Best books for IELTS preparation 2024
I got this excellent question from Isabelle this morning so I'd like to share my answer here.
Dear Fiona
Module One of the course on teaching IELTS that I'm taking at Oxford TEFL gives IELTS Masterclass by Simon Haines and Peter May as an example of an IELTS coursebook. It looks like a very good book, but it was published back in 2012.
That concerns me, because in your article "10 Useful Academic IELTS Reading Resources", you recommend starting with the most recent Cambridge IELTS test books. You say that the ones before Book 9 are not as relevant to the current test. Book 9 was published in 2013.
So that means that "IELTS Masterclass" dates back to an earlier stage of IELTS development, doesn't it?
What are your thoughts about this? Could you recommend any good coursebooks that are more recent?
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Hi Isabelle
Many thanks for your question.
I think Coursebooks and Practice Tests have different functions.
Coursebooks are designed to develop language and skills, so they will always be good resources.
There are many good coursebooks that do this e.g.
- Mindset for IELTS
- Complete IELTS
- IELTS Foundation
- Direct to IELTS
- Focus on IELTS
The teachers I work with have different opinions about which coursebooks are best, because different books work better for different sets of students (e.g. I find that the Complete IELTS series is good for lower levels, and I actually don't like using the 2 most recommended books - The official Cambridge guide to IELTS or Barron's IELTS, but they are good for self-study. And I find that Mindset for IELTS, which is a very popular recent book, is too 'light' and needs a lot of supplementing, but they all do the job of covering the basic requirements of the test).
As for the Cambridge Practice Tests, they have improved significantly over the years, and I believe that it's better to start with the most recent ones as they reflect the current very well-written tests.
I hope that helps,
Best wishes
Fiona
