I had background knowledge of TOEFL and SAT because I studied them at a different academy nearly a year before I started my classes at BELA Academy. However, I had no idea how IELTS works and really needed to work on several things to reach my target score.

I first started with reading and writing classes, and later, after about a month, I learned all four sections of the test: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. It was a draining experience, but it was also a meaningful period in my life that I will never regret, since my hard work paid off.

To prepare for the IELTS exam, all I did was attend classes every day at BELA Academy and complete the tasks the academy provided for my self-study time. These tasks included Hacker’s Voca, IELTS books, IELTS Writing Task 2 (once a week), and other activities necessary for my college preparation.

I had two IELTS classes right after school and had to stay at BELA until around 10 PM on average. This routine continued for roughly three months, devoting four to five hours a day to studying (excluding dinner time).

Before taking the IELTS exam, I was quite nervous, but I still had confidence deep down because of the effort I had put into studying IELTS and the people who supported me wholeheartedly.

I checked my results in the evening while my family and I were in the living room. I was not expecting an overall band score of 8.5 at all, so when I found out I had achieved that score, I was really happy and shocked at the same time.

There aren’t many tips I can give since I only studied for a few months and may have been a bit lucky. However, I highly recommend exposing yourself to English in your daily life. It not only improves your familiarity with the language but also helps your brain process English better when reading, writing, listening, or speaking.

In addition, vocabulary is definitely important, but grammar also plays a major role in every section. Lastly, try to answer as many practice tests and IELTS book exercises as possible so that you know what to expect on test day.

I may still doubt the process, but I do not doubt the result.