The Most Common IELTS Mistakes Adults Make and How to Fix Them

Mistakes in IELTS aren’t about intelligence; they’re about habits. Recognising these habits helps adult learners correct them quickly and build stronger exam strategies. The Most Common IELTS Mistakes are uncovered here.

Mistake 1: Speaking too fast or too quietly

Nervous candidates rush, making pronunciation unclear. Correction: Slow your pace by 10–15 percent and pause after each idea. Practise with a timer to monitor your rate. Clear speech always scores higher than fast speech.

Mistake 2: Memorising answers

Examiners spot rehearsed responses quickly; they sound unnatural. Correction: Focus on structures rather than scripts. Vary your examples and adapt to the question context.

Mistake 3: Giving short answers in Speaking Part 3

If your answers are one sentence long, your fluency score drops. Correction: Use the ACE formula—Answer, Comment, Example—to extend responses. For instance:

Band 5.5 mistake	Band 7 answer	Why it works
“Pollution is bad.”	“From my perspective, pollution poses a significant threat to health and the environment. For example, in my city last year, smog levels closed schools for a week.”	Demonstrates lexical variety and depth

Mistake 4: Writing without a plan

Jumping into Writing Task 2 without planning leads to weak structure. Correction: Spend four minutes outlining two main ideas and examples. Write a clear thesis in the introduction and restate it in the conclusion.

Mistake 5: Misunderstanding the question

Not addressing all parts of the prompt can halve your Task Response score. Correction: Identify the topic and instruction words (discuss, evaluate, agree/disagree) before writing.

Mistake 6: Misusing verb tenses

Many candidates mix past and present tenses incorrectly, which affects grammatical range and accuracy. Correction: Maintain consistency. For past events use past simple or present perfect (“I have been studying English for three years”), and for general truths use present simple (“Pollution affects health”).

Band 5.0 mistake	Band 7.0 correction	Why it works
“I am work as engineer for five years.”	“I have been working as an engineer for five years.”	Uses correct present perfect continuous to describe duration
“He told he will goes to school yesterday.”	“He said he would go to school yesterday.”	Corrects reported speech and verb form

Expanding your tense repertoire raises your grammar score and improves clarity.

Fix The Most Common IELTS Mistakes with HillEd

Avoiding these pitfalls alone can boost your band score. HillEd offers a free diagnostic test that analyses your speaking and writing and pinpoints your specific issues. Book your diagnostic session today and receive a personalised improvement plan.

For more on pronunciation, see our IELTS Pronunciation Masterclass, and for strategic exam planning read IELTS Preparation for Busy Adults. Connecting these resources creates a comprehensive approach to your IELTS success.