This week
Lesson 1 — Kick-off & Writing Baseline
How the programme works · timed Task 2 diagnostic · what examiners reward at 7.5.
Mon Oct 5, 2026
Homework — light by design
- Revision (15–20 min): rewrite the weaker body paragraph using the two fixes we picked together.
- Keep the full essay text — we rebuild it together in Lesson 4.
- Send your revision via Telegram @fortune_chizzy.
Daily Vocabulary Centre
5 words a day · IELTS Academic Word List + collocations · about 5 minutes.
Launching this week
IELTS Academic Exam Structure
Total test time: 2 hours 45 minutes. Listening, Reading and Writing run on the same day with no breaks between them. Speaking may be on the same day or up to 7 days before or after.
| Section | Time | Questions | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listening | ~30 min (+10 min transfer) | 40 | 4 recordings (2 monologues, 2 conversations), played once, in a range of accents. |
| Reading | 60 min | 40 | 3 long academic passages from books, journals and newspapers. |
| Writing | 60 min | 2 tasks | Task 1: describe data, a process or a map (150 words, ~20 min). Task 2: essay (250 words, ~40 min). Task 2 counts twice. |
| Speaking | 11–14 min | 3 parts | Face-to-face with a trained examiner. Part 1: introduction (4–5 min) · Part 2: cue card (3–4 min) · Part 3: discussion (4–5 min). |
Preparation notes
- No breaks between Listening, Reading and Writing — your checkpoints run in these exact conditions, so the endurance is routine by January.
- Task 2 is worth double — that's why writing has the biggest blocks in your programme.
- Speaking is face-to-face — checkpoints CP1 and CP5 are live mocks, not just recordings.
Band scale at a glance
9 Expert8 Very good7 Good6 Competent5 Modest
- Your overall band is the average of the four skills — each counts 25%, rounded to the nearest half band.
- Target 7.5+ means consistently strong skills in the band 7–8 zone — no single skill can carry the average.
The journey
New lessons unlock as they're taught. Submissions: Telegram @fortune_chizzy.
01Kick-off & Writing BaselineMon Oct 5, 2026
02Listening Baseline + Method🔒Sat Oct 10, 2026