How to Avoid Spelling Mistakes Under Pressure
Even advanced IELTS candidates lose marks because of simple spelling errors — especially in IELTS listening spelling and IELTS writing spelling accuracy. Knowing how to avoid spelling mistakes under pressure can help you protect your band score. Here’s how to protect your band score when the clock is ticking : ✅ 1. Train Your “Spelling Muscle” Daily Spelling is like muscle memory. Practice writing common IELTS words by hand (not just typing). 🧠 Focus on: Numbers (e.g., forty, not fourty) Months and days (e.g., February, Wednesday) Common academic words (e.g., environment, development, government) ✅ 2. Don’t Rush Your Transfer in Listening Many students make mistakes from the list of common IELTS spelling mistakes not during the audio, but during the answer transfer. Take your time in the last 10 minutes to: Double-check word endings Look out for homophones (e.g., piece vs peace) Spell names and places correctly from context ✅ 3. Listen for Tricky Letter Sounds to Stay Accurate Under Pressure Certain sounds often cause errors under pressure: “sh” vs “ch” (e.g., chef vs check) “f” vs “ph” (e.g., phone, elephant) “s” vs “c” (e.g., science, certain) Train your ear to match sounds to correct spelling through dictation practice — […]