A 12-week plan: how to study for band 7.0 in IELTS Academic

Who is this plan for?

This article is for students who want to reach an overall score of 7.0 in IELTS Academic. First we summarize the structure of the exam and the scoring from official sources. Then we share a suggested 12-week study plan.

The plan is a suggestion. Your starting level and the time you can set aside each week directly affect the result. We suggest you always check the score your target program asks for on the university's own page.

The structure of the exam

IELTS Academic takes 2 hours 45 minutes in total. The format is the same whether you take it at a test center or online.

Section	Duration	Content
Listening	About 30 minutes	4 sections, 40 questions (10 questions in each section)
Reading	60 minutes	3 academic texts, 40 questions
Writing	60 minutes	Task 1: describe visual information, at least 150 words, about 20 minutes. Task 2: discuss an opinion or a problem, at least 250 words, about 40 minutes.
Speaking	11 to 14 minutes	3 parts, face-to-face conversation with an examiner, recorded

Speaking is sometimes on the same day as the other sections and sometimes 7 days before or after. It helps to count this in when you choose your exam date.

What does 7.0 mean?

Each section gets a band score from 1 to 9. The overall score is the average of the four sections, rounded to the nearest half band. If the average ends in .25 it goes up to the next half band, and if it ends in .75 it goes up to the next whole band.

Example: say you get Listening 7, Reading 7, Writing 6.5 and Speaking 6.5. The average is 6.75 and your overall score is 7.0. So it may be possible to balance a weaker section with stronger ones.

According to IELTS's official description, band 7 means you can use the language effectively, even if there are occasional mistakes. At this level complex language is generally handled well and detailed reasoning is understood.

According to the official conversion table, about 30 correct answers out of 40 in Listening and Academic Reading correspond to 7.0. 23 correct answers is about 6.0. IELTS says this number can change slightly depending on the version of the exam.

In Writing and Speaking, examiners give the score using four criteria. In Writing, Task 2 carries twice the weight of Task 1.

The first four weeks: the basics

The aim for the first month is to get to know the question types and to feel the timing. We suggest the following:

Study the question types and the timing of each section one by one.
For Listening, listen to English broadcasts or podcasts for 20 to 30 minutes every day. After a while it helps to turn off the subtitles.
For Reading, do one academic text every day and time yourself.
For Writing, learn the structure of a Task 2 essay: introduction, your opinion, body paragraphs and conclusion.
For Speaking, talk to yourself for 2 minutes every day and record it. Listen to the recording and note where you got stuck.

Weeks 5 to 8: intensive practice

In the second month, we suggest you focus on the question types you are weak at.

Listening: Listen to short recordings and try to write them down word for word. Spelling mistakes cost points here.
Reading: Work separately on matching headings, True/False/Not Given and multiple-choice questions.
Writing Task 1: Try bar, line and pie charts, maps and process diagrams in turn.
Writing Task 2: Write two full practice essays a week and have someone read one of them. It helps to get feedback based on the official criteria.
Speaking: Try to fill 2 minutes with Part 2 cards. Taking notes for 1 minute first and then speaking is similar to the order in the exam.

The last four weeks: practice tests

In the last month, we suggest you take one full practice test a week. It is important to keep the timing the same as in the exam.

Do your practice tests with official samples. IELTS sample questions and British Council Academic Writing practice tests are a good start.
After each practice test, sort your mistakes by question type. Seeing which type costs you points helps you narrow down the plan.
In Writing, also assess what you wrote yourself using the four criteria.
It helps to practice Speaking with someone who speaks English, if possible in three parts like in the exam.

A few tips for Speaking

The Speaking score is given on four criteria: fluency and coherence, vocabulary, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. These four have equal weight.

So speaking without mistakes is not enough. Keeping your speech flowing and using different structures also count toward the score. Instead of going silent while you think, we suggest you use short linking phrases like "Well" or "I'd say that".

The exam and results in Türkiye

In Türkiye, IELTS is taken at official test centers, on computer or on paper. British Council Türkiye's list includes many cities, among them Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

According to British Council Türkiye, the results of the computer-delivered exam are usually released within 1 to 2 days.
If you took the exam on computer, you can retake a single section within 60 days with IELTS One Skill Retake.
Results are considered valid for 2 years from the exam date.

Depending on your application calendar, we suggest you plan the exam a few months before the deadline. That way you have time for a second attempt if you need it. For the general calendar, you can see our application calendar page.