i only prepared for 9 days, i didn't know you had to spend time practicing for it before i booked my slot. for context, i'm Filipino, and most of us here are well-versed in English since it's the primary mode of instruction. i don't know why we're still required to take language tests since we're one of the largest english-speaking countries around. kinda unfair tbh, ielts is ridiculously expensive

anyway, initially i got SUPER depressed because i took mock tests in an online website, and i was consistently getting an average of 6.0 in reading (i took more than 20 tests). i consider myself to be proficient in english, so those results were extremelyyyyyyyy demotivating.

anyway, around 2 days before my test i downloaded cambridge practice tests, and i was suddenly scoring around 8.5 to 9. so lesson learned, DON'T rely on online websites. the cambridge practice sets are much more reliable.

in the end, i got an overall band of 8.5 with an 8.0 in speaking (i got nervous so i fumbled a bit), 9.0 in reading, 8.5 in listening (i got distracted, short attention span T_T), and 7.5 in writing (i practiced writing only the night before, should've given it more time, during the exam, i ran out of time to polish my essays. so please prioritize practicing writing, don't be like me

i spent SO MUCH TIME practicing only reading because i thought i was BAD AT IT because of my online scores.

but yeah, TL;DR, do the cambridge test sets. they're reliable enough IMO. those online websites were a waste of time, and it really messed up my confidence.