Are you still struggling to get a high score in IELTS?

Free tips, advice, and lessons for the IELTS exam.

Hi, I’m Ray and I run a small English school in Kyushu, Japan (London Language Lounge). I have been teaching IELTS here since 2009. I founded IELTS Focus in 2016 to help my students hit their target score in the IELTS exam.

This website contains free materials, tips, strategies and free lessons to help you on your IELTS journey. I also have an online writing correction service and one to one IELTS speaking sessions online.

There is so much bad advice online regarding IELTS and many students are completely misinformed or simply confused. The aim of this website is to clear up confusion and show you clearly what you need to do to get a Band 7 or more.

Take a look at the testimonials page to see what my students have said.

Is writing stopping you from hitting your target score?

Take a look at the writing correction service here or click the banner below to access the page.

Recent free lessons and blog posts

IELTS writing task 1: Table with dynamic data

Model answer for a table with a trend. As mentioned in other posts regarding IELTS academic writing task 1, data ...

IELTS model answer: newspapers and books in the future

IELTS opinion essay model answer. Here is a model answer based on an essay topic from the Cambridge IELTS 15 ...

Vocabulary issues in IELTS writing.

Common vocabulary issues in IELTS writing. Updated: March 1st 2022. When I mark IELTS essays I often find that the ...

Model answer for a pie chart and table

Double tasks in IELTS academic writing task 1. Updated: May 7th 2022 In IELTS academic writing task 1 you could ...

IELTS Vocabulary: Adverbial phrases

Comment adverbials and set phrases for a higher speaking score. Updated: April 28th 2022. In the IELTS speaking exam you ...

IELTS vocabulary: crime and punishment

Updated: April 7th 2022 In IELTS writing task 2 various topics come up, such as the environment, family, society, work, ...

IELTS academic task 1: model answer for 2 diagrams

Model answer for IELTS writing task 1 maps/diagrams. Updated: Feb 2023 Maps or diagrams often show up in the IELTS ...

Writing an introduction without paraphrasing

Do you have to paraphrase the task question when writing an IELTS essay? This is a question I was recently ...

Unusual IELTS speaking part 1 topics

Tricky or strange IELTS part 1 speaking topics. Updated: September 2023 Part 1 of the IELTS speaking test is actually ...

IELTS speaking sessions online.

I offer 30-minute IELTS mock speaking sessions online covering part 1 to 3 of the speaking exam. Full feedback is given to help you find what is stopping you from getting a higher band score in your speaking. This is a one to one session on Skype or Zoom. Click here for more details.