98.6% of IELTS Practice Tests are FAKE

00:10:44
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCM-wV7OEIg

Summary

TLDRThis video from I Advantage provides guidance on the only reliable sources for IELTS practice tests, aiming to prevent viewers from falling for fake and unreliable tests. Chris emphasizes searching in Google using the right keywords along with these trusted sources: British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. He warns against the prevalent scam of fake practice material providers who only aim to profit through online ads. He advocates purchasing Cambridge books for reliable practice. Chris also warns about a yearly scam involving fake new editions of Cambridge practice tests that appear before the official publication date. He stresses the importance of using officially sanctioned materials to ensure success in the IELTS exam.

Takeaways

  • ๐Ÿ” Use only British Council, IDP, and Cambridge for IELTS practice tests.
  • ๐Ÿšซ Avoid fake practice tests to ensure accurate preparation.
  • ๐Ÿ“š Cambridge books are your best resources for reliable practice.
  • ๐Ÿ›‘ Be cautious of scams involving fake test materials online.
  • ๐Ÿ’ผ Understand that fake test creators profit through site ad clicks.
  • ๐Ÿ“… Always check publication dates to avoid counterfeit Cambridge books.
  • ๐Ÿ” Ensure practice material comes directly from recognized institutions.
  • โœจ Accurate preparation materials can lead to achieving desired test scores.
  • ๐Ÿ“š Several reliable practice books available from Cambridge, like IELTS Trainer 2 and Cambridge English Practice Test Bank.
  • ๐Ÿ” Verify the authenticity of practice books on official sites like Amazon.
  • ๐Ÿค Reach out for advice on identifying reliable IELTS prep resources.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    In the video, Chris from I Advantage talks about the pitfalls of using online practice tests for IELTS. He warns that many online tests are fake and unreliable, which could lead to failure in achieving the needed score. Chris emphasizes sticking to three reliable sources for practice tests: the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge, which are responsible for creating the actual tests. He advises viewers to search for these specific sources when looking for practice materials online and warns against using any other sources that might have ulterior motives, such as earning through site advertisements. It is essential to focus on official sources for genuine practice tests to ensure success.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:44

    Chris further explains the availability of Cambridge books for practice tests and insists on using only Cambridge-published materials due to their reliability. He warns against fake versions of IELTS practice books that appear every year, often before the official publication date, emphasizing the importance of checking the publication date to avoid scams. Chris narrates an incident involving a student who was confused by a fake book's question, highlighting the issues with counterfeit materials. He encourages buying practice tests from trustworthy bookshops and official sites to prevent such problems. The emphasis is on spending money wisely on authentic materials rather than wasting it on the IELTS re-test fees due to unreliable preparation resources.

Mind Map

Mind Map

Frequently Asked Question

  • What are the three reliable sources for IELTS practice tests?

    The three reliable sources are British Council, IDP, and Cambridge.

  • Why should you avoid using fake practice tests?

    Fake practice tests can lead to unreliable results, affecting your actual scores negatively.

  • How do fake test providers make money?

    They make money through advertising clicks when users visit their unreliable test sites.

  • Can books be used for reliable IELTS practice tests?

    Yes, Cambridge books are reliable for practice tests.

  • What is a common scam regarding IELTS practice materials?

    Fake versions of new Cambridge practice test books are released every year.

  • How can you ensure you have a real Cambridge practice book?

    Check the publication date on official sites or trustworthy sellers like Amazon.

  • Why is it important to use reliable practice materials?

    Using reliable materials ensures you can accurately assess your readiness for the actual test.

  • What might you encounter with unreliable practice tests?

    They may be too easy or too difficult, leading to incorrect assessment of your abilities.

