Lee Peterson's Blog: Young man from Nigeria got Band 8 in Academic IELTS

When we asked Oladeji Bamisile, a young man from Nigeria, how he managed to achieve Band 8 in his Academic IELTS exam, the answer was quite simple – lots of practice, early arrival, some warm up before Speaking and a prayer!

We felt his perspective was important to share with you, because quite a few of our students said they feel that Band 8 is nearly impossible to get. Oladeji’s experience proves the opposite – that with the right preparation and dedicated work, it is possible, doable, achievable and manageable!

Here is what he said about preparing for IELTS:

“Firstly, I practiced and read thoroughly the road to IELTS application materials, I took several tests there.

Secondly, I also practiced the test on the IELTS CD given alongside the material I received from the test centre, it was helpful.

Thirdly, I bought some materials online. These materials accounted to about 70% of my success, it included reading materials and also lots of tests and answers, listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Fourthly, I arrived at the exam venue hours earlier, so as to be in a calm mood and serene state of mind, free from pressure. On the day of my speaking test I made sure I raised a topic for discussion among the students sitting the test, and it was a good confidence booster, as it put me in the mood to talk. When I now got to the examiner I was calm and relaxed.

Lastly, I prayed to God to help me pass with excellence and he did!

The fact remains when practicing, time yourself and follow the timing keenly, I used 1 hour timing in Reading / Writing and it helped me finish most of my questions before the time was up.

Thanks so much, I hope my technique will work for someone else”.