that this was going to be the last time ill take the exam pass or fail.when i had the writing exam i was pretty confident coz i had a lot of practice and i knew some things about the topic i had. but alas it wasnt enough to give me a 7. i guess ielts just wasnt for me although its hard to accept that fact as of now. so i guess i have no choice now but to look at other countries. correct me if im wrong but new zealand, uk, canada pretty much have the same ielts requirements like australia. i had hopes for canada but writing must be atleast 7. US is pretty difficult to apply to right now. i would really appreciate it if anyone could give me words of encouragement, advice on how to move on with my career, maybe share some countries which can accept my ielts score,any help, or anything at all.

right now im just typing anything at the top of my head.should i ask for a re-mark? should i go with the bridging program despite the insane cost? should i try for canada's points system for federal skilled workers? i dont think i have it in me to take this test again

HI SADBOY,

I'm sorry to hear things haven't worked out the way you were hoping. I can imagine how frustrated you must feel right now. Here is my read of your situation:

Getting from IELTS Writing band 6.5 to 7 is a very common hurdle. In my experience, I've found that grammar is often (but not always) at the heart of this challenge, as it can weaken so many other areas of the candidate's writing (i.e. accurate demonstration of lexical ability, overall coherence, cohesive device accuracy, ...).

When I look at your message, I see a writer that has developed several bad habits. I understand you were rushing and emotional when you wrote this, but it is nevertheless clear that there are grammatical issues that likely reared their ugly heads in your latest exam attempt.

Don't allow a 0.5 band gap in your writing force you to pivot your entire life plan. As painful and as frustrating as it might be, you should recognise that a few months of active grammar training within an IELTS context can do wonders for your mark. Find a talented tutor in your area that knows the IELTS well and have them carry out full grammatical cleanups of your writing. I imagine you'll find most sentences in your Task 1 and 2 responses contain at least one issue. Focus on improving the overall grammatical accuracy of your writing, and you'll be surprised by how much better you do on the exam.

Good luck!

hello sadboy,

hope this message will help you to move on from this critical situation in which you have found your self.

i am did my 13th attempt on 2 aug - and have booked one for 16th - nevertheless - i hope i dont have to do it - just like you

you havent mentioned in you post- where do you live or what language you speak everyday. i live in Australia and i do speak english everyday and pretty much all the communication; at home, at work and out and about - is in english. Although all of this should help me,I have same problem like you- do not worry ! i am telling you from my own experience - just read a lot and read between lines.. you will get there - you have better grads.. and i live here from past 7 years.

as ryan has posted-- we all need to work out what is our weakness - work on it and you will be laughing !

i hope - i didnt want to show you the negative side of my story- but the positive one!

past 16 months have been like living in hell and enormous amount of money that i have spent - you dont want to know - trust me, so - have fun for week or two- leave ielts aside and go to cinema and have good food - when you miss it - come back and focus--- we can do it !

never give up !

cheers !
Ashish

Hi guys

This is DG. I had my third attempt in General Training module but not able to get a desirable score in Writing and Reading . Pls advice me that how to improve my writing skills.Pls Ryan guide me because i dont understand what to do.....

secondly , according to me in reading exam i had to get a 7 band but got only 5.5 don't know how....what was the mistake .it is very frustrating ...

:-(:-(

Hi hope you will be doing great ..my name is prof. chandan singh
iam working as ielts trainer ..if you are looking for good band score pls let
me know ..i also provide online training in india and overseas through
skype.
my skype id is- chans0212
email- chandan@careerenglish.in

www.careerenglish.in
+91-9999552959
prof. chandan singh (IELTS Trainer and celta certified
from Newyork having experience of 10 yrs )