Who teaches you: Mike
Every lesson is taught by Mike himself, one-to-one and live on Google Meet in English. He holds the Cambridge CELTA, teaches from Hanoi, Vietnam, and scored 7.5 overall and 8.5 in Speaking in his own IELTS. See about Mike.
Results students have reported back, anonymously, went from 6.0 to 7.5 overall, from 5.5 to 7.0 in Writing and from 6.5 to 8.0 in Speaking. No band is promised: progress depends on your starting point and the work you do between sessions.
Band Booster IELTS is a private tutoring service, independent of IDP and the British Council. It is not a test centre and does not register students or issue results.
How lessons work if you live in Doha
Lessons are online only. Band Booster has no classroom, centre or group class in Qatar, so you join from home or work on a device with a camera and microphone. The Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman page has the full booking steps. In short:
- Open the booking calendar. Every slot is shown in your own time zone.
- Choose a 60-minute session. On your first booking only, you can tick the paid 30-minute trial instead, once per student. There is no subscription and no package.
- Your price appears in your own currency before you pay. Qatar is in the higher regional price tier, so it is above the Vietnam price. The payment options are shown on the booking page.
- Once the booking is confirmed, a Google Meet link and calendar invite arrive by email. You can reschedule at no charge up to 12 hours before the session.
Speaking sessions run Parts 1, 2 and 3 in the real test format (IELTS Speaking coaching), and Writing sessions work on Task 1 and Task 2 (IELTS Writing feedback). Feedback comes during the session, sessions can be recorded on request, and written progress notes appear in your account afterwards.
The time difference: Hanoi is 4 hours ahead of Doha, all year
The IANA time zone database gives Qatar a fixed UTC+3 with no daylight-saving rule, and Vietnam UTC+7, also with no daylight saving. Neither clock changes, so the gap is the same in every month: 20:00 in Hanoi is 16:00 in Doha.
| Hanoi time | Doha time |
|---|---|
| 17:00 | 13:00 |
| 19:00 | 15:00 |
| 20:00 | 16:00 |
| 22:00 | 18:00 |
Working the other way, 20:00 in Doha is midnight in Hanoi, the next calendar day. The table is not a list of open slots: no particular hours are promised, so check the calendar before planning around a test date.
IELTS test centres in Doha: what IDP's pages and ielts.org list (read October 2026)
This part comes from IDP's Qatar pages and ielts.org. The listings are live and can change, so confirm on the provider's own page before you book. This page quotes no fees or dates.
IDP's three Doha centres: West Bay, Duhail North and Al Khulaifat
IDP Qatar's test-centre finder shows three test centres in Qatar, and IDP's Book an IELTS test in Doha page lists sessions at all three. IDP's pages give the venue names and full addresses; this page describes them by area and type.
| Area in IDP's finder | Venue type | On IDP's pages when read |
|---|---|---|
| West Bay, Doha | Centre in a tower | IELTS on computer; One Skill Retake available |
| Duhail North, Qatar | University testing centre | IELTS on computer; One Skill Retake available; IELTS for UKVI sessions listed |
| Al Khulaifat, Qatar | Aeronautical academy | IELTS on computer; One Skill Retake available |
Only the West Bay address spells out the word Doha. The other two say Qatar only, although IDP files all three under its Doha heading, so check each address and your route before you book.
ielts.org's test-centre finder backs up IDP's list and shows more. With Qatar selected it showed 14 results when read on 22 October 2026: 13 centre cards plus an IELTS Online booking card. Some venues appear more than once, so the 13 cards cover nine distinct venues: the three venues IDP lists, with the same Computer, Computer (Writing on Paper) and One Skill Retake tags and UKVI Approved on the university centre, plus six British Council venues. Those include British Council Doha entries, some marked UKVI Approved, and university, school and training-centre sites. So the British Council also runs IELTS in Qatar, and IDP's three centres are not the whole picture of where the test is held. The two providers keep separate lists, so check britishcouncil.qa for its venues, formats and sessions; this page does not describe them.
Computer or paper?
On the first session cards that loaded on IDP's Doha page when read, cards at all three venues carried an "IELTS on computer" tag, and each card also said either "Writing on computer" or "Writing on paper"; some cards at each venue said Writing on paper. That is not a count of every session on the page, so read the tags on the session you choose. ielts.org describes Writing on Paper as the Writing handwritten with the rest on computer.
