IELTS teaching materials and lesson plans for Academic IELTS teachers

Short answer: IELTS Laboratory is a full teaching platform (an LMS, or learning management system) for Academic IELTS, free for teachers and built on one idea: Writing and Speaking are learned by doing. It gives teachers and students a shared place to work between lessons, keeps every piece of student work and every correction in one place, and supports a flipped routine, so class time goes on each student’s real problems. The coursebook is written by Will Salisbury, a former IELTS examiner and EAP lecturer, and edited by Daniel Thornton. Teachers mark everything themselves, pay nothing, and IELTS Laboratory takes 0% commission. Students have their own learner account: the first 7 days are on us, then $19 a month; join before 31 December to keep $19 a month for good.

Most IELTS teaching materials are a folder of PDFs, and most IELTS lesson plans stop at the end of the lesson. This page explains the thinking behind IELTS Laboratory, then what it gives Academic IELTS teachers who already have their own students: an ordered coursebook, Writing and Speaking lesson plans built from each student’s work, and practice between lessons.

Why IELTS Writing and Speaking need a place between lessons

Writing and Speaking are productive skills. Students improve by writing, getting feedback and writing again, or by speaking, hearing it back and speaking again. Most of that doing happens between lessons, and that’s where two problems get in the way:

• No shared resource between lessons. Teachers and students have nothing in common to work from outside class: no single coursebook, practice space or record that both can open.

• No central place for student work. Essays sit in email and recordings in messaging apps, so neither the student nor the teacher can easily track progress or see the weak areas.

IELTS Laboratory is built to solve both.

Flipped learning for IELTS: study at home, discuss in class

• Flipped learning. Students study the lessons between classes, so class time goes on discussing them and the students’ own problems. Explanations that are best studied alone, and practice where mistakes cost nothing, happen at home.

• An ordered learning pathway. The course is a sequence, not a pile of worksheets. Writing starts with Task 2, and the first module is advantages and disadvantages essays. That’s where essay structure is taught (topic sentence, explanation, example and link back), and every later module reinforces it. Task 1 follows.

• Student work at the centre. Everything a student writes or records, and all your marking, sits in one place.

• Practice anywhere. The portal already works in the browser on a phone, and iPhone and Android apps are launching soon, so students will be able to record anywhere.

IELTS Writing lesson plans built from each student’s own mistakes

1. You mark the First Draft. You find each mistake, write the correction and the flashcard, and give the band. Nothing is marked or scored by a machine.

2. Each correction is coded. In the background, software files every saved correction under one of 62 error codes. It labels the type of mistake. It never marks.

3. You see the pattern. The Mistakes tab ranks your group’s mistakes by how much they cost and flags types that are rising. A “who struggles with what” grid shows learners against criteria, with the examples one click away.

4. You prepare the lesson. Lesson prep gathers the flashcards you sent in a chosen period, grouped by mistake type, with questions to ask the class, planned for a lesson of about 50 minutes. You can send students a copy before class, so they practise first.

5. The student writes a Second Draft. It sits under the same report as the first, with the lesson in between, so you can see what held.

Marking is always human. AI and software play five supporting roles only: they code each correction after you’ve made it, turn Speaking recordings into text, voice the examiner’s questions in Part 3 practice, draft the group class puzzle from anonymised essays for you to check, and check answers in some practice games. They never mark or score work.

For a worked example, see our IELTS Writing Task 2 lesson plan from student mistakes.

Group classes: the class puzzle

For group classes, the group’s anonymised essays are processed to create a class puzzle: a new Task 1 or Task 2 answer of the right length, drafted automatically from the group’s most common or significant mistakes. It never contains four or more words in a row from any student’s writing, so nobody’s mistakes can be traced back to them. You check it and edit it before use.

In a live group class you run it as a Live puzzle. Students work in teams on their own screens to find and fix the mistakes, and you see every team’s progress. Then you reveal the answers and lead the wider discussion. Each student can also get a personal puzzle of their own sentences to rewrite. The result is a lesson built directly from what that group needs.

