IELTS tips

Former IELTS Speaking Examiner, 2017–2024
Understand what’s holding back your IELTS Speaking band. Know what to work on next.
I’m Daniel James, a former IELTS Speaking Examiner. I help IELTS candidates understand their speaking performance, get useful feedback, and build a clearer plan to improve.
Course details coming soonThe rehearsal is a short practice run with a free account. It is not a full IELTS test or an official band score.

Where should you begin?
Pick the route that sounds most like you.
Try it
Not sure where your speaking stands?
Start with a free 2-minute rehearsal and experience the speaking simulation before choosing an assessment.
Try the free rehearsalGet personal help
Want feedback from Daniel?
Get personal guidance from a former IELTS Speaking Examiner, especially if you’re stuck or have an exam coming up.
See how Daniel can helpLearn at your own pace
Prefer a structured way to improve?
Daniel’s four-module course offers a guided learning path you can work through at your own pace.
Course details coming soon
How the platform helps you improve
Target Band English puts Daniel’s examiner experience within reach, wherever you are in your preparation.
Practise
Start with the free rehearsal or a full speaking simulation.
Understand
Choose an AI estimate or human examiner feedback. The difference is explained below.
Improve
Use your feedback to decide what comes next: practise independently, follow the course, or work directly with Daniel.
AI estimate or human evaluation?
- AI estimate
- An instant, AI-estimated band range. It is a guide for your practice, not an examiner’s assessment.
- Human examiner evaluation
- Daniel, a former IELTS Speaking Examiner, listens to your whole test for a more detailed and accurate assessment.
Neither option is an official IELTS score.

About Daniel
Meet Daniel James
Founder and Lead Speaking Consultant
Daniel James examined IELTS Speaking from 2017 to 2024 and has taught university English for 15+ years. Every human evaluation is personally reviewed by Daniel, using the same band descriptors and assessment criteria he applied as an examiner.
- Former IELTS Speaking Examiner, 2017–2024
- 15+ years of university English teaching
- MA English Studies
- CELTA
- FHEA
- Human evaluations personally reviewed by Daniel
Students who prepared with Daniel
When I failed my IELTS and was moved to a class for students who had also failed, Daniel didn’t let us see it as a crushing setback. He kept our classroom uplifting, ensuring we never saw ourselves as people who had failed, but as leaders with untapped potential who were simply pausing to regain strength. That shift in perspective changed everything. I am now working in London.
Daniel’s IELTS prep was structured into four stages: lecture, essay, group discussion, and one-on-one personalised interviews, which developed every skill the exam demands. His approach contributed to my achieving an overall score of 7.0. I graduated from a UK university with first honours, and later earned a master’s from KAIST with a GPA of 95.1/100.
Daniel’s guidance enabled me to pass the IELTS on my initial attempt. His classes went beyond technical IELTS preparation, woven through with cultural context, academic discussion, and genuine preparation for UK university life. The practice I gained through class presentations on specialised topics prepared me directly for university-level seminars. I am now employed at Jaguar Land Rover, and I attribute my ability to communicate effectively with UK colleagues in large part to the training and confidence I built with Daniel.
Latest insights
Practical IELTS advice from Daniel.
