IELTS

Who's it for?

This course is designed to prepare candidates for the Cambridge IELTS (International English Language Testing System) examination. IELTS is recognised as an entrance requirement by British, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian universities and for secondary, vocational and training programmes.

Course content

The course is a highly intensive programme, focusing on all of the main skills that are required in the IELTS exam, including:

• Writing
• Reading
• Vocabulary
• Listening
• Speaking

As part of the course, you will do regular examination practice to get you used to working under examination conditions. You will also concentrate on developing good examination techniques.

Throughout the course, you will be set homework exercises, with particular emphasis on reading and writing. You will receive feedback, correction and advice.

A full online practice IELTS exam is included in the course.  Some of this will be used on the course, but it can also be used by course participants in their own time to prepare for the exam.

Benefits of doing this course

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• achieve the best possible mark in your exam
• approach the four different components of the Cambridge IELTS exam (Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking) with greater confidence
• handle the language more effectively and with greater confidence
• understand what you hear and what you read more easily
• speak and write more accurately
• speak more fluently
• use a wider range of vocabulary in your written and spoken English
• understand the areas you need to work on the most

2013 Dates & Fees

Course dates

7th January – 15th February 2013 (6 weeks, exam on 16th February)
25th February – 5th April 2013 (6 weeks, exam on 6th April)
8th April - 24th May 2013 (7 weeks, 25th May)
3rd June - 26th July 2013 (8 weeks, exam on 27th July)
27th August - 11th October 2013 (7 weeks, exam on 12th October)

Course fees and exam fee

• £2280 (6 week course) 24 hours per week
• £2660 (7 week course) 24 hours per week
• £3040 (8 week course) 24 hours per week
• exam fee £140 

Course fees do not include the examination fee. Students will only be registered for the examination after payment of the appropriate fees. If you are taking the IELTS exam as part of your course, an exam place will be reserved for you on the Saturday directly after the course has finished. If you would prefer an alternative date then that can be arranged for you subject to availability. Please be aware that for an alternative date, it is advisable to book the IELTS exam a minimum of 6 weeks in advance, especially if you wish to take the exam on a particular date/at a centre in London.

The examination

The examination consists of the following four components and types of questions and tasks:

• Listening – you will practise listening to a variety of different texts (monologues and dialogues) connected with social needs, as well as situations related to educational and training contexts. You will practise a variety of question types, such as: multiple choice, short answer questions, matching, sentence completion, labelling a diagram, classification and notes/summary/diagram/flow-chart/table completion.
• Reading – you will practise reading a variety of different texts, taken from magazines, newspapers, books and journals. You will practise answering a variety of question types, including: multiple-choice, matching, classification and identification of views/information.
• Writing – you will practise interpreting a table or diagram and presenting the information in your own words. You will also practise writing about the solution to a problem, presenting and justifying opinions, evaluating or comparing/contrasting evidence. You will look at task realisation (what is expected in terms of register, organisation, style and content).
• Speaking – You will practise all three parts of the exam, which are designed to test your ability to communicate effectively in English. You will practise: answering general questions; speaking extensively on a particular topic; discussing more abstract issues and topics.

Gozde Doganyilmaz

Gozde has been studying IELTS for 4 months, she says it is a very intensive course which has been a good experience for her.     

She feels that learning English in the UK is very different to being taught in her own country (Turkey) because “in the UK, students are able to practice speaking more in English and with native English speakers”. She has found that living in the UK has helped her even more to improve her English and prepare for a UK university.

In her time at the School so far, Gozde has made good progress and she finds the teachers very good, she says “I find them very open-minded. We had a lot of discussions in the classes and they always respect our thoughts and more important they always listen and try to understand.”

She says the most thing she likes about the school is that the school “not only try to teach us English but also adopt us to the culture and make us get used to living in England. In this way we can feel more self-confident.“

Gozde plans to study a MA at the University of Bath (dependent on her IELTS results), followed by a PHD. Her advice to other students would be to “make sure they do their homework!”.