IELTS Comment: Ought to I Request An EOR?

One of many worst issues about IELTS is the frustration and frustration you’re feeling while you don’t get the scores you want. Possibly you’ve missed your required general band rating by simply 0.5 or, regardless of a great general band rating, you didn’t get the rating you wanted in a single a part of the take a look at (most likely writing!) It is a quite common expertise for a lot of of you, however thankfully, IELTS gives you a second probability: the IELTS comment. It is a course of supplied by each The British Council and IDP, and permits you to ask on your IELTS take a look at to be marked once more.

The re-marking course of is a means of making certain that the take a look at is honest. It’s true that generally, examiners disagree over the right band rating, so it’s a means of making certain that take a look at takers might be assured in regards to the evaluation system.

“Ought to I apply for a re-mark of my IELTS Take a look at?” is without doubt one of the most typical questions I get requested by IELTS take a look at takers. The reply, although could be a bit sophisticated, so I’ve written some questions you need to ask your self earlier than deciding.

• IELTS calls the re-mark course of an “Enquiry on Outcomes” (EOR).
• A re-mark is when your IELTS scores are checked by one other examiner within the UK or Australia (i.e. not in your native IELTS take a look at centre).
• Your new examiner will not be informed your unique IELTS scores.
• You’ll be able to request a re-mark of the entire take a look at, or any a part of it (Listening, Studying, Writing or Talking). The re-mark charge is identical. The extra components you need re-marked, the longer the re-marking course of will take.
• IELTS Talking Comment: the examiner will re-mark your talking take a look at by listening to the recording of your talking take a look at (this is the reason your talking take a look at is recorded!).
• IELTS Writing Comment: the examiner will examine each your Process 1 report and your Process 2 essay.
• It’s essential to apply for an Enquiry on Outcomes (EOR) inside 6 weeks of the date of your listening, studying and writing take a look at.
• The re-marking course of can take as much as 6 weeks, though it might probably take only a few days 
• Through the re-marking course of, you can not use your IELTS scores for college or immigration purposes.
• The charge for a re-mark varies between IELTS take a look at centres, but it surely in most nations the IELTS comment charge is between US$90 and US$130
• Your charge can be refunded in case your scores change

So do you have to request a re-mark of your IELTS rating? Listed below are 10 questions you need to ask your self:

1. Would you like your listening or studying scores re-marked?

Listening and studying are assessed towards a listing of solutions, and these solutions are both proper or flawed. The one means a re-mark will change these scores is that if there was a primary marking or clerical error. That is not possible, so a listening or studying re-mark would don’t have any impact.

2. Did you miss your required band rating in writing or talking?

Writing and Talking are a lot more durable to evaluate than Listening and Studying. Examiners need to do some interpretation to match your writing or chatting with the IELTS evaluation standards, and it’s a undeniable fact that examiners could disagree over the band rating you need to get in these 2 components of the take a look at. Nonetheless. examiners not often disagree by greater than 0.5 in your writing or talking rating.

Which means that when you missed your required band rating in both writing or talking by simply 0.5 (e.g. you bought 6.5 in writing however you want a 7.0) then a re-mark is perhaps a good suggestion. 

However learn questions 5 to 10 as effectively!

For those who want a rise in an entire band (e.g. you bought 6.0 in writing however you want a 7.0), then a re-mark is much less prone to be helpful. Will increase of greater than 0.5 are uncommon, however they don’t seem to be unknown. Examiners do make errors…generally!

3. Do you want a rise of 1.0 (or extra) in your general band rating?

For instance, you bought a band rating of 6.5 general, however you want 7.5.

On this scenario, an IELTS comment may be very unlikely to be helpful to you. Re-marks not often change the general band rating by greater than 0.5. 

4. Do you solely want a rise of 0.5 in your general band rating?

For instance, you bought a band rating of seven.0 general, however you want 7.5.

This is a little more sophisticated! That you must do some calculations:

To get a Band 7 general, the scores of your 4 assessments should add as much as at the very least 27 factors. For instance:

• Listening 7.0
• Studying 7.0
• Writing 7.0
• Talking 6.0

For those who add the 4 scores, you get 27: 7.0 + 7.0 + 7.0 + 6.0 = 27.0

This implies the common rating is 6.75 (27 ÷ 4 = 6.75). To get your general rating, IELTS rounds the quantity UP to 7.0.

To get a Band 7.5 general, the scores of your 4 assessments should add as much as at the very least 29 factors. For instance:

• Listening 8.0
• Studying 7.0
• Writing 7.0
• Talking 7.0

For those who add the 4 scores, you get 29: 8.0 + 7.0 + 7.0 + 7.0 = 29.0

This implies the common rating is 7.25 (29 ÷ 4 = 7.25). To get your general rating, IELTS rounds the quantity UP to 7.5.

Okay to this point?!

So, to know if a re-mark can be helpful, you should add up your 4 scores. What do they add as much as?

