Rules that cost marks: checking an answer the way it is marked
You can check an answer the way it will be marked: the word limit, the spelling, the time allowed and the question asked.
In Listening and Reading, every answer is right or wrong, one mark each. An answer can mean the right thing and still be marked wrong. One word too many is enough, and so is one wrong letter.
Writing and Speaking have rules of their own, about length and about answering the question you were asked. We take the papers in turn, and for each rule you decide how an answer would be marked.
Warm-up
Count the words
The instruction says NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER. Here is what the speaker says.
Read thisIf you're cycling in, leave your bike in the bike shelter behind the library.
Which answer breaks the word limit?
How it works
Listening and Reading
Each answer is checked against an answer key, and it is either right or wrong. A wrong answer and a blank both score nothing, so a guess can only help. Leave no box empty.
The word limit is part of the answer. Going over it makes the answer wrong, even when the right words are in it.
Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
WEEKEND TRIP FOR NEW STUDENTS
Bicycles: leave in the 1 behind the library
Price includes: 2 and breakfast
Saturday evening: a play at the 3
You met question 1 in the warm-up. Questions 2 and 3 are in the practice.
Check each answer before you move on
- 1Count the words
A, an and the all count. A word with a hyphen, such as check-in, counts as one. If an answer is over the limit, take out the words the gap does not need.
- 2Check the spelling letter by letter
A misspelled answer is marked wrong. British and American spellings are both accepted: colour and color both score.
- 3Check where the words come from
If the instruction says from the passage, the words must be the passage's own. A word of yours with the same meaning is marked wrong.
- 4Read the line with your answer in it
It should make sense and read as correct English. If it does not, look at the answer again.
The time you have
Answers go into their boxes while you listen. Every recording is heard once, and at the end there are 2 minutes to check.
60 minutes for three sections, with no time added at the end. When the hour is up, the answers in the boxes are your answers.
Writing: length and the question
The word minimums are part of each task. On computer, the screen counts your words for you. With Writing on Paper, you count them yourself. If an answer is too short, ielts.org says, there may not be enough evidence in it for the higher bands. There is no maximum, but a very long answer uses time you need for the other task and for checking.
About 20 minutes
About 40 minutes. It carries more weight in marking.
Answer the question that was asked
If the question asks two things, answer both. Task Response judges how fully you respond to the task.
Task Achievement asks you to cover all three bullet points. The band descriptors place a letter in which not all bullet points are presented at band 4.
Describe what the chart, table or diagram shows. Reasons you imagine for the figures are outside the task.
Bullet points or notes, in any part of an answer, may be penalised, and so may copied writing. A model essay learned by heart is copied writing.
Speaking: the question you were asked
The examiner asks questions from a script. Answer the one you hear, even when it is close to one you prepared. Relevance is marked under Fluency and Coherence: at band 8, the descriptors ask for topic development that is coherent, appropriate and relevant. An answer to a different question can lose marks there.
If you did not catch a question, ask the examiner to repeat it. You do not lose marks for asking. In Part 2, talk about the topic on your card, for up to two minutes. The examiner may stop you in the middle of a sentence to move on, and that is normal.
Watch me do one
A Reading question, from the passage in the practice below. The instruction says ONE WORD ONLY from the passage. The sentence is For forty years, the paintings were kept in a ______.
The passage says the collection spent forty years in the basement of the town hall. My first thought is cellar. It means the same, but it is my word, and the instruction wants the passage's.
The gap already has a in front of it, and the limit is one word, so the basement cannot go in. That leaves basement.
I copy it from the passage letter by letter: B-A-S-E-M-E-N-T.
Then I read the line with the answer in it: kept in a basement. It reads correctly, so basement goes in the box.
Practice with Elita8 questions
Eight questions. In the first four, you see a candidate's answer and decide how it would be marked.
Question 2: the price
The notes say Price includes: ______ and breakfast. Read what the speaker says, then the candidate's answer.
Read thisThe price covers your accommodation and breakfast on both days. Lunch you pay for yourselves.
Candidate's answer: accomodation
Question 3: the play
The notes say Saturday evening: a play at the ______. Read what the speaker says, then the candidate's answer.
Read thisOn Saturday evening there's a play at the theatre in the town square, so bring something warm for the walk back.
Candidate's answer: theater
From the passage: the damage
Reading. The instruction says ONE WORD ONLY from the passage. The sentence is The paintings were harmed more by ______ than by the fire.
Read thisThe Hallam collection spent forty years in the basement of the town hall. When it was moved to the new gallery, conservators found that damp in the basement had done more harm to the paintings than the small fire of 1994. The worst-affected canvases went to a specialist workshop, where each one was cleaned by hand.
Candidate's answer: moisture
From the passage: the workshop
Same passage, same instruction: ONE WORD ONLY. The sentence is The ______ paintings went to a specialist workshop.
Read thisThe Hallam collection spent forty years in the basement of the town hall. When it was moved to the new gallery, conservators found that damp in the basement had done more harm to the paintings than the small fire of 1994. The worst-affected canvases went to a specialist workshop, where each one was cleaned by hand.
Candidate's answer: worst-affected
The 10 minutes in the book
Your practice book says: You now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet. Your real test is on computer.
How should you practise Listening from this book?
Word counts
Three answers from the Writing test, with their word counts.
Which answer is under the minimum?
Two questions in one task
The Task 2 question: More people now buy second-hand clothes. What are the reasons for this? Is the change a positive or a negative one?
Which plan answers the whole task?
What the examiner asked
In Part 1, the examiner asks: Do you usually cook at home, or eat out?
Which reply could lose marks?
Before you go
Count every word of a Listening or Reading answer against the limit, a and the included. A hyphenated word counts as one.
Copy spellings exactly. British or American spelling is fine, and one wrong letter loses the mark.
On computer, type Listening answers as you hear them, because the time at the end is 2 minutes to check. Reading has no extra time.
Write at least 150 and 250 words in full sentences, answer every part of each task, and in Speaking answer the question you were asked.
Next: The course is complete. From here, sit full tests under the real timing: Listening, Reading and Writing in one sitting, then a Speaking test with me. I mark your Writing and Speaking, so each test shows you what to work on before the day.