THE IELTS EXAM: Computer IELTS vs Paper based IELTS
Many of our students ask us if they should take the paper-based test or the computer test.
Some students these days feel more comfortable using a computer, because a keyboard plays such a large part in their daily life, whereas others feel more comfortable with a traditional pencil and paper.
Years of research by Cambridge
The people at Cambridge IELTS put years of effort and research into making sure that the IELTS computer based exam offers no advantage over the paper based exam.
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Tip #1. Your handwriting is not graded.
Although examiners do not grade your handwriting, if you have handwriting that is difficult to read it could stop the examiner from seeing your skills. Your job in the exam is to present the best-looking essay you can so the examiner can see your talents. For example, if you were selling a car, you would want the best price, and you would clean, polish, and vacuum it so that it looked its best. Writing your essay is similar to this, and you need to put in that little bit more effort to make it easy to read.
Most people these days use a keyboard to writing anything of value, except perhaps a shopping list. Probably, the last time you made extra effort to make your writing readable was at school.
This scares many students because they never have anyone to give them accurate feedback regarding their Writing. The computer-based exam eliminates this fear, and many students can finish more quickly on the computer because they can type faster than they can write. Although students may finish earlier on the computer, most students are less accurate on the keyboard and make many spelling mistakes due to hitting the wrong key, therefore they then need to spend time fixing these errors. By using a pencil, students have more control over what they write.
Because all IPC Sydney teachers are examiners, we are very qualified to advise our students regarding what type of exam would be best for each of our students.
Many students like the ability to ‘cut and paste’, when they check and edit their Writing. With the paper-based test, students have to use an eraser to edit, or fix any mistakes.
READING
Tip #2. It is always best to highlight any key words.
Often students find that it is not easy to highlight sections of text, because it involves ‘clicking and highlighting’, by using the computer mouse. With the paper-based exam, it is always easy to highlight/underline sections of text, and to underline any words in the question also.
LISTENING
Tip #3. Listening is easier with headphones.
In the past, the paper-based tests used large audio speakers in the exam room to play the listening test. This was a problem for many people because they either, were sitting too close to the speakers and the sound was too loud, or they sat at the back of the room and the sound was more difficult to hear clearly. These days it is much easier to listen, and is much clearer, because most Sydney test centres provide wireless headphones for each student. In the computer based Listening exam, you will also be given headphones that are connected to your computer.
SPEAKING
Tip #4. Speaking is always face to face.
The Speaking exam is face to face with a human examiner for both the paper-based and computer based exam. It is you and the examiner in a room with no distractions. The examiner uses a marking criteria, or Band Descriptors to assess your language.
In the PTE exam students must speak into a microphone, which is then graded and assessed by a computer. With the PTE exam you sit in a room with approximately 15 other students which are sitting closely at desks next to yours. If the people on either side of you speak loudly, this could be a distraction to you while you are speaking. Many of our students who have already done the PTE exam tell us that this was a problem for them. Also, because the PTE exam is graded by a computer, it does not allow for ‘human pausing’. If you pause for more than 3 seconds, the microphone will stop, and you will fail that section. This does not happen with the human examiner in the IELTS exam.
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Useful links
About IELTS Preparation Centre Sydney
https://www.ielts.org/for-teachers/ielts-for-teachers
https://www.ielts.org/for-teachers/examiner-recruitment-and-training
https://www.ielts.org/for-teachers/blog-for-teachers
IELTS Test Preparation Courses in IPC Sydney always highly recommends the Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary: Definitions & Meanings to best assist all our IELTS preparation students
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/learner-english/
Other highly recommended links:
Cambridge Thesaurus | Synonyms, antonyms and examples