IDP Qatar's finder introduction still mentions choosing between computer and paper. Its own announcement article says that from 21 March 2026 all IELTS tests will be delivered on computer, and ielts.org announced on 5 March 2026 that from mid-2026 it would no longer offer IELTS as a paper-based test, with exact timelines varying by market. Prepare for IELTS on computer and confirm the format when you book. For the wider region, see the computer-delivered IELTS page for Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
According to IDP Qatar's computer-delivered page, Listening, Reading and Writing are taken on a computer with answers typed on screen, and the centre provides the computers, headphones, pens and paper. On a session tagged Writing on paper, expect to handwrite the Writing. That page describes Speaking as a face-to-face interview with an examiner and, like the other IDP Qatar pages read, does not mention a video call. ielts.org's Guide for Test Takers says you take Speaking face to face or via video call, and the British Council's Qatar test-day page says some of its centres deliver Speaking by video call at the test centre; no page read says which centres do, so ask your centre how yours is held. IDP's page says Speaking is held on the same day, before or after the other parts, but another answer on it adds that at some test centres Speaking can be on the same day or up to 7 days before or after the test date, so confirm your Speaking time when you book.
IDP gives computer results timing in more than one way: 1 to 5 days on its session cards and 1 to 5 business days in the text of its computer page. Treat these as typical times, not promises, and confirm with the centre.
One Skill Retake, IELTS for UKVI and IELTS Online
IDP marks One Skill Retake as available at all three centres, but its page says availability is in selected locations, so check with the centre. IDP Qatar says your full test must be an eligible IELTS on computer test at a centre that offers the retake, you can retake once per full test, and it must be with the same provider. The limit is 60 days from the original test, but IDP's page words it both as booking and as sitting the retake within 60 days, so confirm the cut-off with the centre. ielts.org's 5 March 2026 notice adds that if you chose Writing on Paper, your One Skill Retake must also be Writing on Paper, not writing on computer. For how to choose, see One Skill Retake or a full retake.
IDP's Doha session list also showed IELTS for UKVI sessions at the university testing centre when read; ielts.org says tests taken for UK visa purposes must be taken at an official test centre, not online.
IELTS Online, which ielts.org describes as Academic only and offered in some countries, is offered in Qatar. IDP Qatar has its own IELTS Online page with a section on registering for IELTS Online in Qatar, and ielts.org's finder shows an IELTS Online card when Qatar is selected. IDP says you must be a resident of the country where you book and sit the test, and be physically present there on test day. The British Council's Qatar pages are where to check its own IELTS Online sessions. Ask the university or employer that will receive your result whether it accepts an online test before you book.
Which test and score do you need?
Ask the organisation that will receive your result, because each sets its own requirement. For example, as read in October 2026, Qatar University's competency requirements page lists IELTS (Academic version) among the standardized tests that can meet its English competency requirement for several colleges, and its college requirements page sets out requirements college by college. Requirements can differ by college and programme and change over time, so check the current pages, ask the university which applies if they seem to differ, and note that this page quotes no score. Band Booster has no connection with the university. See also Academic or General Training and IELTS scores for study abroad.
What to practise before test day
ielts.org gives the Academic test as 2 hours 45 minutes in the same format wherever it is taken: Listening about 30 minutes (4 parts, 40 questions, each recording heard once), Reading 60 minutes (3 sections, 40 questions), Writing 60 minutes (Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1) and Speaking 11 to 14 minutes, recorded, as a face-to-face interview with an examiner on its Academic Speaking page (its Guide for Test Takers says face to face or via video call). The next points are general teaching advice, not guidance from IDP or ielts.org:
- Listening and Reading: you hear each Listening recording once, so practise on a single listen, and time whole 40-question Reading sets against the 60-minute clock.
- Writing: if your Writing is on computer, practise typing both tasks in one 60-minute sitting. If your session is Writing on paper, practise handwriting both tasks to the same clock.
- Speaking: it is a live interview, so practise aloud with another person, to time, rather than only reading answers. The Speaking Part 2 timer and the band score calculator help between lessons.
ielts.org's preparation resources page lists sample tests with questions and answers, videos on how Writing is scored, apps, webinars, courses, books and articles. It does not say which cost money, so check each one. No band is promised.
Online tutor or a class in Doha?
If you want classmates and a room, choose a local class, because Band Booster has none in Qatar. If you want one teacher working on your Writing and Speaking, one-to-one online fits better, but Mike's calendar decides which slots are open, so look at it first if you can study only at fixed hours. The guide to choosing an online IELTS tutor lists questions worth asking any tutor. Living in the UAE instead? See the Dubai and UAE page.