IELTS Exercise Schedule — What to Actually Do Each Day

Companion to 05-study-plan.md (the strategy). This file is the concrete exercises: exact materials, exact quantities, exact drills, day by day.
Your two rules baked in: (1) No Writing before August 15 — until then it's Listening + Reading only. (2) Because writing is dropped, L+R volume is pushed up to ~3 full tests/week.

0. "Is 2 tests a week enough?" — the honest answer

• For skill-building, depth of review converts a test into score, not the raw count. One test fully reviewed beats three rushed.
• BUT since you're doing no writing until Aug 15, that time is free — so yes, do more: aim for ~3 full tests/week of Listening + Reading (≈ one Cambridge book every ~1.5 weeks).
• Non-negotiable rule: every test still gets its full review half. A test you don't review is mostly wasted, no matter how many you pile up.

1. Materials to get

Core (do almost everything from these):

• Cambridge IELTS 12–19 (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) — official past papers. Each book = 4 full tests. 32 tests total — plenty for the whole plan plus re-dos.
• Each comes with audio + answer keys + transcripts (essential for review).

Use them in order, oldest first. Drill with the older books (12–16) during the Listening + Reading phase, and reserve the newest (17–19) for the final full mocks — recent papers best reflect the current exam, so you want them when simulating the real thing.

Free supplements: BBC 6 Minute English, TED, podcasts (extensive listening) · band-8/9 writing models (for the writing phase) · your booked classes/teachers (speaking).

One notebook or note app for your 3 lists: paraphrase list · error log (writing phase) · vocabulary list.

2. The drills (your exercise "recipes")

🎧 LSP — Listening Section Practice (~25 min)

1. One Cambridge listening section (≈10 Q). 30 sec preview: underline keywords, mark anchors vs. meaning-words, predict each answer type.
2. Play once, answer in real time.
3. Check.
4. Review (~12 min): find every answer in the transcript; for each wrong one ask why; add paraphrase pairs to your list.

🎧 JZ — 精听 / Intensive Listening (~30 min)

On the 2–5 min you found hardest:

1. Listen to the whole clip once.
2. Sentence by sentence: pause and write every word (dictation), replay up to ~5×.
3. Compare to transcript, mark misses.
4. Diagnose each miss (unknown word / linked sound / weak syllable / number).
5. Listen once reading the transcript, then once without.
6. Optional shadow.

📖 RPP — Reading Passage Practice (~35 min)

1. 20 min timed: one passage + ~13 questions.
2. Check.
3. Review (~15 min): locate every answer in the text; why right answer is right and yours wrong; re-check Not Given; add vocab + paraphrases.

📖 NG — Not Given Mini-Drill (~15 min)

One set of True/False/Not Given (8–10 statements). Focus only on the logic, one line of why per item.

🎧 EL — Extensive Listening (~20 min, commute)

Podcast/TED/BBC. Follow the meaning, jot 3 new words. Builds stamina + ear.

✍️ WT1 / WT2 — Writing (Aug 15 onward only)

• WT1 (~30 min): chart prompt → 20 min timed write (150+ words) → check vs model.
• WT2 (~50 min): essay prompt → 40 min timed write (250+ words) → check.
• Then: submit for correction; next time read the correction first and log errors.

🗣️ SP — Speaking session (×4/week, all phases)

Teacher mock (Part 2 cue card + Part 3) or self-record + shadow (~15 min).

🔁 RV — List Review (~5–10 min, commute)

Self-test paraphrase + vocab lists, spaced repetition: today's new items + anything due (Day 1 → 3 → 7 → 14).

📝 MOCK — Timed test

A section/test under exam timing, no pausing, no extra time + full review afterward.

3. Material map (which Cambridge book, which week)

Exam assumed ~mid-September. Two blocks: L+R only (now → Aug 15), then Writing + full mocks (Aug 15 → exam). Shift week dates if your exam date differs.

Block A — Listening + Reading ONLY (now → Aug 15) · ~3 tests/week

Finishes Cam 12–16 by Aug 15, reserving Cam 17, 18, 19 for the writing-phase full mocks.

Block B — Writing intensive + Full Mocks + Taper (Aug 15 → exam)

Spare: Cam 16 T4 leftovers, Cam 17 T3–4, Cam 18 T3–4, Cam 19 T4 — extra mocks or re-dos.

