14 days to the test
Sunday 4 October to Sunday 18 October. One paper a day, and one fault to fix in it.
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
Sun 18 OctThe test. Task 2 before Task 1. Blank nothing.
result filed
today
nothing filed, or still to come
- Fix
- Also
- Then
- Sort every wrong answer by trap on Review. 10 minutes. This is where the band moves.
Behind the plan
The shape of every weekday
- Inside the workday, 15 minutes: the ten-minute loop, Listening and Reading questions only, three short sessions.
- The protected hour: one timed paper section at exam length, then 10 minutes sorting every wrong answer by trap on Review, then 15 minutes shadowing the Listening audio you just sat.
- Writing: three full essays a week, marked, each one rewritten the next day.
- Speaking: 10 minutes a day on the recorder, Part 1 and Part 2 alternating. Read the marking in full.
Where you stood on 4 October
5.0Listening. Real: 17/40 on Official Guide Test 1. Sections 3 and 4 collapsed.
not knownReading. The "3.5" was a blank sheet, now void.
4.5Writing. One introduction only, not an essay.
not knownSpeaking. Never sampled.
What is reachable by 18 October
An 8.5 is not reachable in 14 days from a measured 5.0 and three unknowns. If the baselines come in where they usually do for an engineer who works in English, the reachable result is Listening 6.5, Reading 7 to 7.5, Writing 6 to 6.5, Speaking 7: overall 6.5 to 7.0.
With 6 to 8 more weeks at the same daily hour, 8.0 to 8.5 becomes plausible, because the losses seen so far are technique, not language.