First Academy students achieve outstanding score in IELTS test

Several students from First Academy cleared the highly regarded International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Test this week. The IELTS is the most widely taken English language proficiency test in the world. In India, over a million people take the IELTS test each year. However, despite the large number of test takers, many fail to achieve the required score on their first attempt.

The IELTS test is scored on a 9-band scale and evaluates four areas of English: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. Many top universities and immigration authorities in English-speaking countries require candidates to have an overall score of 7, with a minimum of 6.5 in each module.

Unfortunately, the average score in India has been around 6 for nearly two decades. This is largely due to a lack of understanding of the test requirements and the prevalence of training institutes that provide inadequate coaching with substandard trainers.

Tejaswy Nalam and Sahithy Amba, co-authors of India's only full-color IELTS reading manual, "The IELTS Reading Big Book," attribute this underperformance to poor language skills, ineffective training methods, and the tendency of many institutes to focus on 'tips and tricks' that are ineffective in a language test setting.

At First Academy, student success is credited to a unique training method that emphasizes understanding the nuances of the test and developing a comprehensive grasp of the questions' purposes. The sessions combine teaching, group activities, and Q&A sessions to foster overall language proficiency and reduce test anxiety.

"Familiarity with the test breeds comfort, and with comfort comes confidence," says Tejaswy Nalam, a key stakeholder at First Academy and author of several test preparation books for exams like the IELTS, OET, and GRE.