The day that my English proficiency will be evaluated has come and I have no idea what to expect on IELTS examination day. We traveled to Davao City the day before the exam and had my photo registration at Marco Polo Hotel to avoid cramming on the examination day.

I want to relax and sleep early but Sunshine was not cooperating. She can’t sleep and so am I since she won’t go to her dad. 

The written exam was at 9am but we were advised to be at the venue at 8am. The written exam was at Royal Mandaya Hotel while the speaking was at Marco Polo Hotel. As per instruction, we should bring three mongol 2 pencils and the identification card that we registered, mine was my passport.

We are allowed to bring clear bottled water but without any tags. Eraser was provided and we are not allowed to bring sharpener. They have baggage counter near the entrance of the examination room at the 8th floor and baggage tag numbers were also provided. As we arrived, we have to line up for the final registration and inspection of our ID.

The setting arrangement and number was posted at the lobby. As we enter, they let us signed and have us timed in with our index finger in the computer then our data will come out.

To my surprise, there are quite a few examiners from General Santos also. They will be going to Australia as butchers. All in all we are a total of 95 examiners. There was a projector screen at the front where the key points of the instructions were flashed. At the start of the exam they will set the time that will be displayed in the projector. The time will be announced at 40, 20, 10 and 5 mins. We are allowed to go to the bathroom except during the instructions was given and 10 mins before the exam ends. We need to time log before we enter the bathroom and before we go back to our sit.

And it begins

First exam is the listening test. They will play the CD for few seconds to check the volume of the sound. First item of the exam I already lost my concentration. My mind flew. Most important tip in listening is concentrate because once you are out of focus even for a second it will greatly affect the rest of the items. The reading was better. I was able to go to the bathroom since I had ample time and I’m afraid that I can’t hold back my personal necessity during the writing test. As my sit mate said, it’s a little bit easier. In writing, I was able to write 2 pages for task 2. I’m confident that I had more than 150 words in task one and more than 250 words in task two. But I was not able to review my work because I was short of time. I’m hoping that they can read my handwriting. As I’ve said in my previous post my penmanship is bad.

After the 3 exams, we are instructed to go out by row and pick up our belongings at the baggage counter. But we were instructed to return for our lunch. It was a treat after the tedious exams. The food served was great.

Speaking Test

I went back to the hotel where we stayed after our lunch to take a rest since I don’t have enough sleep. I was able to sleep for 2 hours then get ready for my speaking test.

My schedule was 6pm and I arrived in Marco Polo at 5:15. But I was interviewed at 5:30. There are only 2 examiners left including myself. Those who arrived early was accommodated before their schedule since the interviews started early.

The exam as a whole was a great experience. I’m confident enough that I will pass since I not the principal applicant and I only need a band score of 5.