From IELTS 5.5 to 7.0: How Maria’s Persistence and K+ Training Changed Her Life
When Maria Santos first walked into our Kidapawan City branch in September 2024, she had already attempted the IELTS exam twice, scoring 5.5 both times—just short of the 7.0 overall band score required for her nursing application in Australia. Today, Maria works as a registered nurse in Sydney, having achieved an impressive 7.5 overall band score in her third attempt. Her journey exemplifies the power of targeted preparation, perseverance, and the right guidance.
The Challenge
Maria’s previous IELTS attempts revealed a pattern: she consistently scored well in Listening (7.0) and Reading (6.5) but struggled with Writing (5.0) and Speaking (5.5). As a practicing nurse in General Santos City for five years, Maria possessed excellent technical knowledge but faced challenges expressing complex healthcare concepts in English under examination conditions.
“I was feeling defeated after my second attempt,” Maria recalls. “I knew I needed a different approach, which is when a colleague recommended K+ Review Center.”
The Customized Preparation Journey
After an initial assessment at K+ Review Center, our instructors identified specific areas for improvement:
- In Writing: Maria needed to develop better task analysis skills and more sophisticated sentence structures for Task 2 essays.
- In Speaking: She needed to overcome hesitation, expand her healthcare-related vocabulary, and improve her pronunciation of technical terms.
Our instructors designed a 10-week intensive program combining:
- Twice-weekly one-on-one sessions focused on writing and speaking
- Weekly mock tests under examination conditions
- Daily vocabulary enhancement exercises
- Pronunciation drills targeting specific phonemes
“What made the difference at K+ was the personalized attention,” Maria explains. “My instructors didn’t just give generic advice—they analyzed my specific patterns of errors and helped me overcome them one by one.”
The Transformation
By week six, Maria’s mock test scores began showing consistent improvement. Her writing became more cohesive, with better paragraph development and more precise language. In speaking, she developed greater confidence and fluency, particularly when discussing healthcare scenarios.
“The mock interviews were invaluable,” Maria says. “They helped me overcome my anxiety and taught me to structure my responses more effectively.”
One particularly effective strategy was recording her speaking practice sessions, which allowed Maria to identify and correct habitual errors in pronunciation and grammar.
The Results
In December 2024, Maria took the IELTS exam for the third time, achieving:
- Listening: 8.0 (up from 7.0)
- Reading: 7.5 (up from 6.5)
- Writing: 7.0 (up from 5.0)
- Speaking: 7.5 (up from 5.5)
- Overall: 7.5
This outstanding result exceeded the requirements for her Australian nursing registration, opening doors to opportunities she had been working toward for years.
Life-Changing Impact
Within two months of receiving her results, Maria secured a position at a leading hospital in Sydney through one of K+ Review Center’s international recruitment partners. She moved to Australia in February 2025 and has been enjoying both professional growth and a significantly improved quality of life.
“Without K+ Review Center, I might have given up after my third attempt,” Maria reflects. “Their methodical approach and encouraging environment made all the difference.”
Maria’s advice to current IELTS candidates: “Identify your specific weaknesses, work on them systematically, and don’t underestimate the importance of regular practice under exam conditions.”
Maria’s success story is one of many at K+ Review Center, where we’ve helped thousands of professionals achieve their target band scores since 2020. Her journey demonstrates that with targeted preparation and expert guidance, significant score improvements are possible even after multiple attempts.
Are you facing similar challenges with your IELTS preparation? Contact K+ Review Center today to schedule an assessment and start your own success story.