Hi,
I will be taking the IELTS General exam in Nigeria on Aug 5.... I also took the IELTS "academic" exam on July 17 cos i intend to study when i get to canada.
i will give you a few tips which worked for me (and might just work for you too)
1) Try and chew some gum before the speaking exam... it made me a little relaxed & helped my speech flow freely without being unnecessarily tense, also be very creative & abstract in your answers cos the instructor is more interested in your grammer and not the truthfulness of the story.
2) The listening section is the most trickish part of the test... it is the easiest & at the same time easiest to fail ! Ensure you are as relaxed as possible & ensure you have a quick glance of the questions in the time allowed before the audio begins. If you loose the flow at any time (which most people do) move on to the other questions that are relevant at that point.
3) In reading, have a first scan through of the paragraghs and ENSURE you underline any names, dates & specific scenarios to aid you in searching them out when you finally see the questions, Time is of the essence.... also transfer your answers to your answer sheet from time to time cos there isnt any special time for that.
4) in Writing, just ensure you have written enough words and your grammer is correct & avoid repititions.
Finally, it is advisable you use pencil throughout except otherwise stated & dont be foolish enough to leave any answer blank... there is no negative marking !
In the IELTS exam TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE...
Just my thoughts......