IELTS - BC or IDP?

cijhane, LPN · Apr 25, 2007

For those interested in a good review center in Cebu, i'd recommend NGRTCI. They've 100% pass rate for all nurses for IELTS. Min. overall band of 6.5 and 7 on the spoken module...i took my review there. 3 weeks' worth. Got an overall 8.5 band score. Instructor is an australian english teacher who also taught in the UK.

helloooo Ethan!

im interested about it.. may i know the exact location and how much you had paid for the entire review???

thanks!

boot_unit · Apr 25, 2007

i take ielts last year on my first try luckily i passed, i heard idp is generous than

british, yea it all depends on examiner pray that its foreigner not pinoy theyre more strict, i have caucasian women on my speaking portion thats why i passed lol

i takin TSe twice n i failed:uhoh3:

goodluck

ladyrn · Apr 27, 2007

I think IDP is more lenient in giving a high band score,I took IELTS last APRIL 14 with IDP and praise God I passed! hard work, prayers and self confidence counts a lot! just do your best and God will do the rest!

pumpkin80 · May 5, 2007

Hi Ethan,

Where is NGRTCI. I have good feedback about WorldWise too . Is it better? I'm lookin all over Cebu now.

:uhoh3:

suzanne4, RN · May 6, 2007

Only thing that I can add it if you are going to attend a review center in the Philippines, make sure that your instructor is a foreigner. And that everything is explained 100% in English, you do not want to have any Taglog used at all at the school.

Tagalog should be prohibited to be used. And if you need to use the Tagalog to get your point across, then you are not ready to be taking this exam.

Just something to think about.

Aquarian · May 6, 2007

BC conducts the exam (for the Manila part) in a ballroom at the EDSA Shangrila where a close to a thousand of test takers will be listening to the audio with you, in the listening part. Unfortunately, the audio system there is so loud and irritating to the ears, especially if an av speaker is directly above your head. If you ask the staff to lower the volume, they would say that the level is their standard. This can greatly affect your answers in the listening part.

Whereas in the IDP, the number of the takers are not so much that they just occupy a smaller room, with better sound system.

Lone Stranger · Jun 5, 2007

Only thing that I can add it if you are going to attend a review center in the Philippines, make sure that your instructor is a foreigner. And that everything is explained 100% in English, you do not want to have any Taglog used at all at the school.
Tagalog should be prohibited to be used. And if you need to use the Tagalog to get your point across, then you are not ready to be taking this exam.
Just something to think about.

Really? On what grounds should the instructor be a foreigner? Neither the professional organizations of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL) nor the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) will bear out your advice. If you can go beyond your racist say-so and point out professional basis I would be more than happy to consider it.

mooch · Dec 29, 2008

reetings! I took the IELTS last Decemeber 6, 2008. It was my second time taking the exam and when I received the scores it was 8.5 for listening, 8 for reading 6.5 for writing and speaking. I felt confident after the interview was finished and I was happy because I had a nice interviewer, he was attentive in listening to you. Howerver, when I got the results I only got 6.5 in speaking. i felt very depressed and even cried.

Now, I'm planning to ask the British council to recheck my speaking test. Do you recoomend it? ( I know I have to pay but I want to have a peace of mind that I really deserve a 6.5 but in my heart I know I can get a 7). Do you thinnk there is a chance that my score will be higher by 0.5? Thank.. I want to hear your opinion about this matter. God Bless

iamnomad · Dec 30, 2008

hi,

i really don't know the diifference between the two institution offering the test, but i do know that they follow the same standard in the exam. but there's a lot of talks about one is more considerate than the other. maybe at least its on the speaking part.

i took mine with the british council, and i had a good professional experience with them.

when it comes to review, its really nice to have a foreigner to be your mentor, however, if its not possible to find one, those non-native English speaker who have their English language qualification in teaching is really ok. Remember, the English language is governed by rules (like the subject-verb agreement), therefore, English should be taught considering these matter and is not based by the nationality of its speaker...

that's just my opinion.

alex88 · May 23, 2010

Hi! I just wanted to share my IELTS experiences with the British Council.

I don't know if IDP offers this service, but the BC allows its registrants free use of a whole library of OFFICIAL IELTS materials that normally sell for hundreds even thousands of pesos. You can photocopy upto 10% of the total pages of EACH reference/book. Although you can bring your own CD player and headset for the listening practice tests, the friendly and courteous staff will gladly lend you their own sets. The library is cozy and has separate tables and chairs. Air conditioning is good, but you may want to bring along a light sweater/ jacket because it can get too cold sometimes. You may access the materials as often as you want, from Mondays thru Saturdays, 9am-4pm.

