Mentor notes from the January 2026 cohort
Six patterns we saw across 340 candidates in the January cohort — and the two mentor interventions that moved bands the most.
Every quarter we write up what actually worked across the cohort. This edition focuses on 340 candidates who sat their exam between January and April.
Six patterns
- Writing Task 2 planning time correlates with band jump more than word count.
- Speaking Part 3 rewards concrete anecdotes, not opinions.
- Reading matching questions are where 6.5 candidates lose the most time.
- Listening Section 4 accuracy predicts overall band better than Section 1.
- Candidates who journal daily raise coherence marks fastest.
- Sleep in the last 48 hours matters more than any drill.
What moved the needle
Two interventions dominated: weekly recorded speaking with mentor annotations, and paired writing swaps between cohort partners.
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