Writing
Task 1 and Task 2 for IELTS, integrated and independent tasks for TOEFL. Every response is marked per criterion and returned annotated, with one specific instruction for the next attempt.
Also taught here · Academic and General Training
IELTS and TOEFL, marked against the descriptors, not a vibe
Most test preparation fails in the same place: a student writes essays for six weeks and nobody marks them against the actual criteria. Every piece of work here comes back with a band, the descriptor that justifies it, and the one change that moves it up.
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Bands 0 to 9IELTS scale
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0 to 120TOEFL iBT scale
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RecordedSpeaking mocks
Why scores stall
Fluent students plateau at 6.5 for measurable reasons
A student who speaks English comfortably every day can sit IELTS three times and land on 6.5 each time, which is baffling until you read the descriptors. Band 7 in speaking requires specific things, among them a range of connectives used without hesitation and the ability to develop an answer beyond two sentences, and neither of those arrives from general fluency.
Writing plateaus for an even narrower reason. Task 2 responses that are well argued and grammatically clean routinely score 6.0 because they answer a slightly different question from the one asked, and nobody has ever told the student that, which is a marking problem rather than an English problem.
- Every speaking mock recorded and scored against the four public criteria
- Writing returned with a band per criterion, not a single number and a tick
- Reading and listening drilled by question type, since that is where the time goes
- A realistic target and a realistic date, set in the first session
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Band per criterion
Recorded mocks
Question-type drills
Courses at a glance
Two tests, related but not interchangeable, and the choice matters.
IELTS formatsAcademic and General Training
IELTS scoringBands 0 to 9, reported per skill and as an overall band
TOEFL formatTOEFL iBT, taken at a centre or at home
TOEFL scoring0 to 30 per section, 0 to 120 overall
Skills coveredListening, reading, writing and speaking, in whatever proportion the diagnostic demands
Session length55 minutes, with 85 minutes common for writing-heavy work
Typical courseEight to sixteen sessions, depending on the gap to target
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Realistic targets
Skill weighting
Test-day plan
What is taught
The four skills, weighted by need
A student who needs 7.0 in writing and already has 8.0 in listening should not be paying for listening lessons, and here they will not be.
Speaking
Full mocks recorded and scored, then replayed with the student listening for the specific habit that is holding the band down. Uncomfortable and effective in roughly that order.
Listening and reading
Taught by question type rather than by passage. Matching headings, true false not given and multiple choice each need a different method, and time is lost by treating them the same.
If you have an official test report form from a previous attempt, send it with your enquiry. A per-skill breakdown from a real sitting is worth more than any diagnostic we could set.
How a course actually runs
How a test preparation course runs
Short, targeted and finite. Test preparation should end.
01
Full diagnostic across four skills
A shortened but complete test in the first session, scored honestly. Students frequently discover their weakest skill is not the one they have been worrying about, which changes the whole plan.
02
A target and a date
The tutor states what the target band is likely to take in weeks, and whether the test date you have in mind is realistic. Where it is not, we say so and recommend moving it.
03
Skill weighting
Session time is allocated to the skills that are short of target. Nothing is spent maintaining a skill already comfortably above it, which is where most course packages waste money.
04
Mock, mark, replay
Weekly speaking mocks recorded and scored, weekly writing marked per criterion. The replay is the part that works: hearing your own hesitation is more persuasive than being told about it.
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Test-day rehearsal
The final two sessions cover timing, transfer, the order you attack the paper in and what to do when the reading passage is about geology. Familiarity is worth half a band on its own.
Send your previous test report
A per-skill breakdown from an actual sitting tells us more in thirty seconds than an hour of conversation, and it makes the first session considerably more useful.
Where marks are won and lost
IELTS or TOEFL, and what each rewards
The choice is usually made by what the institution accepts, but where you have a choice, this is the difference.
| Feature | IELTS | TOEFL iBT |
|---|---|---|
| Scoring | Bands 0 to 9 per skill and overall | 0 to 30 per section, 0 to 120 overall |
| Speaking | A conversation with a human examiner in three parts | Recorded responses to prompts, with no interlocutor |
| Writing | Two tasks, one report or letter and one essay | Integrated task drawing on reading and listening, plus an independent task |
| Suits students who | Are comfortable speaking to a person and thinking aloud | Prefer structured, predictable prompts and typing over handwriting |
| Common trap | Task 1 treated as an essay rather than as a report | Integrated writing that summarises the reading and ignores the lecture |
Scheduling and fees
Booking test preparation
Courses are short by design, and we would rather you finished than renewed.
Free trial
Thirty minutes with the tutor you would actually be assigned. They set a short diagnostic task, mark it live, and tell you where the gaps are. No card details.
Weekly slot
One fixed 55 minute session a week, billed monthly in advance. Your tutor and your time do not move unless you move them.
Exam sprint
A block of eight sessions in the six weeks before the series, built around past papers and examiner reports rather than new content.
Speaking-only block
Four sessions of recorded speaking mocks with band feedback, for students whose writing and reading are already at target and whose speaking is not.
Rescheduling is free with 12 hours notice. Inside 12 hours the session counts as taught, which is the only way a tutor can hold a fixed slot for you and still plan a week around it.
Questions parents ask first
IELTS and TOEFL, answered plainly
How many sessions do I need to move from 6.5 to 7.5?
Typically twelve to sixteen, spread over eight to ten weeks, with real work between sessions. Anyone promising that jump in four sessions is selling something.
The honest answer depends on which skill is short, since writing usually moves more slowly than the other three.
Do you guarantee a band score?
No, and we would be suspicious of anyone who did. We will tell you what your current work scores, what the target requires and whether the timeline is realistic, all in writing.
Should I take IELTS Academic or General Training?
Whichever the receiving institution or immigration authority requires. Check their published requirement rather than assuming, since sitting the wrong one is an expensive and entirely avoidable mistake.
Are the speaking mocks really recorded?
Yes, with your consent, and the recording is the teaching tool. Students argue with a tutor's assessment of their hesitation and stop arguing about thirty seconds into the playback.
Can you help with the TOEFL Home Edition?
Yes. The content is the same and the differences are logistical, so we cover equipment, room requirements and the specific ways the at-home format catches people out.
More answers sit on the full FAQ page.
Test preparation places open
Book a four-skill diagnostic
Tell us your target band or score, your deadline and any previous result. The first session ends with a per-skill breakdown and an honest view on whether the date works.
Contact us