In this post we look at some questions raised by the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus on IELTS. Has your IELTS test been suspended? How can you find out? How does this affect your IELTS preparation?

Has your IELTS test been suspended?

With much of the world now in lockdown, suspension of IELTS has been inevitable. If you have registered with the British Council, there is very detailed information, including country-by-country updates on this page. The page also includes projected dates for IELTS to resume, although for obvious reasons these dates are subject to change. If you have registered with IDP, click here.

Think positive

We all know the depressing negatives associated with Covid-19 and IELTS, so let’s make an effort to think positive. What this lockdown does mean is that you have more time to prepare for this very important test. And more time to prepare can translate into a better band score — but only if you use that time intelligently.

There is a strong temptation when facing an exam to wait until the last minute before starting your preparation. This is a particularly bad idea with IELTS because the task types in the test are so unusual. You almost certainly won’t have seen question types like Matching heading to paragraphs or Yes / no / not given in your school English exams. You can only perform well on them if you understand them, and have practised them.

How can I practise?

Use the next few weeks to practise the IELTS task types, and give yourself the best possible chance of getting the band score you need. The very best IELTS preparation package is the British Council’s official online program Road to IELTS. You can check it out here, and if you decide to subscribe, you will get a one month extension free of charge.

Final thought

In order to spend your IELTS preparation most profitably, you need to do an audit of your strong and weak areas of English. Start by reading this post on the subject by Dr Adrian Raper.