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Welcome to our four-part series on expanding your vocabulary for the IELTS exam. Don’t forget to check out the other three posts:

When working on expanding your vocabulary for your IELTS test, it’s important that you choose a method to achieve your goals in the time that you have available. For example, reading novels and other types of literary works in English can be great for expanding your vocabulary, but it wouldn’t be of much help if your test is only a few days away.

desks in a school room

On the IELTS Speaking test, it’s very common for candidates to be asked questions related to their own school experience. Because of this, it’s essential that you feel confident using the necessary vocabulary to talk about your education. In fact, it would be a good idea to use these words and phrases as a starting point for your vocabulary sets. Once you’ve covered the vocabulary that is relevant to you personally, you can then expand each set with vocabulary that you can use to talk or write about education in a more general way. Before we analyze a few different sample vocabulary sets, take a minute to think about the information that you’ll need to include so that you can use the new vocabulary appropriately. Writing the vocabulary item and its meaning is a good start, but there are other details that you should also include to make your sets even more effective. These details can include the part of speech, common collocations, examples, and notes on pronunciation. Now take a look at the vocabulary sets below and pay close attention to the details presented for each word or phrase.

1. Types of school

word/phrase

part of speech

meaning

common collocations

example

pronunciation

primary

adjective

the type of school for children ages 5-11

primary school, primary education

I think primary education should be compulsory worldwide.

/ˈpraɪ.mer.i/

secondary

adjective

the type of school for children age 11 and up

secondary school, secondary education

(synonym: high school)

I still keep in touch with many of my friends from secondary school.

/ˈsek.ən.der.i/

mixed

adjective

a school where girls and boys are taught together

(antonym: single-sex school)

mixed school, mixed-sex education, mixed-gender education

In my opinion, mixed schools are the way forward.

/mikst/

2. School work

word/phrase

part of speech

meaning

common collocations

example

pronunciation

assignment

noun

a piece of work given to someone as part of their studies

homework assignment, reading/writing assignment

Back then, I was working on my last reading assignment of the term

/ əˈsaɪn.mənt/

lecture

noun

a formal talk on a subject

deliver/give/present a lecture, attend/go to a lecture

She delivered a very interesting lecture.

/ ˈlek.tʃɚ/

thesis

noun

a long piece of writing on a particular subject

write a thesis, complete a thesis, a thesis about/on (subject)

I wrote my thesis on effective treatment strategies for children with ADHD.

/ ˈθiː.sɪs/

3. Qualifications: university & college

word/phrase

part of speech

meaning

common collocations

example

pronunciation

bachelor’s degree

noun

a first degree at college or university

a bachelor’s degree in (subject)

I have a bachelor’s degree in

/ˌbætʃ.əl.ɚz dɪˈɡriː/

fellowship

noun

money for teaching or study given to a person studying for an advanced degree

to apply for a fellowship, to be awarded a fellowship

I then applied for a research fellowship at the university.

/ˈfel.oʊ.ʃɪp/

doctorate (PhD)

noun

the highest degree from a university

to do a doctorate in (subject), to have a doctorate, a doctorate degree

In developing countries, there aren’t as many people with doctorate degrees.

/ˈdɑːk.tɚ.ət/

4. People in education

word/phrase

part of speech

meaning

common collocations

example

pronunciation

principal

noun

the person in charge of a school

school principal

She was the school principal for 15 years.

/ˈprɪn.sə.pəl/

graduate

noun

a person who has finished their school, college or university education

high school/ college/university graduate, a graduate in (subject), a graduate of (school)

There are many opportunities for university graduates nowadays.

/ˈɡrædʒ.u.ət/

professor

noun

a teacher of high rank in a university

college/university professor, visiting professor, (history, law, etc.) professor, professor of (history, law, etc.)

He later became a professor at a local university.

/prəˈfes·ər/

Conclusion

You can also add other sub-topics such as school subjects (maths, geography, physical education, etc.) and other useful vocabulary (campus, scholarship, student loan, etc.) To extend your vocabulary sets, read articles on education and pick words or phrases that you can use on your IELTS, keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy and look for vocabulary activities on your IELTS preparation course book or online. And don’t forget to keep your vocabulary notebook (or notes) at hand whenever you’re studying for your IELTS.

In our next post on expanding your vocabulary for your IELTS, we’ll be looking at vocabulary related to transportation, so don’t forget to keep checking for new articles.