Instance 1

Let’s say your scores for the 4 assessments are like this:

• Listening 7.5
• Studying 7.0
• Writing 6.0
• Talking 6.0

Add the 4 scores up: 7.5 + 7 + 6 + 6 = 26.5

Bear in mind, you want 27 factors to get a Band 7. Which means that you solely want a rise of 0.5 to get a Band 7. So on this instance, an IELTS comment is extra prone to be helpful, since you solely want a rise of 0.5 in both writing or talking (bear in mind, listening and studying will virtually actually not change).

Instance 2

Let’s say your scores for the 4 assessments are like this:

• Listening 7.5
• Studying 6.0
• Writing 6.0
• Talking 6.0

Add the 4 scores up: 7.5 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 25.5

Bear in mind, you want 27 factors to get a Band 7. Which means that you want a rise of 1.5 to get a Band 7. So on this instance, an IELTS comment may be very unlikely to be helpful, since you want a rise of 1.0 in a single a part of the take a look at (e.g. writing), and a rise of 0.5 in one other a part of the take a look at (e.g. talking).

Right here’s a desk with the minimal variety of factors you should get every band rating general:

So add up your 4 scores and see how a lot your complete wants to extend. The smaller the rise wanted, the larger the possibility {that a} re-mark can be helpful.

5. When do you want your scores?

If you should submit your IELTS rating to a college or immigration division quickly after your take a look at, re-marking may cause issues.

Firstly, getting your take a look at re-marked can take time, particularly if you wish to get a couple of a part of the take a look at checked. It will probably take as much as 6 weeks to get your take a look at re-marked. Which means that you may not get your re-marked scores till after your submission deadline. (However ask your native IELTS take a look at centre about how lengthy it would take to do a re-mark – IDP and the British Council can typically do it in a couple of days to a couple weeks).

Secondly, through the re-marking course of, your unique scores are ‘locked’ and you can not use them in an software to a college or immigration division. So that you received’t be capable of submit your unique scores, and also you received’t have your Take a look at Report Type, as you should return this to your take a look at centre.

The IELTS comment just isn’t low cost. The re-marking charge varies between take a look at centres, however it’s typically round $90 to $130. In some nations it’s much more costly, so examine along with your native take a look at centre. You’ll lose the charge if the re-mark doesn’t change your rating, so in case you are not assured {that a} re-mark can be helpful to you, you’d be higher off placing the cash in direction of a re-sit relatively than an IELTS comment.

7. Do you often get greater band scores for writing and/or talking when practising?

Has a trainer assessed your writing and talking abilities? Do they constantly offer you greater scores than those you achieved within the precise IELTS Take a look at? In that case, then it could be value making use of for a re-mark.

Nonetheless, this is dependent upon the standard of your trainer’s evaluation. Decoding the IELTS evaluation standards for writing and talking just isn’t simple, and so it’s potential that your trainer is supplying you with scores which can be too excessive. So that you additionally need to ask your self whether or not you belief your trainer’s evaluation abilities.

8. Have you ever completed the IELTS Take a look at earlier than? Did you get greater scores for writing and talking?

For those who received greater scores for talking in a earlier take a look at, then it’s potential that your scores in your most up-to-date take a look at had been marked too low. IELTS examiners use a wide range of questions to find out your IELTS talking band rating, and so they assess towards standards which focus extra on talking abilities relatively than the content material of your speech, so assessments shouldn’t usually differ an excessive amount of from take a look at to check. So in case your talking band rating is quite a bit decrease than a earlier talking take a look at (e.g. 1.0 or extra), then a comment of your talking take a look at is perhaps a good suggestion…

…however provided that your earlier take a look at was fairly latest. If it has been a yr or extra since your earlier IELTS talking take a look at, and also you haven’t been utilizing English a lot within the intervening interval, then it’s probably that your English language abilities can have weakened a little bit. That is regular. This will clarify your decrease rating. On this occasion, I might not suggest a re-mark.

Writing, nonetheless, is completely different. Take a look at takers typically get completely different scores for writing in numerous assessments. This can be as a result of they misunderstood the writing job, or wrote a Process 2 that was ‘off-topic’, or that one (or each) duties had been too quick, or the essay query was merely ‘too troublesome’. So I wouldn’t suggest a re-mark until your band rating is considerably decrease (1 band or extra) than a earlier take a look at.

Once more, in case your earlier take a look at was a yr was a while in the past, and also you haven’t completed a lot essay writing in English since, then your decrease rating could just because your writing abilities have weakened.

9. Is considered one of your scores considerably decrease than the opposite three scores?

For instance: 

• Listening 8.0
• Studying 8.0
• Writing 6.5
• Talking 8.5

On this rating profile, there’s a important distinction between the Writing rating and the opposite three scores. This type of rating is named a “jagged profile” and the IELTS Administrator at your native take a look at centre will ask a second examiner to re-assess the writing take a look at. That is fairly a typical incidence.

Nonetheless, if the second examiner’s evaluation is just 0.5 bands completely different to the primary examiner’s evaluation, the primary evaluation is not going to change. A change in your rating solely happens in response to a proper EOR (Enquiry On Outcomes).

Which means that when you apply for an IELTS comment, there may be nonetheless an opportunity that your weak rating would possibly change, however most likely solely by 0.5.

