Hello everyone.
I took my IELTS Academic module on the 8th of December 2018 in Melbourne Australia. I have been living and working in Melbourne for nearly 2 and a half years, which means English has become part of my life everyday communication.
I needed to sit my IELTS in order to apply for a registration to work as a Physiotherapist in Australia. The minimum score required is 7 in each module and overall band score 7. I was very lucky to come across IELTS Banglaeduwd website. I solely studied from Banglaeduwd website. I did most of the lessons, read all the tips, followed all updates and of course purchased the Advanced Writing lessons. I strongly recommend to all students to purchase the advanced lessons as they are ABSOLUTELY fantastic. Banglaeduwd explanation and advice are very comprehensive and clear.I could not afford having a tutor to study so Banglaeduwd website and affordable advanced writing lessons saved my life!!!
I received my IELTS score as the following:
- Listening: 7.5
- Reading: 8.0S
- Speaking: 8.5
- Writing: 6.0
I was absolutely disappointed with my writing score as I was pretty sure I did better than 6. In Task 1 I had two line graphs and Task 2 a problem solution essay. I did follow Banglaeduwd's advice on how to organise paragraphs and ideas, did my planning before starting writing!!!! VERY IMPORTANT I used a variety of complex sentences (Banglaeduwd’s lessons for complex sentences are fantastic). I was as careful as possible. I felt that something was wrong with the score, so I started checking online about the remark option. The majority of the websites mention that there is a possibility to get a change in the score, with a 0.5 increase being the most common and in rare cases a 1.0. What they also mention is that if there is a major difference between each component (like my case) they will ask for a second examiner to mark it just to be sure. So I thought they might have done that with mine too.
But still my gut feeling said to me that something is wrong. I did better than 6.0. So I decided to apply for a remark. The remark fee is quite expensive, 176 AUD to be precise, so if there is not a change you lose your money, but if there is a change you get a full refund. I decided to take the risk because as I said before I did study very hard for my writing, which was my weakest part.
After 4 weeks I received an email saying that there has been a change to my writing score. And that change was……. 7.5. I COULD NOT believe it. That’s a 1.5 increase. So my final score is overall band score 8 with:
- Listening: 7.5
- Reading: 8.0
- Speaking: 8.5
- Writing: 7.5
Even the staff at the English Centre where I took my IELTS were absolutely surprised by this remark change. If you have a doubt about your results, while you are confident that you have done better than this, go for the remark. You might receive your desired score.
I would also like to say that please do read well all Banglaeduwd’s pages as they contain crucial information about the test. I literally followed her advice for each part of the test.
What I would like to add about speaking is…. SPEAK ENGLISH AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. I was very lucky to practice my English everyday. Living and working in Australia have allowed me to interact with people. I was asking colleagues and friends to correct any errors I made with my speaking and, believe me, that helped me a lot. You can only improve if you are aware of your weak points and you are determined to study hard. Nothing comes easy without hard work.Unfortunately for permanent residency I need a minimum of 8 in each component, so I have to sit the IELTS again but i can finally practice my profession. I am continuing to practise my listening, speaking, writing and reading and also my spelling as I am pretty sure some of my listening errors were spelling mistakes.
Thank you Banglaeduwd for your absolutely amazing hard work and your kindness, Najada.
From Banglaeduwd: Well done Najada!! And thanks for sharing your story with everyone else. It will help many people. All the best, Banglaeduwd
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Remarking Advice:
Note to consider about remarking:
- If you are considering a remark, and have a two band score difference between your writing and speaking score (for example, speaking 8 and writing 6), your scores will already have been reviewed by a second examiner who agreed with those marks. This means the chance of your score changing after a remark by a third, senior examiner is less likely to be successful. It doesn’t mean it is impossible to change, it means it is less likely.
- Your scores for listening and reading are unlikely to change from a remark, because those scores are not based on examiner interpretation or assessment, but on right or wrong answers. This means it is rare the marking is wrong.
- Before you decide on a remark, make sure you do know and understand the band score requirements for speaking and writing. This will help you make the right choice.
- “Go with your gut!” Many people decide to try remarking because they feel they did better in speaking or writing (or both). If this is how you feel, make the decision that feels right for you.
- The remark is always done by a senior examiner. They will listen to your speaking recording and remark from that. For the writing test, they will remark your writing task 1 and task 2 again.
