The 120-day IELTS study plan: a complete week-by-week calendar

Most study plans promise a band jump in 30 days. For a half-band, sometimes. For a full band — say 6.0 to 7.0 — the honest number for most candidates is three to four months of consistent, reviewed practice. Here is a 120-day calendar that assumes about an hour a day on weekdays and a longer session at the weekend.

Day 1: sit a full mock before you study anything

Take a complete timed mock — Listening, Reading and Writing under one clock — before any preparation. This baseline is the most valuable test you will sit: it tells you which module is weakest, where time pressure bites, and what your starting band actually is rather than what you hope it is.

Days 2–30: one module day, every day

• Alternate Listening and Reading practice days — one complete timed test daily, forty questions, real clock.
• Review every wrong answer the same day: was it a knowledge gap, a misread, or time pressure? Log which.
• Twice a week, one Writing task under the clock — alternate Task 1 and Task 2 — reviewed against a model answer.
• Once a week, one Speaking topic set aloud: Part 1 answers of 20–30 seconds each, the cue card with one minute's preparation, Part 3 in full sentences.

Day 30: second full mock — your first real signal

Compare against the baseline module by module, not overall. A flat overall band with Listening up half a band and Writing down is not 'no progress' — it is a redirected study plan. Weight the next month toward whatever moved least.

Days 31–60: attack the weakest module

• Give the weakest module four days a week; maintain the others with one day each.
• In Reading, drill your two worst question types specifically — for most candidates: True/False/Not Given and matching headings.
• Raise Writing to three tasks a week. Structure errors should be gone by day 60; what remains is precision.
• Record one Speaking cue-card answer a week and listen back — the gap between how fluent you feel and how you sound is the finding.

Days 61–90: alternate mocks and repair

A full mock every ten days now, with two or three repair days after each targeting exactly what that mock exposed. This rhythm — test, diagnose, repair — is where bands actually move. Somewhere in this window, get a human judgement on your Speaking and Writing; automated estimates are directional, and a teacher's band tells you where you really stand.

Days 91–110: full-test stamina

• Weekly full mocks at the same time of day as your real test.
• Practise the complete arc — Listening straight into Reading into Writing — because the last essay is written on a tired brain, and that is a trainable condition.
• Stop learning new techniques after day 100. Consolidate the ones that already work.

Days 111–120: taper

One light session a day: a single section, a cue card aloud, a review of your error log. No new material, no mock in the final three days, and no all-nighters — Listening rewards rest more than revision. Confirm your test-day logistics and sleep.