My learning journey

• With a background in English and participation in multiple English competitions since primary school, obtaining my certificate was not very difficult.
• I became familiar with the IELTS test at a very young age (sixth grade), but I stopped focusing on it when I reached ninth grade. I resumed my studies in eleventh grade, studied for about 3–4 months, and took the test in July 2022.
• I focused mainly on improving my academic writing skills since my other skills were already solid. However, I still completed all the IELTS Cambridge books from volume 9 to volume 17 (the latest at that time). My average was 8.5 in Listening (1.5x–1.75x speed) and 8.5 in Reading (36–40 minutes on average). I practiced my writing based on Mr. Simon’s writing samples as well as multiple other sources. My speaking was solid since I had practiced English from a very young age.
• On test day, my Listening and Reading tests were quite easy. I finished the Reading section in 30 minutes and the Listening section in about the same time (I don’t really remember the Listening section). The Speaking was solid, and the Writing was about a topic Mr. Simon had covered, so overall I was pretty lucky.
• I received my results two weeks later and got a band 8.0. I was very happy, and it has helped me a lot since then.