View more video summaries

Get instant access to free YouTube video summaries powered by AI!
Subtitles
en
Auto Scroll:
  • 00:00:00
    hey Chris here from I advantage and in
  • 00:00:02
    this video I'm going to show you the
  • 00:00:04
    only three sources that you should use
  • 00:00:07
    for practice test so if you go to Google
  • 00:00:11
    and you type in I Els practice test
  • 00:00:15
    you're going to get a bunch of results
  • 00:00:17
    and most of these results are actually
  • 00:00:20
    fake unreliable tests if you use some of
  • 00:00:24
    these fake unreliable tests you are
  • 00:00:28
    going to fail your test you're going to
  • 00:00:30
    fail to get the score that you need
  • 00:00:33
    however there are three sources which do
  • 00:00:36
    give you reliable real practice tests
  • 00:00:39
    that you can use to give you reliable
  • 00:00:42
    results and in this video I'm going to
  • 00:00:44
    show you how to find those I'm also
  • 00:00:46
    going to show you which books are
  • 00:00:48
    reliable at the end of the video too and
  • 00:00:50
    because there are a lot of books um that
  • 00:00:52
    will actually show you how to practice
  • 00:00:56
    and they have reliable practice tests
  • 00:00:59
    and finally I'm going to show you a scam
  • 00:01:02
    that is happening at the moment um and
  • 00:01:04
    how to avoid being scammed with practice
  • 00:01:07
    tests so the first thing you need to do
  • 00:01:08
    is go to Google but don't just put in
  • 00:01:11
    ielt practice test if you put in ILS
  • 00:01:13
    practice test you're going to get a
  • 00:01:15
    bunch of information and Google doesn't
  • 00:01:18
    really know what is reliable and what is
  • 00:01:21
    not reliable but you don't need to worry
  • 00:01:23
    about this because all you need to do is
  • 00:01:26
    put in I practice test and then put in
  • 00:01:30
    what you want help with so if you want
  • 00:01:32
    help with reading listening speaking
  • 00:01:35
    writing put in whatever you need so
  • 00:01:39
    let's say we want to do a reading
  • 00:01:40
    practice test so we're going to put in
  • 00:01:42
    Reading then we're going to put in one
  • 00:01:45
    of the three reliable sources and those
  • 00:01:50
    are the British
  • 00:01:53
    console
  • 00:01:55
    or
  • 00:01:57
    IDP or
  • 00:02:04
    Cambridge so for example if we put in
  • 00:02:08
    British console what you're going to see
  • 00:02:10
    is that the British console will give
  • 00:02:12
    you a bunch of different reading
  • 00:02:14
    practice tests and you can note you
  • 00:02:16
    notice that in the URL it says British
  • 00:02:18
    console British console British console
  • 00:02:20
    British console British console British
  • 00:02:21
    console British console so if any of
  • 00:02:24
    these ones are giving you a practice
  • 00:02:27
    test you know that this is reliable
  • 00:02:29
    because it's coming from the makers of
  • 00:02:31
    the test the British console
  • 00:02:34
    or IDP if you go in here IDP IDP IDP IDP
  • 00:02:39
    exactly the same and sometimes you'll
  • 00:02:41
    get India IDP sometimes you'll get like
  • 00:02:43
    Nigeria IDP um these are all part of the
  • 00:02:47
    IDP Network and they will give you free
  • 00:02:50
    reliable practice tests or the people
  • 00:02:53
    that actually make the test Cambridge
  • 00:02:56
    you'll see Cambridge English um and be
  • 00:02:59
    very careful
  • 00:03:00
    for example this one practice pte online
  • 00:03:04
    um I'd never heard of this one before
  • 00:03:06
    but just because it has Cambridge in the
  • 00:03:09
    name of the page doesn't mean that it's
  • 00:03:11
    reliable look at the URL it says here
  • 00:03:14
    Cambridge English now is there any other
  • 00:03:18
    source that gives you free um practice
  • 00:03:21
    tests that are reliable no only
  • 00:03:25
    Cambridge IDP on the British conso
  • 00:03:29
    everything else is unreliable and you
  • 00:03:31
    should not trust it why do they make so
