Free tool · All four skills · No sign-up
IELTS study planner: a week-by-week plan to your test date
Enter your test date, the hours you can study each week and the skills that need most work. You get a schedule for every week, with the time for each skill and what to do with it.
Make your study plan
Enter your test date and the time you can study. Your details stay in this browser.
How the plan is built
- Find your starting point
- Week 1. A timed practice of each skill shows where the time should go. Without it, a plan is a guess.
- Build skills
- The middle weeks. Up to two focus skills get twice the time of the others; all four keep some practice so nothing fades.
- Practise under test conditions
- The last two weeks before the final days (or the last week of a short plan). Full timed tests and careful review replace skill drills.
- Final days
- The last seven days. About half the usual time: light review, one short timed task and test-day checks.
The plan is a starting point. Move sessions around your week, but keep the order: find your starting point first, and leave the last days for review and rest.
Example
A learner whose test is 49 days away (7 weeks), with 6 hours a week and Writing marked as the weakest skill, gets: week 1 to find a starting point; weeks 2 to 5 with 2 h 30 min of Writing and 1 h 10 min for each other skill; week 6 for full test practice; and a lighter final week (week 7).
The exact minutes depend on rounding to five-minute blocks and on the day you make the plan.
Questions about planning your preparation
How many weeks do I need to prepare for IELTS?
There is no fixed number. It depends on your starting level, your target and how much time you can study. This planner does not predict a band; it spreads the time you have across the weeks you have.
Will this plan raise my band by a certain amount?
No tool can promise that. How quickly scores change differs from person to person and is not known in advance. Use regular timed practice to see whether your estimates are moving.
How are the hours split between skills?
Each skill gets an equal share, except the skills you mark as needing the most work, which get twice the share. In the test-practice weeks the time is split evenly, because full tests cover every skill.
Is my test date saved?
Only in this browser, so the plan is still here when you come back. Nothing is sent to us. Use Clear to remove it.
Related free tools
Start with a Writing baseline
Week 1 needs a starting point. Write one Task 2 essay in 40 minutes and get an estimated band for each of the four criteria. Your first check needs no account.
English Test Coach is independent of IELTS. This planner gives a schedule, not a score prediction.