4. Daily plan — Block A (Listening + Reading only, now → Aug 15)

No writing. ~3 tests/week. Call the week's three tests A, B, C. Speaking ×4 slots into whichever evenings your classes fall on. Commute daily = EL + RV.

Weekly totals: ~3 listening tests' worth of sections (incl. 1 full timed) · ~2.5 reading tests' worth (incl. 1 full timed) · 2–3 JZ sessions · 4 speaking · daily EL/RV.
Goal by Aug 15: paraphrase list 80+ pairs · Not Given automatic · hitting target band on Listening + Reading in practice · Reading done comfortably in 60 min.

5. Daily plan — Block B (Writing intensive + mocks, Aug 15 → exam)

Writing is now primary (only ~4 weeks, so it's intensive from day one). L+R drop to maintenance — protect gains, don't build new.

Weekly totals: 3–4 essays (all corrected) · 1–2 full mocks · maintenance L+R · 4 speaking.

Writing technique & structures: see 03-writing.md. Use the error log before every essay so you stop repeating mistakes (deliberate practice).

6. Taper — last 2–3 days before the exam

• One short timed section to stay warm — no new material.
• Read through your 3 lists only.
• No cramming. Sleep 8 hrs. Prep ID, location, route, snacks. Walk in rested.

7. Weekly consolidation review (Sundays, ~30 min)

1. Skim the week's notes/error log — which mistake repeats most? → next week's focus.
2. Self-test paraphrase + vocab lists (cover one side, recall the other).
3. Re-do 2–3 questions you got wrong earlier — can you get them now?
4. Note your weakest area → give it one extra session next week.

8. Vocabulary routine (every day, ~10 min)

• Add ~10 words/day from transcripts and (later) writing corrections.
• Topic vocab — one theme/week: work, hometown, technology, environment, education, health, travel, media (for Speaking now, Writing later).
• Review via spaced repetition on your commute (the RV drill) — recall actively.

9. A concrete sample day (Block A, Week 3, Wednesday)

• Morning commute (25 min): EL — one BBC 6 Minute English episode. RV — self-test 15 paraphrase pairs.
• Evening (≈1.5 hr): LSP ×2 — Cam 13 Test 3, Listening Sections 3 & 4, each previewed 30 sec, played once, checked, reviewed against transcript (log 4 paraphrases). Then RPP ×1 — Cam 13 Test 3, Reading Passage 3, timed 20 min → check → review.
• Speaking session (15 min): SP — record cue card "Describe a place you like to relax," listen back, mark 3 hesitations.
• Evening commute (10 min): RV — review today's new words.

~1.75 hr total, fits around work, no writing.

Use 05-study-plan.md for the reasoning; this file is your daily checklist. Scale quantities to your energy — push to a 3rd test on light weeks, drop to 2 on heavy ones — but never skip the review half. The review is where the score comes from.

IELTS Reading

Format: 3 passages · 40 questions · 60 minutes, NO extra transfer time → write answers straight onto the answer sheet. Budget ~20 min per passage.

1. The 3 core skills

1. Skimming — read fast for the general idea: title, first/last sentence of each paragraph. ~2 min per passage.
2. Scanning — sweep the text to find a specific word/number without reading everything. Use this to locate answers via your keywords.
3. Locating with keywords + paraphrase — same skill as Listening. The passage paraphrases the question; find the meaning, not the exact word. (Anchor words = names/numbers/dates; meaning words = likely paraphrased.)

2. Strategy

• Read the questions first for most types, underline keywords (anchors vs. meaning-words).
• Many question types follow the passage in order (sentence completion, summary, T/F/NG) — use this to locate fast.
• Don't get stuck. If a question takes too long, guess and move on.
• No penalty for wrong answers — never leave a blank.

3. Question types & how to attack them

4. Common traps

• Word limit — "ONE WORD ONLY" / "NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS" — breaking it = wrong, even if the meaning is right.
• Spelling must be correct.
• "Not Given" ≠ "False." Not Given = the passage simply doesn't say. This is the #1 confusion — drill it specifically until the logic is automatic.
• Don't over-think with outside knowledge — only what the text states counts.

5. How to practice a passage

The practice is short; the review is where the score is made. Quick recipe (full version = 06-exercise-schedule.md, drill RPP):

1. One passage timed (~20 min). Skim → then question by question, locating with keywords.
2. Mark it against the key — but the number right is the starting point, not the goal.
3. Review deeply (§6). Budget at least as long as the passage took.
4. As September nears, do all 3 passages in 60 min to train pacing + stamina.