Another good thing about registering with the BC is that you get free 30 hours of ROAD TO IELTS practice test. It contains 3 out of the 12 most common topics in IELTS and shows the different types of tests used in the actual exam. The BC gives you a login I.D. and password which are valid until a week from your test date. This free access is only 25% of the whole thing. If you want all of the 12 topics, you can buy the CD at the BC for 360 pesos.

PREPARATIONS: I had roughly 3 weeks to prepare for the IELTS. I did not attend any review class and just used the Road to IELTS CD. I must say this CD helped a lot in making myself familiar with the style and types of questions asked in IELTS. Also, knowing that I was answering official and updated practice tests and not just some random uploaded generic exercises made me more confident about the exam. A week before my IELTS, I dropped by the BC once to check the other materials. I stayed there for 4 hours to do some listening practice tests and to read more on writing for IELTS. I especially liked one reference which discussed in detail tips on how to write an essay for Task 1 (charts, tables, processes, etc).

TEST DAY: I had my speaking test 2 days before the 3 other tests. TIP: BE ON THE SITE 30 MINUTES EARLIER. You don't want to be gasping for breath when you meet your examiner. You need time to get settled and compose yourself before hitting the exam room. This was exactly my problem having arrived in my test site 15 minutes before schedule. NOT at all a very good idea. I'm still grateful of the kind BC staff who gave me 20 minutes to relax before my interview.

I took the listening, reading and writing parts at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. While I ate a heavy breakfast, I didn't drink much fluid because I knew that as a rule, we were not allowed to leave the room during the test. (During the listening part: absolutely not allowed; other parts: I think you may, but you risk losing time). Bring sweatshirt/jacket just in case you feel cold. You may bring candies and bottled water (remove the label). Wear a watch to keep track of the time, although the facilitators would prompt you regularly.

Listening part: Do report to the invigilators (facilitators) if you are not hearing the audio well. They normally will not proceed unless everyone agrees about the volume, reception, etc. In my experience, I noticed some of the examinees were shy to raise their hands and complain... never hesitate to do so. If the exam has to proceed despite a persistent problem in the logistics, at least the facilitators will document it. As such, when you need to complain later on, you have some evidence to base on.

Reading part: This, I think, was the most difficult because of the time constraints. The first 2 selections were manageable. There were parts where I only needed to locate specific details and didn't have to really scrutinize the text. The TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN questions gave me a headache! I had at least 18 of them in total. The last reading selection was the most difficult that I found myself literally choosing blindly the answers for most questions. The text was very technical, and I needed to read several times certain parts of it. TIP: Before reading a text, scan the questions first and note the key ideas mentioned. Then, as you read the selection, underline or take note of such words or topics. Also, DO NOT dwell on a question that you are not sure about. You don't want to waste your time on an item that you are likely to get a wrong answer in. Take a wise guess and just mark it, so you can go back to it if you have time.

Writing part: For Task 1, I was given 4 bar graphs. Knowing I didn't have much time to discuss each graph thoroughly, my strategy was to focus on general/ common trends FIRST, then to discuss the nuances or unique features of each graph, if any. Here, the challenge was identifying quickly which data were indispensable to be mentioned and how they could be presented in an effective and coherent manner. Also, I tried my best not to be repeating the same adjectives, verbs, and nouns. TIP: Be consistent with your tenses. Know when a verb is used to describe or discuss a present/ general fact OR when it is used to narrate a past event.

In sum, I thought of sharing these information because I myself witnessed how preparing for and taking the IELTS can be stressful. I am no expert in the English language or in test-taking, but I hope some of the things I shared can help another, in the same way that I have learned so many things from the kind souls in allnurses.

Lastly, I got my IELTS results recently, and I am very happy about it. :) Just paying it forward. :)

Doza · Jun 16, 2010

I don't know if IDP offers this service, but the BC allows its registrants free use of a whole library of OFFICIAL IELTS materials that normally sell for hundreds even thousands of pesos.

Review materials are also available in the IDP office in Paseo de Roxas, Makati on certain dates. For those interested, you can check their website or call them.

Thanks for the info alex88!