What examiners listen for, how long progress actually takes, and which questions get asked in interviews. No score guarantees anywhere in here.
The band descriptors are public. Almost nobody reads them properly. Here is what separates a 6.5 from a 7 in each of the four criteria — and the habits that quietly hold people back.
Everyone wants a number. The honest answer is a range that depends on which criterion is limiting you — so here is the reasoning, and the four profiles that cover most students.
They are not interchangeable, and the choice is usually made for you by an institution — not by which test feels easier. A practical decision guide.
Not a list to memorise — a list to rehearse out loud, in your second language, until the structure is automatic. With what each question is really testing.
A free trial is a diagnostic, not an audition — for either side. Here is what a good tutor can genuinely establish in 25 minutes, and the claims to be suspicious of.
The fastest way to find out what is actually capping your score is 25 minutes of speaking with someone trained to hear it.