What good IELTS study material looks like
Before you download another file, check it against these points:
- It follows the current test format. Old material sometimes shows outdated timings or question types. Listening has 40 questions in 4 parts; Reading has 40 questions in 60 minutes; Writing has two tasks; Speaking has three parts.
- It explains why, not just what. An answer key without explanations teaches you very little.
- It matches your track. Academic and General Training Reading and Writing are different.
- It is accurate. Free material shared on messaging groups is often copied, edited or simply wrong. Be particularly careful with "model essays" full of memorised phrases.
- It leads to practice. Notes you read but never apply are forgotten within a week.
Our Study Notes
IELTS Learning's Study Notes are strategy chapters for each module, written to be read in one sitting and then used straight away:
- Listening: predicting answers, spelling and numbers, map language, distractors.
- Reading: skimming and scanning, TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN, Matching Headings, timing.
- Writing: planning, paragraph structure, Task 1 overviews, the four criteria, letter tone for GT.
- Speaking: extending answers, Part 2 notes, Part 3 discussion language, pronunciation.
Each chapter links naturally to practice sets, so you read about a strategy and try it in the same session. Alongside the notes, English Improvement covers grammar and vocabulary, and spaced-repetition flashcards bring words back just before you would forget them.
Free tools you can use today
Several resources are free with no card:
- A complete free sample mock test covering all four sections.
- Free sample Listening and Reading practice sets.
- Daily Vocabulary: five new words a day, with meanings and examples.
- The Band Score Calculator to convert raw scores into bands.
- The Quick Wrap last-minute checklist.
- Our weekly IELTS tips blog.
These alone are enough to get started. When you need more, Full Access is $12 for 2 months, paid once by card in US dollars through PayPal.
Using Cambridge IELTS books alongside our tests
Many students in Manama also use the official Cambridge IELTS practice books, which you will find in bookshops and university libraries. They are excellent, but each book has a limited number of tests, and students often use them up too early.
A sensible way to combine them:
- Use our practice sets for skill-building. Work through question types one at a time, with explanations.
- Use our mock tests for regular checkpoints on computer-style screens, especially if you are booking the computer-delivered test.
- Save one or two Cambridge tests for the final weeks, as a second opinion on your level.
- Review every test the same way: log mistakes, find the pattern and choose what to practise next.
Our tests follow the same official format and timings, so moving between them should feel natural.
Studying in Manama: libraries, cafés and quiet corners
Not everyone has a quiet room at home, particularly in shared accommodation or large family households. Students here often study in university libraries at the University of Bahrain, Bahrain Polytechnic or their own college, or in a café in Adliya or Seef during quieter hours. For Listening and Speaking practice you need somewhere you can use headphones and speak aloud, so keep those for home or a car parked in the shade.
Expatriate students sometimes find it easier to study in their first language first and then switch to English. That is fine for understanding a strategy, but practise answering only in English.
If you cross the causeway regularly or spend time in traffic between Riffa and the city, you need nothing extra: just open the flashcards or Daily Vocabulary on your phone while you wait. Ten minutes of vocabulary review a day, every day, is worth more than one long session on a Saturday.
A weekly IELTS study routine
Here is a routine many working students in Bahrain can manage, using Friday as a rest day:
- Sunday: one Study Notes chapter (20 minutes) and one practice set in the same module.
- Monday: Listening set plus review in the Mistake Notebook.
- Tuesday: Writing Task 2, submitted for AI feedback.
- Wednesday: Reading set, timed.
- Thursday: Speaking: three Part 1 questions and one cue card, aloud.
- Friday: rest, or flashcards only.
- Saturday: full mock test or two full modules, then a short review.
Every day: Daily Vocabulary and five minutes of flashcards, on your phone if that is easiest.
Start with the free material
You do not need to buy anything to start. Create a free account, take the sample mock test and read the Study Notes chapter for your weakest module this week.