IELTS Speaking lesson plans: recorded practice and Part 3 discussion

Learning by doing applies to Speaking too. When students listen back to their own answers, there are many chances to micro-teach real errors, ones a student would struggle to remember saying. Students also get used to building a good answer over time, instead of just speaking and hoping.

• Speaking reports keep the recording. Click any word in the automatic transcript to play from that moment, and attach a typed or recorded voice note to the words it’s about. The marking is yours.

• A Part 2 cue-card trainer. One minute to prepare, two minutes to speak. Recordings are saved for the student and for you for a year, so a student can listen back to how they sounded months earlier.

• A band graph for every student. Each student has a small graph of the Writing and Speaking bands you’ve given them over time.

• “Teach one thing” videos. After a module, a student can record up to two minutes teaching one point and share it with you and their group.

Speaking Part 3 discussion. Every Speaking topic lesson ends with a Part 3 discussion. An examiner voice asks five Part 3 questions the student hasn’t seen, and waits while they think, as in the real test. There’s nothing to press or read, it lasts about five minutes, and the student can ask for a question to be repeated. Students can start again as many times as they like, then send you the recording, with the examiner’s questions in the transcript and their words highlighted, ready to mark.

IELTS Speaking vocabulary and pronunciation. The Speaking lessons are built on common IELTS Speaking topics such as work, cities, technology and health. Each has a 25-word vocabulary builder, with example sentences, collocations and audio. Students say each word, play their recording back against the model and mark whether they need to work on it. They also listen to a one-minute talk on the topic, mark where words join together and where the weak sound /ə/ (the schwa) falls, then record their own answer. Live lessons in the video room are never recorded. For classroom ideas, see how to teach IELTS Speaking Part 2.

IELTS teaching resources: an ordered coursebook for Academic Writing and Speaking

Each Writing module follows the same path: First Draft, an interactive online lesson with IELTS writing activities, then Second Draft. Writing reports rank each issue as blocking, limiting or cosmetic, with evidence from the student’s essay.

Why “evidence-based”: teachers mark the work, and every mistake is coded anonymously. That data is used to keep improving the lessons, and new releases are A/B-tested, comparing versions of the materials so that students get the ones that work best. A printed textbook is fixed the day it’s printed; this one keeps being tested and revised. Read more on how IELTS Laboratory works, or see our 10-week IELTS scheme of work for one way to sequence a course.

IELTS writing activities and games between lessons

Short IELTS writing games and speaking games give students low-stakes practice in their learner account:

• Paraphrase Chain (Writing Task 2): build an essay frame from the introduction to topic sentences and a conclusion, saying the same two ideas in new words each time. Builds paraphrasing and coherence.

• Logic Chains (Writing): drag idea blocks into cause-and-effect chains against the clock. Builds logical development.

• Paragraph Builder (Writing Task 2): put together body paragraphs from Topic, Explanation, Example and Link slots. Builds paragraph structure.

• Tense Questions (Speaking): turn a cue-card prompt into a question about yourself, then answer it in the right tense, with less thinking time on each card. Builds grammatical accuracy.

• Speaking Streak (Speaking Part 2): the cue-card trainer above, with a leaderboard. Builds fluency.

Groups, learning logs, bookings and the video room

• Groups and learning logs: organise students into groups, with a learning log and reports for each learner.

• Bookings: set your weekly hours and days off. Connected learners in your groups book 50-minute private classes from your open times, up to four weeks ahead and at least 24 hours before. You can also schedule group classes of up to 5.

• The video room: lessons take place inside the portal, with the prepared lesson beside the video and reminders by email.

• Teacher materials: browse every Writing chapter, the task materials and the Speaking lessons, and preview exactly what students see.

What do these IELTS materials for teachers cost?

• Teachers: free. Your teacher account, every teaching tool, unlimited students, bookings and the video room cost nothing. IELTS Laboratory takes 0% commission, and you keep 100% of your lesson fees.

• Students: each student has their own learner account. The first 7 days are on us, then $19 a month; join before 31 December to keep $19 a month for good.

• Optional free listing: you can list yourself in the tutor directory for free. Every tutor is screened before listing. See the teacher page.