  • 00:03:35
    many unreliable tests well it's really
  • 00:03:37
    to do with their business model um the
  • 00:03:40
    people who make these fake tests once
  • 00:03:42
    you click on their site there you will
  • 00:03:45
    always see advertising on their site and
  • 00:03:48
    when you click on that advertising they
  • 00:03:50
    make money so their goal is just to get
  • 00:03:54
    you onto the site their goal is not
  • 00:03:56
    actually to help you pass the test so
  • 00:03:59
    don't trust anyone whose goals are
  • 00:04:03
    completely misaligned with
  • 00:04:06
    yours and once you put something like
  • 00:04:08
    this in so let's say we want to get some
  • 00:04:10
    help with listening we can put that in
  • 00:04:12
    so listening practice test we can go in
  • 00:04:15
    here we can see that this is a real
  • 00:04:17
    official site and we can scroll down and
  • 00:04:20
    get our listening practice test and they
  • 00:04:22
    often British cons IDP um Cambridge they
  • 00:04:26
    often add new ones um so if you've used
  • 00:04:29
    older ones in the past for example this
  • 00:04:31
    is a new one and you can go in and
  • 00:04:34
    practice these especially uh for
  • 00:04:36
    listening and reading if you're using
  • 00:04:38
    fake tests um either the tests will be
  • 00:04:41
    way too difficult and then you'll think
  • 00:04:43
    that you're terrible when you're really
  • 00:04:45
    not or they will be way too easy and you
  • 00:04:48
    think that you're ready for the test and
  • 00:04:50
    you are not please do not use any other
  • 00:04:54
    practice tests they are all fake and
  • 00:04:57
    they do not care about your I score they
  • 00:05:00
    care about your clicks however there are
  • 00:05:02
    a limited number of these online free
  • 00:05:05
    tests so we also can use books so I'm
  • 00:05:08
    using amazon.com here you don't have to
  • 00:05:11
    use Amazon you can use any uh online
  • 00:05:13
    bookstore or your own bookstore whatever
  • 00:05:16
    you want to use but if we put in here I
  • 00:05:19
    practice
  • 00:05:21
    tests and let's see what they have so as
  • 00:05:24
    you can see not all of these are going
  • 00:05:26
    to be reliable so some of these are not
  • 00:05:29
    made by Cambridge and most of these are
  • 00:05:33
    going to be very unreliable even if you
  • 00:05:36
    have five stars on something that
  • 00:05:38
    doesn't mean anything doesn't mean even
  • 00:05:41
    if something has a low star rating again
  • 00:05:43
    don't go by the star rating there is
  • 00:05:46
    only one thing that you can go by and
  • 00:05:49
    that is who actually made these tests
  • 00:05:52
    and if these tests are made by Cambridge
  • 00:05:55
    then they are reliable if they are not
  • 00:05:58
    made by Cambridge then they are
  • 00:05:59
    unreliable so where can you find all of
  • 00:06:02
    the Cambridge books so if we go and
  • 00:06:06
    stick into Google Cambridge ielt books
  • 00:06:09
    and then the first results Cambridge
  • 00:06:10
    University press just click on those and
  • 00:06:13
    what it'll show you
  • 00:06:15
    is the results for all the different
  • 00:06:19
    books so most of you are familiar with I
  • 00:06:22
    16 I 15 all of these different practice
  • 00:06:25
    books but there are also practice tests
  • 00:06:27
    in other Cambridge books and all of
  • 00:06:29
    these are reliable so there's is trainer
  • 00:06:31
    2 which came out in May 2019 there's is
  • 00:06:34
    trainer 1 uh there is a couple of other
  • 00:06:38
    ones Cambridge English practice test
  • 00:06:41
    bank which is reliable and then the
  • 00:06:43
    official Cambridge guide to IELTS um at
  • 00:06:46
    the back of this book I think there are
  • 00:06:48
    five or six practice tests as
  • 00:06:51
    well and then we have I trainer official
  • 00:06:54
    I practice materials so there's lots of
  • 00:06:57
    these books and they are all very very
  • 00:06:59
    reliable and you might look at these and
