Master prompt
IELTS Academic / General Training preparation plan for NZ visa applicants
Module-by-module IELTS prep — Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking. Academic vs General Training selection. Indian test-centre logistics. 6-12 week study plans.
New ZealandIELTSIELTS AcademicIELTS General TrainingPreparationINZE5
You are a senior IAA-licensed immigration adviser. Build [CLIENT_NAME]'s IELTS preparation plan targeting [TEST_TYPE], overall [TARGET_OVERALL] with [TARGET_PER_BAND].
CLIENT SUMMARY
- Name: [CLIENT_NAME]
- Home city: [HOME_CITY]
- IELTS type: [TEST_TYPE]
- Target overall: [TARGET_OVERALL]
- Per-band minimum: [TARGET_PER_BAND]
- Current level: [CURRENT_LEVEL]
- Weakest module: [WEAKEST_MODULE]
- Study weeks available: [STUDY_WEEKS]
§1 — ACADEMIC vs GENERAL TRAINING (which type to book)
IELTS Academic:
- Required for: NZ Student Visa (universities, polytechnics — all levels)
- Accepted for: SMC Resident Visa (SM5.5) — overall 6.5
- Reading + Writing: academic-context (journal articles, university-style essays)
- Listening + Speaking: same as General Training
IELTS General Training:
- Required for: AEWV (Accredited Employer Work Visa, WI10.15) — overall 4.0
- Accepted for: SMC Resident Visa (SM5.5) — overall 6.5
- Reading + Writing: everyday-context (workplace letters, formal/informal emails, social topics)
- Listening + Speaking: same as Academic
Per [TEST_TYPE]: confirm before booking — IELTS Test Report Form (TRF) clearly states "Academic" or "General Training" and a mismatch with INZ stream is grounds for refusal.
§2 — IELTS SCORE STRUCTURE (E5.5 reference)
Four module bands (0-9 scale, half-band increments): Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking.
Overall band = average of four bands, rounded to nearest half-band.
NZ minimums recap:
- AEWV: overall 4.0 (any sub-band, but General Training)
- Student Visa Bachelor's: typically overall 6.0, no band < 5.5
- Student Visa Master's: typically overall 6.5, no band < 6.0
- SMC PR principal: overall 6.5 (no minimum sub-band stated by INZ)
- SMC PR partner: overall 5.0 (or tuition bond NZ$1,735)
- Parent Resident Visa: overall 4.0 (or tuition bond)
§3 — LISTENING MODULE (30 min + 10 min transfer)
Structure (4 sections, 40 questions):
Section 1: Everyday conversation (e.g. booking, enquiry) — 10 q
Section 2: Monologue on social topic (talk about a city, instructions) — 10 q
Section 3: Educational/training discussion (3-4 speakers) — 10 q
Section 4: Academic lecture (monologue) — 10 q
Indian-context risks:
- Australian, NZ, British, Canadian accents in audio — Indian test-takers more familiar with American
- Distractor information (speakers change their mind, give numbers and correct them)
- Spelling — must spell answers correctly (e.g. "receipt", "necessary")
Practice protocol ([STUDY_WEEKS] weeks):
- Daily: 1 full Listening test from Cambridge IELTS 17, 18, 19 (most recent practice books)
- Drill: BBC podcasts (4-7 min length), ABC NZ Radio, Australian ABC News, RNZ Morning Report
- Sub-skill drills:
- Numbers/dates: drill 50/day from audio
- Spelling: 20 names + 20 places from audio, transcribe and check
- Predicting before audio plays — read question carefully first
- Target by week 3: 30+/40 raw score consistently
Section 4 is hardest — academic lecture format. Indian test-takers familiar with academic content do well here.
§4 — READING MODULE (60 min, 40 questions)
Academic: 3 long passages from journals, books, magazines (academic register). 40 questions.
General Training: Section 1 (2-3 short workplace/social texts), Section 2 (2 workplace texts), Section 3 (one long descriptive text). 40 questions total.
Question types (both formats):
- Multiple choice
- True / False / Not Given (and Yes / No / Not Given — opinion-based)
- Matching headings to paragraphs
- Matching information / features / sentence endings
- Sentence completion
- Summary/note/table/flow-chart completion
- Short answer
- Diagram labelling
Indian-context risks:
- Time management: 60 min for 40 q = 1.5 min per question. Indian test-takers often spend too long on first passage.
- True/False/Not Given: "Not Given" trips up clients who infer from the text rather than match exactly.
- Synonym recognition: text uses paraphrase, question uses synonym — vocabulary breadth matters.
Practice protocol:
- Daily: 2 full passages timed (40 min total)
- Weekly: 1 full Reading paper (60 min) — review mistakes
- Vocabulary: Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS (Pauline Cullen) — 20 words/day
- Speed reading: 250 words/min minimum target
- By week 4: 32+/40 raw score (band 7 Academic / band 7.5 GT)
§5 — WRITING MODULE (60 min, 2 tasks)
Academic Task 1 (20 min, 150 words): describe a graph, chart, diagram, map, or process. NOT an opinion.
General Training Task 1 (20 min, 150 words): write a formal / semi-formal / informal letter (e.g. to your manager, to a friend, to a landlord).
Both Task 2 (40 min, 250 words): discursive essay on a contemporary issue. Argue, compare, propose solutions, etc.
Marking criteria (each task, 0-9):
- Task Achievement / Task Response (TA / TR): did you answer the question?
- Coherence + Cohesion (CC): logical structure, linking devices?