The materials are written by Will Salisbury, a former IELTS examiner and EAP lecturer with over 14 years of university teaching, and edited by Daniel Thornton. Read about the team.

FAQ

What IELTS teaching materials and resources are included?

An ordered online coursebook for Academic IELTS (Writing Task 2 first, then Task 1, and 16 Speaking topic lessons), Writing and Speaking lesson prep built from your students’ mistakes, practice games, Part 3 discussion practice, and tools to mark, track and teach your own students.

Where can I find IELTS lesson plans for Writing and Speaking?

Inside the teacher account, lesson prep gathers the flashcards you’ve sent in a chosen period into a lesson of about 50 minutes, grouped by mistake type. For worked examples, see our IELTS Writing Task 2 lesson plan, Speaking Part 2 lesson plan and 10-week scheme of work.

Who writes the materials?

Will Salisbury, a former IELTS examiner and EAP lecturer, writes the materials, and Daniel Thornton edits them.

What is flipped learning in IELTS teaching?

Students study a lesson on their own before class and practise where mistakes cost nothing, so class time goes on discussion and on each student’s own problems. IELTS Laboratory supports this with an online coursebook, practice between lessons and lesson prep built from students’ mistakes.

Are these IELTS materials for teachers free?

Yes. The teacher account, every teaching tool, unlimited students, bookings and online lessons are free, and IELTS Laboratory takes 0% commission. Students pay for their own learner account after 7 days.

Is IELTS Laboratory an LMS?

Yes. It’s a learning management system built only for Academic IELTS Writing and Speaking, with groups, learning logs, reports, coursework, an online coursebook, bookings and a video room.

Does software mark my students’ work?

No. Teachers mark every piece of work and give the bands. Software files each saved correction under an error code, turns Speaking recordings into text, voices the examiner’s questions in Part 3 practice, checks answers in some practice games and drafts the group class puzzle from anonymised essays for the teacher to check and edit.

How do group classes work?

The group’s anonymised essays are processed to create a class puzzle: a new answer drafted automatically from the group’s most common or significant mistakes, never with four or more words in a row from any student. The teacher checks and edits it, teams find and fix the mistakes live in the video room, then the teacher reveals the answers and leads the discussion.

Is there an IELTS app for students?

The portal works in any browser on a phone now, so students can use it on mobile today. iPhone and Android apps are launching soon, so students will be able to record anywhere.

Are IELTS Laboratory’s materials evidence-based?

Yes. Teachers mark the work, every mistake is coded anonymously, and that data is used to keep improving the lessons. New releases are A/B-tested, comparing versions of the materials so students get the ones that work best. A printed textbook is fixed the day it’s printed.

Why should IELTS students listen back to their Speaking recordings?

Listening back gives the teacher many chances to micro-teach real errors that a student would struggle to remember saying. It also gets students used to building a good answer over time, instead of just speaking and hoping.

Can students practise IELTS Speaking Part 3 on their own?

Yes. Each Speaking topic lesson ends with a Part 3 discussion: an examiner voice asks five Part 3 questions the student hasn’t seen, and waits while they think, as in the real test. Students can repeat it as often as they like before sending the recording to their teacher to mark.

How does IELTS Laboratory teach IELTS Speaking vocabulary and pronunciation?

Each Speaking lesson is built on a common IELTS Speaking topic and has a 25-word vocabulary builder with example sentences and audio. Students also practise pronunciation features such as the schwa and connected speech, and record themselves to compare with the model.

Are there IELTS writing games for students?

Yes. Students can play Paraphrase Chain, Logic Chains and Paragraph Builder for Writing, and Tense Questions and Speaking Streak for Speaking, in their learner account between lessons. Marking stays with the teacher.

Can I use it with students I already teach?

Yes. Create a free teacher account, connect your students, add them to a group and use every tool with them. The tutor listing is optional.

Does it cover General Training?

No. IELTS Laboratory covers Academic IELTS Writing and Speaking only.

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IELTS Laboratory is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to IELTS, the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia or Cambridge University Press and Assessment.