IELTS Academic · B2/C1 · Target Band 7

Read Your Way to Band 7

Full IELTS workouts built from genuinely interesting texts — read closely, then practise the writing and speaking that grow out of each one.

Most IELTS practice is dry. This series isn't. Each lesson starts from a text worth reading in its own right — a classic short story, a piece of behavioural science, an essay on a lost human skill — and turns it into a complete exam workout.

You meet the real IELTS reading question types (Matching Headings, True / False / Not Given, Summary & Sentence Completion, Multiple Choice), then carry the topic straight into a Writing task and the three parts of the Speaking test. Vocabulary and the grammar that lifts a band are built in. Everything is pitched at Band 7.

The lessons

LESSON 01
The Verger
A church verger is dismissed for being unable to read — and discovers the weakness was his fortune all along. A story that quietly overturns our ideas about education and success.
Matching HeadingsT/F/NGSummaryGrammarWriting Task 2Speaking
Target Band 7Open →
LESSON 02
The Ulysses Contract
Why do we bind our future selves — like Ulysses lashed to the mast? A fascinating look at self-control, temptation and commitment devices, and what they reveal about human willpower.
T/F/NGMatching HeadingsSummaryVocabularyWriting Task 2Speaking
B2/C1 · Band 7Open →
LESSON 03
The Lost Art of Wayfinding
Before GPS, humans navigated by stars, currents and memory. What have we lost by outsourcing our sense of direction to a screen — and can the old skills be relearned?
Matching HeadingsSentence CompletionMultiple ChoiceWriting Task 1Speaking
B2/C1Open →

How each lesson works

1 · Read

A genuinely interesting text, with vocabulary built in.

2 · Reading tasks

The authentic IELTS question types, with answers to check.

3 · Grammar

The structures that lift you to Band 7, drawn from the text.

4 · Writing

A Task 1 or Task 2 question that grows out of the topic.

5 · Speaking

Parts 1, 2 and 3 on the same theme, with model language.