The IELTS Self-Study Plan.
So you have 30 days left for your IELTS exam? Certainly seems like a lot of time to prepare for yourself. One thing to keep in mind is that, while it is possible to prepare for IELTS and ace it all on your own, you don’t want to be left with just the last week thinking, “If only I had taken assistance.”
So, ask yourself—can you really do this all on your own? If the answer is yes, then let’s get started.
First 3 Days.
Before embarking on this long and tedious journey, you need to analyze the test first. For one, will this test help you? I have seen many students preparing for IELTS while having no plan to study abroad. They do it for English language learning. IELTS can have many tips and tricks, but proper language learning does not.
Now that you know you need to take the IELTS test, maybe your immigration visa depends on it, or perhaps you want to study or even work abroad—spend these three days understanding the test.
You need to know the answers to these questions:
- How many passages are in the reading test?
- How many tasks are in the writing test?
What are the marking criteria?
These days, cover all modules, especially writing and speaking. The majority of learners go through IELTS speaking and writing without actually knowing what is required of them, what examiners look for. Many just feel as if they spoke well enough and wrote a semi-comprehensible report, letter, or essay, they will get a band 7 at the very least.
This is not how it works, and I blame many platforms covering band 9 sample written essays and speaking sessions for that, because there is no detailed report on how they got such a score in the first place. IELTS examiners are trained to analyze your speaking and writing on very specific criteria; it is paramount that you go through them.
For writing:
- Task Response/Achievement: How well you answered the question.
- Lexical Resource: Range of vocabulary used in your written piece. (Focus on how there is no such thing as IELTS English; English is English. Do not aim for complication; keep things simple.
- Grammatical range and accuracy: Sophistication of grammar used in your writing.
- Coherence and cohesion: how well connected your entire written piece is. For speaking:
- Fluency and coherence: How relevant your answer is, and how it flows together naturally. Lexical Resource: use of relevant vocabulary
- Grammatical range and accuracy: the correct use of sentence structure
- Pronunciation: the clarity in your utterance (Focus on the examiner will analyze your pronunciation, not your accent. The only thing you need to focus on in this department is to be understood.)
Day 4–8: Receptive Skills – Reading and Listening.
For Reading Skills.
The first question I want to ask you is: Do you read often? What are your reading habits? If you’re someone who always has a book by their bedside, then IELTS reading might not be that bothersome for you. However, if your reading history is limited to Instagram captions, then you may need to work harder.
- Familiarize yourself with reading question types, such as matching headings,
- true/false/not given, and many more. You should not leave this for the test day.
- You should already have an idea of each question type and how to ace it.
- Work on time management—one of the biggest challenges candidates face. It’s hard to
- complete the test in an hour, so start timing yourself from day one.
- Learn strategies for skimming and scanning. You simply cannot score well in IELTS. without mastering these skills.
To dive deeper into techniques, strategies, and question types, check out our complete guide to the IELTS Reading test (https://ieltspath.com/ielts-academic-reading).
For Listening.
Again, a simple question: Do you listen to English? If yes, this is the test where you should aim high. It is considered the easiest by the majority of candidates. If not, pick up the habit now.
- Listen to podcasts, watch Hollywood movies without subtitles, listen to music, and surround yourself with English speakers if you can.
- Just like reading, you need to know everything about the listening test questions. They give you instructions in each section, but by test day, you must be so familiar with those instructions that you’re already scanning the text instead of listening to them.
- Practice each question type individually. Thanks to the internet, you don’t need to
- practice the entire test each time (although it’s better to do so). You can simply search for
- the question types that trouble you. For instance, maps used to be difficult for me.
- Whenever you feel stuck, use transcripts or watch a YouTube video of an instructor solving that test.
Day 9–13: Productive Skills – Writing and Speaking.
For Writing Skills.
- Understand the different report and essay types. (https://ieltspath.com/ielts-writing-preparation)
- Read Band 9 sample essays on different topics. Be cautious—many platforms share deliberately complicated samples. You do not need to write each sentence with 4–5 lines. Keep it simple.
- Get your write-ups assessed by AI if you cannot find a teacher or mentor.
For Speaking Skills.
- Watch many YouTube videos featuring Band 9 speaking samples. Again, be cautious.
- Many videos just show a candidate using “IELTS vocabulary”—a deliberate attempt to sound complex, which is a total myth. You simply need to be natural.
- Practice speaking with friends, an instructor, or even AI tools.
Day 14–20: Back to the Basics.
During these days, I want you to work on the basics again. Now that you know your strengths and weaknesses in each test, improve your grammar and vocabulary.
For both speaking and writing, grammar makes up one-fourth of your marks—and so does vocabulary.
- Go through common grammar issues: sentence types, tenses, articles, and subject-verb agreement.
- Start a vocabulary journal, and practice Band 9 vocabulary related to different topics. such as education and health.
Day 21-28: Full Practice Mode.
Now that your basics are covered and you know everything you need to know about the test, it’s time to practice full test sets.
- Practice reading, writing, and listening—one after another—as this mirrors the test day.
- Speaking can be scheduled on a different day, but still, practice it daily.
Day 29: Finale Revision:
Revise your grammar and vocabulary list. Take a final look at your weaker areas.
Day 30: Take a Breather.
You’ve been working hard for the past 29 days. By now, you might feel drained or anxious. That’s okay. Take the day off. Remind yourself why you chose this path.
Give yourself a pep talk—one last time—and in English.
If possible, don’t use any language other than English today. Best of luck on your test day!
Author Bio: Zeeshan Jhatial is a Higher Secondary School Subject Specialist in English with a strong academic foundation from the University of Sindh, where he graduated from the Department of English.
Passionate about language education and exam preparation, he runs ieltspath, a platform dedicated to helping IELTS candidates improve their writing, speaking, and overall performance through practical resources and expert guidance.