How massive does the distinction must be to get a comment in your native take a look at centre? IELTS Examiners have no idea the precise guidelines as it’s a determination made by the IELTS Administrator in your native take a look at centre. Nonetheless, it’s prone to be a distinction of two bands between writing and talking, or between considered one of these and one other ability.

10. Do you’re feeling “assured” about your outcomes?

I’ve heard many college students apply for an IELTS comment just because they’re “assured” they did higher in writing and / or talking than their IELTS scores counsel.

If that is you, ask a second query: what’s your confidence primarily based on?

Have you learnt, from doing follow assessments and by getting suggestions from skilled lecturers, that you would be able to get the scores you need?

Are you certain you answered the writing duties appropriately? (I do know many college students who assume they answered the query appropriately, who merely didn’t).

Is your confidence primarily based on a information of the IELTS evaluation standards? Do you totally perceive how IELTS is assessed? Have you learnt what examiners are on the lookout for once they assess your writing and talking? Getting a excessive band rating in writing, for instance, is NOT about utilizing fancy vocabulary and lengthy sentences; it’s about presenting and supporting your concepts in a transparent, logical means.

In case your confidence is solely “bravado” or “wishful considering”, I might not suggest a re-mark. In case your confidence is predicated on information about your talents, about your efficiency within the take a look at, and in regards to the IELTS take a look at, I might be extra prone to suggest a re-mark.

A re-mark is perhaps helpful in case you are certain you answered the writing duties appropriately AND you constantly get greater scores for writing and talking in follow AND…

…you solely want a rise of 0.5 in both writing or talking

OR

…you want a rise of 0.5 in your general band rating AND the full factors of your 4 assessments added collectively is only one level under what you want (e.g. in case your complete factors are 26, and also you want Band 7).

A re-mark is not going to be helpful when you want greater scores for listening or studying, and it’s unlikely to be helpful when you want a rise of 1.0 or extra in both writing or talking. In these circumstances, you’d be higher off re-sitting the examination relatively than getting a re-mark. (You would possibly even get your required scores extra rapidly this manner!)

Precise Examples

Listed below are some messages I’ve obtained from college students, with my recommendation:

Hussain

I received 7.0 in listening, however I would like 7.5. Ought to I am going for re-mark?

My recommendation: No. Your band rating for listening is not going to change.

Sergey

My scores are:

• Listening 7.5
• Studying 7.5
• Writing 6.5
• Talking 7.0
• Total 7.0

I would like 7.5 general, and minimal 7.0 in every half. Ought to I apply for a re-mark?

You solely want a rise of 0.5 in writing to get a minimal of seven.0 in every half. This improve can even push your general band rating to 7.5 (your complete factors can be 29, which is a mean of seven.25, which is rounded as much as 7.5). I might suggest a re-mark in case you are certain you answered the writing duties appropriately.

Nguyen Thy

I received my IELTS outcomes however I’m dissatisfied with writing.  I would like 7.0.

• Listening 7.0
• Studying 8.0
• Writing 6.0
• Talking 7.0
• Total 7.0

It is rather unlikely that your writing rating will improve by an entire band rating (from 6.0 to 7.0). Additionally, it’s potential that your take a look at would have been re-marked in your native take a look at centre anyway, as a result of there’s a distinction of two.0 between your lowest rating (writing) and your highest rating (studying). Don’t ask for a re-mark.

Kristina

Listed below are my outcomes. However I would like 7.5 general. Is a re-mark value doing?

• Listening 7.5
• Studying 7.0
• Writing 6.5
• Talking 6.5
• Total 7.0

You solely simply received a Band 7. Your common mark is definitely 6.875 (27.5 ÷ 4 = 6.875), which is rounded as much as 7.0. To get a Band 7.5 general, you want your complete factors to extend from 27.5 to 29. That is not possible to occur. Don’t ask for a re-mark.

Davide

I didn’t get the outcomes I would like! I received my general general rating, however I would like 7.0 in writing and talking. Ought to I am going for comment?

• Listening 7.5
• Studying 8.0
• Writing 6.5
• Talking 6.5
• Total 7.0

Do you have to go for an IELTS Comment? My Recommendation:

It’s unlikely that you just’ll get a rise in BOTH writing AND talking. It’s potential, however solely go for an IELTS comment when you’re certain you didn’t make any clear errors on the writing take a look at (e.g. writing too few phrases or writing an off-topic essay).

I hope these questions have been helpful in serving to you resolve whether or not to use for a re-mark.

IELTS evaluation of writing and talking just isn’t a precise science – certainly, examiners see it’s extra of an artwork – and examiners do make errors. Some take a look at takers do discover that their scores change after re-marking, however observe that IELTS don’t say what number of re-marks are profitable.

My finest recommendation is to ensure you are totally ready earlier than you are taking the IELTS take a look at. 

Have YOU utilized for a comment of your IELTS scores prior to now, or are you doing it now (and even fascinated about it)? I might be very intersted to learn the way it’s going or the way it went. Did your scores change – and if that’s the case, how? How lengthy did the re-marking course of take? Please share your experiences within the feedback under. Thanks!

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