Leyla Karimi

I have prepared students for IELTS Academic since 2014, first at a language institute in Tehran and now entirely online. Most people who come to me are stuck at 6.0 or 6.5 in writing while their other bands are fine, and that is the problem I know best: it is almost never grammar, it is task response and the shape of the argument.

Lessons are built around your own writing. You send a Task 2 essay before each session; we spend the hour on what it shows — the paragraph that had two ideas in it, the introduction that answered a different question, the range of language you already have but do not use under time pressure. For speaking I record part 2 and 3 and we listen back together, which is uncomfortable once and useful permanently.

I teach in English, and explain in Persian when a grammar point is faster that way. Expect homework between sessions — about two hours a week — and an honest estimate of your band after the first lesson.