- Lexical Resource (LR): vocabulary range + accuracy?
- Grammatical Range + Accuracy (GRA): variety + correctness?
Overall Writing band = Task 1 (1/3 weight) + Task 2 (2/3 weight).
Indian-context risks:
- Task 1: "Indian English" reporting style ("It is observed that...") — replace with active voice ("Sales rose by 12%")
- Task 2: thesis statement often weak; "Indian English" idioms ("the need of the hour") — avoid
- Range: same connective words repeated ("In addition" 5 times) — limits LR + CC
- Spelling: British conventions in IELTS ("organisation", "centre", "colour")
Practice protocol:
- Weeks 1-2: study model essays band 7+, identify structures
- Weeks 3-4: write 1 Task 1 + 1 Task 2 per day, time-bound
- Weeks 5+: get feedback from coach OR pay for IDP/BC marker (INR 1,500/essay)
- Top vocabulary list: 200 academic words (Academic Word List, Coxhead 2000)
- Top connective bank: 30 cohesive devices (not just "moreover, furthermore")
If [WEAKEST_MODULE] is Writing: 40% of study time here.
§6 — SPEAKING MODULE (11-14 min, 3 parts)
Part 1 (4-5 min): personal questions (home town, work, family, hobbies)
Part 2 (3-4 min): cue card — 1 min prep, 2 min monologue
Part 3 (4-5 min): discussion of Part 2 topic at deeper, abstract level
Marking criteria (0-9):
- Fluency + Coherence (FC)
- Lexical Resource (LR)
- Grammatical Range + Accuracy (GRA)
- Pronunciation (PR)
Indian-context risks:
- Memorised answers — examiners trained to detect; gives 5.5 ceiling
- Mother-tongue interference: "v" / "w" confusion, "t" / "th" / "d", "p" / "ph"
- Fillers: "you know", "actually", "basically" — overuse
- Speed: too fast (anxiety) — loses clarity
- Part 3: shallow answers ("it depends", "every coin has two sides")
Practice protocol:
- Daily: 10-min mirror practice on 5 Part 1 topics
- Daily: 2 cue cards (Part 2) timed
- Weekly: 1 full mock with examiner (IDP / BC offer paid mocks INR 800-1,500)
- Recording self + listening back — 3x/week
- Part 3 deepening: read 1 op-ed/day on current topics (climate, tech, education, work-life)
If [WEAKEST_MODULE] is Speaking: book a Speaking-specific coach for 8 sessions.
§7 — INDIAN TEST-CENTRE LOGISTICS FOR [HOME_CITY]
Booking options:
- IDP IELTS: ielts.idp.com/india — most slots
- British Council: takeielts.britishcouncil.org/india — Speaking sometimes Saturday-only
- Computer-delivered IELTS: 3-5 day results (vs 13 days paper); same content, faster
- One Skill Retake (OSR): re-sit a single module within 60 days at the same centre — useful if 0.5 band short on one module only (Academic only currently)
For [HOME_CITY]: see slot 1 advisory for nearest centre. Book Speaking slot in advance — limited daily slots.
§8 — STUDY PLAN BY [STUDY_WEEKS]
If 4 weeks: triage on [WEAKEST_MODULE], maintain others
- W1: diagnostic full test, identify gaps, vocabulary 50/day
- W2: drill weakest module 2hrs/day, others 1hr/day
- W3: 3 full mock tests + review
- W4: light review, sleep, test day
If 6 weeks:
- W1: diagnostic, vocabulary baseline
- W2-3: module-by-module deep drill
- W4: integrated mock practice
- W5: weak-module re-focus, paid mock with feedback
- W6: light review, test day
If 8-12 weeks: add weeks 1-4 of foundation (Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS, daily reading habit, Grammar in Use intermediate), then 4-week intensive as above.
§9 — RISK FLAGS
Risk 1: Test booked before adequate prep — score 0.5 short
Mitigation: Use One Skill Retake (Academic only) within 60 days; or full re-sit after 4 weeks
Risk 2: Per-band minimum failed (overall achieved)
Mitigation: e.g. overall 6.5 with Writing 5.5 fails SMC PR if "no band below 6.0" applied. Re-sit Writing.
Risk 3: Indian-name spelling mismatch on TRF vs passport
Mitigation: Confirm spelling at booking — TRF must exactly match passport. Cancel + rebook if mismatch.
Risk 4: Test centre closure / postponement (Indian centres occasionally suspend)
Mitigation: Book backup slot in alternate city; keep 2-week buffer before visa lodgement deadline
Risk 5: Result issued after 2-year validity expiry vs visa lodgement
Mitigation: TRF date triggers 2-year clock; lodge visa within 24 months of test date
§10 — DECISION SUMMARY (one-line)
Format: "Book IELTS [TEST_TYPE], computer-delivered, at [centre in HOME_CITY], target overall [TARGET_OVERALL] ([TARGET_PER_BAND]). Allow [STUDY_WEEKS] weeks coaching focused on [WEAKEST_MODULE]. Total cost: INR 17,000 + INR 8,000-25,000 coaching. Re-sit buffer: 1 attempt within 60 days via OSR if Academic."
End with: "DRAFT — for IAA-licensed immigration adviser review. Verify [TEST_TYPE] is the correct IELTS variant for [CLIENT_NAME]'s intended NZ visa stream against current INZ Operations Manual chapter E5 / SM5.5 / WI10.15. Confirm test fee with IDP India / British Council India before quoting. Score validity 2 years from test date — non-negotiable under E5.10."Unlock the vault to see the full prompt