My IELTS exam is tomorrow, what should I do?

This article will teach you the 4 most important things you should do if your IELTS exam is tomorrow. 

At this stage in your IELTS preparation, you have already invested a lot of time and energy. You have done the work, you’ve improved your language skills and your journey is nearly over. Now, there are just 4 things you can do to fully prepare and enter your IELTS exam tomorrow with confidence!

Learn what they are in the video lesson below, or scroll down to read more: 

1. Overcome your stress

The day before your IELTS exam can be a very stressful time. 

It’s safe to say that anyone that takes the IELTS exam has a lot at stake, whether it’s the chance to move abroad, advance your studies or earn a better life for your family. If you didn’t feel a little bit stressed, it might mean you don’t care enough!

However, you can control this stress by reminding yourself that your score doesn’t define who you are.

In 24 hours, your exam will be over and you will still be you. In 2 weeks, you will receive your results and you will still be YOU!

You can think about your results when you get them. If you have your IELTS exam tomorrow, worrying or stressing out won’t improve your score. But entering the exam with a clear mindset will!

If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, try to remind yourself that these feelings aren’t caused by a lack of preparation or ability, but by nerves or a fear of the unknown.  

While it is impossible to find out the questions that will appear on your exam, there is one simple way of tackling this fear: prepare yourself as well as you can. More on this in the section below!

Tip: If you feel nervous before your test, try ‘reshaping’ your nerves by saying ‘I AM EXCITED!’ out loud. Studies have shown that this is an effective way of convincing your brain that you aren’t nervous, you’re energised!

2. Control the practical things that can affect your score

Don’t jeopardise your performance on your exam day by arriving at the test centre late, flustered or confused. When you arrive at the test centre, there is one thing you should be focused on: giving your best performance.

Now that you have your IELTS exam tomorrow, you should figure out exactly where your test centre is and how you’re going to get there with plenty of time to spare.

I suggest arriving at the test centre with at least one hour before your test begins. This allows you plenty of time to learn which room your test is in, where it is located, where the toilets are, where you can get water etc.

Learning these things well before your exam allows you to be completely focused when it begins.

3. Optimise your physiology

The examiners test your ability to write, read, speak and listen in a foreign language. As a human being, your ability to do each of these things depends on your physiology, ie. your energy levels, blood sugar, hydration, tiredness etc.

All of these things contribute to something you don’t want to jeopardise on exam day: your focus.

Here are a few tips to help you physically set yourself up for success: 

• Get a good night’s sleep the night before;
• Drink plenty of water;
• Don’t try to ‘cram’ information beforehand;
• Eat well the night before and the morning of your IELTS exam;
• You can even control your blood sugar during the exam with a fizzy drink – you can contact the test centre you’re with to make sure this is allowed.

4. ‘Warm up’ properly

On the day before your IELTS exam, it’s important that you take some time to practice thinking in English. Just as footballers need to stretch and warm up before their matches, in the same way, you should warm up your brain by surrounding yourself in English for 24 hours before your exam.

To do this, try listening, reading, speaking and writing in English as much as you can. This can be watching English TV shows, listening to podcasts in English, speaking to your friends or writing some emails in English. Your friends and family might look at you funnily, but it will be worth it!

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As we always say, there are no magic tips, tricks or shortcuts to getting the score you need, and reading this blog won’t be enough to improve your IELTS score in just 24 hours. However, we hope this article will help you mentally and practically prepare yourself for your IELTS exam tomorrow so you can get the score you deserve.

Best of luck from the IELTS Advantage team!

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to our team here: chris@ieltsadvantage.com

Further Reading:

24-hour English Warm Up

My IELTS exam is next week, what should I do?

How long will it take me to score a Band ‘X’?

How will I know that I’m ready for the IELTS exam?