  • 00:07:01
    think well I have to pay money for these
  • 00:07:04
    well it is a lot cheaper to buy these
  • 00:07:08
    books and do the practice test and get
  • 00:07:11
    real official tests that give you
  • 00:07:13
    reliable results than to pay $2
  • 00:07:16
    $250 for a a real test and then if you
  • 00:07:20
    fail that test you've just thrown away a
  • 00:07:23
    huge amount of money I have no
  • 00:07:25
    affiliation with Cambridge Cambridge
  • 00:07:28
    don't give me any money only reason I'm
  • 00:07:30
    telling you this information is because
  • 00:07:32
    it's the truth these are the only books
  • 00:07:35
    that you should use for practice test if
  • 00:07:37
    you want to get the score that you need
  • 00:07:39
    if you want to give people making fake
  • 00:07:41
    tests money um then you know use any all
  • 00:07:45
    the other ones but if you are interested
  • 00:07:47
    in getting the scores that you need then
  • 00:07:50
    this is the way to go so the little scam
  • 00:07:53
    that goes on every year and that I
  • 00:07:56
    talked about at the beginning is every
  • 00:07:58
    year around June July Cambridge bring
  • 00:08:01
    out new practice tests and every year
  • 00:08:05
    without fail what happens in countries
  • 00:08:08
    all over the world is people will make
  • 00:08:12
    up a fake version of I academic 16 or
  • 00:08:16
    last year it was 15 the year before it
  • 00:08:18
    was 14 next year I guarantee I 17 there
  • 00:08:21
    will be fake copies going around of
  • 00:08:24
    those books and what happens is if you
  • 00:08:26
    buy a fake copy of this book book and
  • 00:08:30
    this is not just soft copies on the
  • 00:08:32
    internet uh there's fake copies of this
  • 00:08:35
    book in real bookstores as well and if
  • 00:08:38
    you buy these uh you will find that the
  • 00:08:41
    questions are completely unreliable
  • 00:08:43
    you're going to get very very confused
  • 00:08:46
    and what is going to happen is you will
  • 00:08:49
    contact a teacher like me which is what
  • 00:08:51
    happened last week what happened last
  • 00:08:53
    week is a Chinese student who bought a
  • 00:08:55
    book in A Real Bookstore came to me and
  • 00:08:58
    said I've never seen a task two question
  • 00:09:00
    like this it is so difficult I'm really
  • 00:09:03
    stressed I can't do this question and I
  • 00:09:06
    just say calm down this is not a real
  • 00:09:09
    question you have bought a fake book so
  • 00:09:13
    be very very careful um when you are
  • 00:09:16
    buying these books to buy them from real
  • 00:09:19
    reliable sources and good book shops um
  • 00:09:22
    that aren't selling fake books but a
  • 00:09:25
    really easy way of knowing whether um
  • 00:09:28
    your book is fake or not is go to the
  • 00:09:34
    official site um or Amazon for example
  • 00:09:38
    and look at the publication date so this
  • 00:09:42
    book was published on the 8th of July
  • 00:09:45
    2021 for months and months before this
  • 00:09:49
    students were coming to me and saying
  • 00:09:51
    teacher I got the new I 16 can we do
  • 00:09:53
    these uh practice tests uh no because
  • 00:09:56
    you just bought a fake book if the book
  • 00:09:59
    is available in your country before the
  • 00:10:01
    publication date then it's a fake book
  • 00:10:05
    why do people do this to make money from
  • 00:10:07
    you they care about your money they
  • 00:10:09
    don't care about whether you get the
  • 00:10:12
    score that you need or not so I hope
  • 00:10:14
    that helps and I hope that that helps
  • 00:10:16
    you find Reliable practice materials so
  • 00:10:19
    that you can practice and get a reliable
  • 00:10:23
    score before you decide to book the test
  • 00:10:26
    thank you very much and if you need any
  • 00:10:28
    other advice feel free to to get in
  • 00:10:29
    touch
  • 00:10:31
    [Music]
Tags
  • IELTS
  • practice tests
  • British Council
  • Cambridge
  • IDP
  • fake tests
  • reliable sources
  • scam alert