A native speaker from a rural village might get a Band 6.5 because they cannot structure an essay or they ramble in Part 3. A non-native speaker who practices genre analysis (understanding what a "compare and contrast" essay looks like ) will get a Band 8.
The difference between a stuck Band 6.5 candidate and a fluent Band 8 candidate is rarely hard work. It is calibration —knowing exactly what the examiner is listening for and adjusting your output accordingly. IELTS Preparation Material
Most IELTS preparation material is a lie. It promises a "magic template" for Task 2 or "10 words for a Band 9." But if you open the official marking criteria, you will not find the word "template" anywhere. You will find Coherence , Lexical Resource , and Grammatical Range . A native speaker from a rural village might get a Band 6
Take one Listening Section 4. Do not check the answers. Listen again. And again. Transcribe every word. Do this three times. You will see your score improve faster than any app can provide. It is calibration —knowing exactly what the examiner
Do not describe every number. Describe trends (upward, volatile, plateau) and comparisons (twice as many, a fraction of). The highest band score goes to the candidate who summarizes the story of the chart in 150 words, not the data in 200. 4. Speaking: Fluency Over Accuracy This is the hardest truth: In Part 2 and 3, if you stop to search for a perfect grammar structure, you lose fluency points. A Band 6 speaker is accurate but slow. A Band 8 speaker is fast but makes minor, self-corrected errors.
Stop studying English. Start studying IELTS logic. The language will follow.