Usually, the learners who are intending to take the IELTS test ask me to recommend some reliable ways of acing this test. As every language learner has their own tactics, I also have some - now I am going to share them.
First and foremost, one should have deep fundamental knowledge of English: it's grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. If these three basics are improved well, the four skills can be enhanced by practicing in the right way. When it comes to note my own way of reinforcing my reading comprehension, I always have my nose in English books, magazines and whatever in the English language that interests me. I did not used to go to bed without reading a fiction book every night. This habit of mine helped me enormously. Besides, using samples of reading passages provided prepared me to save time. I achieved 8 band score in reading section when I took the test for the first time as a student. I am also used to listening to variety of contents, including catchy songs, scientific podcasts, BBC podcasts all the time and watching English movies without subtitles. British Council has a wonderful radio program called SelectorRadio which helped me to improve my listening skills in a fun and engaging way. This I assume helped me to take 8 band score for my listening skill. One of the tough parts of taking the IELTS test is writing skill for many test takers, I think. Using the Road to IELTS course, which is provided for free to all IELTS test takers at British Council, was the key to my success in gaining a 7,5 band score in the writing module. I did all the tasks carefully and learned many useful strategies, writing rules while doing them and getting feedback for what I had done. This was necessary for identifying my weak points and working hard on them. Speaking was a real enjoyable part of taking the test for me. This is because I feel myself confident and strong while speaking in English, that is producing orally what I have acquired during the years. Especially the test day environment at British Council let me feel full of energy and to speak comfortably and freely. I practiced with my English-speaking acquaintances in English and got feedback from Road to IELTS course. All in all, I recommend everyone to take the IELTS test with the British Council, as everything from the booking process to the preparation materials and test day environment let you show your true abilities.