6. How to review — the core loop (where the score actually comes from)

Never just check the number and move on. For every answer you got wrong — and every one you guessed right — run this loop:

1. Locate the evidence. Find the exact sentence(s) in the passage that decide the answer. If you can't find it, that itself is the lesson (a locating failure — see §7).

2. Answer three questions:

   • Where is the evidence in the text?
   • Why is the right answer right?
   • Why was mine wrong — not just "the key says so"?
3. Classify the error (§7) and tally it in your error log (§10).
4. Extract the paraphrase — the exact mapping between the question wording and the text wording (e.g. question "reduce costs" ↔ text "cut spending"). Write the pair down (shared list with Listening). This is the single most valuable thing to harvest.
5. Extract vocabulary — the key unknown words, especially the one that hid the answer.
6. Re-do it later — a few days on, redo the questions you missed (spaced review, 05-study-plan.md §8). Getting them right then proves it stuck.

The examiner isn't testing whether you know things — the answer is always in the text. They're testing whether you can find it and read the language precisely. So every review reduces to one question: did I fail to find it, or fail to understand it? Those two failures have different fixes.

7. Error types — diagnose every mistake, then fix the right thing

Two people can miss the same question for completely different reasons. Label each wrong answer with one type, so patterns emerge:

Tally these weekly. If half your losses are type 3 on Not Given, you now know exactly what to drill — that's deliberate practice instead of just "do more tests."

8. 精读 / Intensive reading — the deep-review drill (reading's version of 精听)

On the hardest passage (or the paragraphs that held answers you missed), read it to the bottom:

1. Sentence by sentence, understand every sentence. No skimming now — this is the slow lane.
2. Break down long sentences: find the main subject + verb, then peel off the clauses. IELTS hides answers inside complex sentences on purpose.
3. Resolve every referent: when you see it / they / this / such / the former, stop and name exactly what it points to — answers often depend on it.
4. Track discourse markers: however, although, whereas, moreover, in contrast — these flip or extend meaning and are frequently the hinge of a T/F/NG answer.
5. See the paragraph's shape: which sentence is the topic sentence, how does the rest support it? (Exactly what Matching Headings tests.)
6. Harvest paraphrase pairs + vocabulary as you go.

How much: like 精听, this is slow and tiring — don't do a whole test this way. Do one passage (or a few dense paragraphs) every couple of days, properly. Over weeks this is what raises your reading speed — comprehension that used to be effortful becomes automatic.

9. Two diagnostics that tell you what to fix

A. Timed → untimed re-do. After checking, redo your wrong questions with no clock:

• Right untimed → your problem is speed/pacing, not understanding. Fix by training pace (all-3-in-60-min runs), not by studying harder.
• Still wrong untimed → it's comprehension (vocab or logic). Fix with §8 intensive reading.

This one check tells you which of two totally different training paths you actually need.

B. Reverse-engineer from the key. For a question you truly can't crack, read the answer, then go find where and why it's right in the text. Training yourself to see the examiner's logic — the tiny word that makes it True not Not Given — is a skill in itself.

10. Your reading error log (keep it running all 3 months)

A simple table in your notebook — one row per missed question:

• Read it before each new test — so you stop repeating the same trap (deliberate practice).
• Weekly, look for the pattern (05-study-plan.md §8): the most-repeated question type and most-repeated error type → give it one extra session next week.

11. Checklist

• [ ] Skim for gist, then scan with keywords
• [ ] ~20 min per passage; never leave a blank (no penalty)
• [ ] Master True/False/Not Given logic (passage only, no outside knowledge)
• [ ] Respect the word limit and spelling on completion tasks
• [ ] Review every wrong (and guessed-right) answer — locate the evidence, ask the 3 questions (§6)
• [ ] Label each mistake by error type (§7) and log it (§10)
• [ ] 精读 one hard passage every couple of days (§8)
• [ ] Run the timed → untimed check to know if it's speed or comprehension (§9A)
• [ ] Read the error log before the next test

IELTS Listening

Format: 4 sections · 40 questions · ~30 min audio + 10 min transfer time.
Your three problems and where they're solved: locating questions → §2 · paraphrase → §2 · late signposts → §2–3.

