Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS Advanced

Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS Advanced contains 25 units each featuring a different IELTS topic and filled with vocabulary exercises and practice materials. The aim of the book is to help you build the vocabulary needed to reach bands 7 and above in IELTS. It is useful for candidates who are now at band 6 or 7 and will help you learn and practise new vocabulary in the context of IELTS reading, listening, speaking, and writing test materials. At the end of each unit, there is a section from an IELTS practice test that focuses on the same topic as the unit.

I have worked on the IELTS test since 1995, so I have a good working knowledge of all parts of the test as well as the type of vocabulary that will feature in the test. The book helps you increase your receptive (or passive) vocabulary, so you can understand more in the listening and reading sections of the test, but it also highlights your active vocabulary (the vocabulary you produce in the writing and speaking tests) so that you can write and speak more fluently and more accurately. Rather than simply giving you lists of words or phrases to learn, the book helps you to practice key words in the context of IELTS materials. This means that you also learn how to apply approach vocabulary problems in the real test. For example, you will learn recognise synonyms of the words you are learning, which is important for both the reading and listening tests. In speaking and writing, you will learn about accuracy and using the right form, as well as the correct collocations. There is also a focus on correct spelling and pronunciation. If you are learning vocabulary from free materials and videos, then you are likely to be learning words that are not relevant to the real test. Many free materials focus on words that are highly technical and unfair, and so are simply not suitable for IELTS. Read the vocabulary chapter of my free book to see why this is important.

Although there is no separate vocabulary test in IELTS, vocabulary is a key element of each part of the test, and in my experience is a key problem for candidates stuck at band 6 in reading and writing. Building your vocabulary helps increase your reading speed and your reading comprehension skills. An increased vocabulary also means that you can quickly think of how to express an idea in the writing and speaking tests. Vocabulary is extremely important in IELTS and so building your vocabulary will help you to improve your score in each part of the test. However, it is also important to understand that not all vocabulary is suitable for the test. If you are learning vocabulary from free materials, you may be wasting time learning words that will actually lower your score if they are too informal for the test. Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS Advanced helps self-study students and teachers in the classroom to focus on high-level vocabulary in the context of IELTS test materials and so helps make learning vocabulary interesting and relevant to the test. After each 5 units, there is a test to help you see if you can remember the words you have learned from the previous units. My band 8+ IELTS vocab app fits together very nicely with this book and helps you to build your active vocabulary so that you can keep practising and learning wherever you are.

Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS Advanced focuses on building vocabulary, but you also need to focus on skills as well as doing test practice. The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS meets both of these needs. If think that grammar is also a problem for you, look for my grammar-based books: Common Mistakes at IELTS Intermediate, and Cambridge Grammar for IELTS. If you find Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS Advanced too difficult, or you bought it because you hoped to ‘skip’ ahead, you may find Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS and my band 7+ app more suited to your needs.