1. Core mindset

Two golden rules:

1. Answers come in order. If you just heard answer 5, then 6 is next. If you miss one, let it go immediately and jump ahead — don't freeze, or you'll lose the next few too.
2. Keep listening even after you think you have the answer — IELTS often gives a wrong answer first, then changes it (see distractors, §3).

Use the ~30 seconds before each section to read the questions ahead, underline keywords, and predict each blank's answer type (number? name? noun? plural?).

2. Method 1 — Choosing keywords

Split each question's words into two kinds:

Type A — "Anchor" keywords (probably NOT paraphrased)

Your map; they tell you where you are. Listen for the exact sound.

• Names (Mr. Brown, Sarah) · Numbers, dates, times, prices · Place names / proper nouns · Technical terms with no easy synonym

Type B — "Meaning" keywords (WILL probably be paraphrased)

Usually verbs, adjectives, common nouns. Don't wait for the exact word — predict synonyms:

• buy → purchase / get / pay for · problem → issue / difficulty / trouble · cheap → low cost / affordable

Quick test for each word

"Could this word easily be said another way?"

• No (name/number/place) → anchor, strong keyword.
• Yes (buy, big, start) → meaning keyword; underline AND prepare 1–2 synonyms.
• Grammar/filler (the, is, of, and, very) → ignore.

Worked example

The library will buy new computers for the study room next March.

Audio: "...we're planning to invest in some new PCs for the reading area in March..." → you still catch it because March anchored you.

Practical rules

1. Underline 2–3 words per question, not the whole line.
2. Prioritize anchors — they survive paraphrasing and fix the "late signpost" problem (a name/number is easy to catch even after the blank).
3. For the blank itself, predict the answer type.
4. Underline meaning-words so you remember to listen for their synonyms.
5. Listen "around" the blank, not only before it — hold the whole sentence in mind.

3. Method 2 — Signal words & distractors

Signal words don't contain the answer — they tell you one is coming or is about to change.

A. "Answer is coming" signals

B. ⭐ Correction / contrast signals (DISTRACTORS — most important!)

Speaker gives an answer, then changes it. First one is a trap; the real answer comes after:

• but, however, although, on the other hand · actually, in fact · sorry, oh wait, let me change that, no · instead, rather, otherwise

"The meeting is on Tuesday... oh sorry, actually it's been moved to Thursday."
If you wrote "Tuesday," you're wrong → answer is Thursday.

C. "Negative" signals — what NOT to write

not, isn't, won't, don't, no longer, neither

"We used to open at 9, but not anymore — now it's 10." → answer is 10.

4. Method 3 — Audio cues (sound, not words)

• Stress / emphasis — the important word is said louder/slower (often the answer).
• Slowing down + spelling out — names/addresses get spelled ("B-R-O-W-N"); numbers repeated. Almost always the answer.
• Repetition — repeated word = important.
• A pause — speakers pause right before key info.
• Question → answer pattern — in conversations (Sections 1 & 3), the answer to their question is usually the answer to your question.

Your mental flow

"I hear my anchor word → answer is near → but I keep listening because a 'but / actually / sorry' might change it."

Two tracks at once: keywords/anchors (where) + signal words (coming/changing).

5. Intensive listening (精听) — step by step

Do it on the sections you found hard. (Review of answers lives in 05-study-plan.md §7; this is the training drill.)

1. Listen once, no script — get the general meaning.
2. Listen sentence by sentence; after each, pause and write down exactly what you heard (dictation / 听写). Replay as needed.
3. Compare with the script. Mark every missed word.
4. For each miss, find why: unknown word? linked sounds ("want to" → "wanna")? weak/unstressed word? a number?
5. Listen again reading the script, then again without it.
6. Optional: shadow it — speak along, copying rhythm (also helps Speaking + pronunciation).

How much: slow and tiring — don't do whole tests this way. Do 1 section (~5 min audio) every day or two, properly. Quality over quantity.

Balance with extensive listening (泛听): 20–30 min/day of podcasts, BBC, TED, news. Intensive builds precision; extensive builds stamina and ear. You need both. Great for commute time.

6. Checklist

Before the audio: read questions ahead · mark anchors vs. meaning-words · predict synonyms · predict each blank's answer type
During: follow answers in order; if you miss one, jump ahead · listen for anchors · listen around the blank · watch signal words · keep listening after you "have" the answer (distractors!) · notice stress / spelling-out / repetition / pauses
After: → see 05-study-plan.md §7 (find every wrong answer in the script, ask why, add paraphrase pairs, do 精听 on hard parts)