Private IELTS lessons with Mike for learners in Houston
Mike is a Cambridge CELTA-certified teacher based in Hanoi, Vietnam. He teaches every session himself, one-to-one and live on Google Meet in English, and in his own IELTS test he scored 7.5 overall and 8.5 in Speaking. Band Booster IELTS is independent of the organisations that own IELTS. About Mike has more; it is written for Hanoi, so its prices are for Vietnam.
This is online tuition only: there is no classroom, test centre or group class in Houston or anywhere in Texas. A session can cover Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking, or concentrate on one skill. IELTS Speaking coaching and IELTS Writing feedback describe how those sessions run; both are written for Hanoi, so any prices on them are for Vietnam. Your own price shows on the booking page before you pay.
Booking steps are the same for every learner in the US and are set out on the online IELTS tutor page for the USA. In short: the booking calendar shows each slot in your own time zone, your price appears in your own currency before you pay, payment options are shown on the booking page, and a paid 30-minute trial can be taken once, on a first booking. Rescheduling is at no charge up to 12 hours before the slot.
Three results that students have reported back are 6.0 → 7.5 overall, 5.5 → 7.0 in Writing and 6.5 → 8.0 in Speaking. They are individual, anonymous outcomes, not averages. No band is promised; progress depends on the starting point and the work between sessions.
Houston and Hanoi: a 12 or 13 hour difference
Hanoi is on UTC+7 all year: the IANA time zone database lists Vietnam at a fixed UTC+7 with no daylight saving. Houston is in the Central time zone. The IANA North America file says most of Texas is on Central time and only far western Texas is on Mountain time, and 49 CFR 71.7 describes the federal boundary between the Central and Mountain zones along the western side of Texas. The IANA file names Houston only in a comment quoting a 1989 U.S. Naval Observatory list, which puts Houston in Central time, 6 hours behind UTC; 49 CFR 71.7 does not name Houston. NIST lists Central at UTC-6 on standard time and UTC-5 on daylight time, and under the current rule daylight time runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
So, under the current rule, Hanoi is 13 hours ahead of Houston on standard time and 12 hours ahead on daylight time. Hanoi's clock does not change, so a lesson at a fixed Hanoi time shifts by an hour on your clock when yours changes.
| Hanoi (UTC+7) | Houston, standard time (UTC-6) | Houston, daylight time (UTC-5) |
|---|---|---|
| 19:00 | 06:00 | 07:00 |
| 20:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 |
| 21:00 | 08:00 | 09:00 |
| 08:00 | 19:00, previous day | 20:00, previous day |
| 09:00 | 20:00, previous day | 21:00, previous day |
The first three rows are the same calendar date in both cities. The table converts times and is not a list of open slots: Mike's calendar decides which are open, and no particular hours are promised.
Where ielts.org lists IELTS test centres in Houston and elsewhere in Texas
Band Booster does not register you for the test or set exam fees, so this page quotes no fee or test date. This section was read on ielts.org, the British Council's US site and IDP's site in October 2026; centre lists change, so check again before you book. Describing a centre here is not a recommendation, and Band Booster has no link with it.
IELTS test centre in Houston: the one centre ielts.org lists
The ielts.org test centre finder showed one result for Houston when checked, at 2990 Richmond Avenue, Suite 600, Houston, Texas 77098. Its ielts.org centre page lists four options: IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training, each on Computer and on Computer (Writing on Paper). It lists no paper-based test, no IELTS for UKVI and no Life Skills test. The page has a Book A Test button for each option and advises checking with the local centre, since prices may vary.
That page gives the centre's own name only and names no British Council or IDP role at the centre. The British Council's US exams page says the British Council USA does not offer examination services, so this page names no British Council or IDP venue in Houston; treat ielts.org's page and your booking confirmation as the reference.
Computer, Writing on Paper and Speaking
According to ielts.org's ways to take IELTS page, with Writing on Paper you take the test on computer and handwrite your Writing answers, and Speaking at a test centre is a face-to-face session with an examiner. ielts.org's Guide for Test Takers says Speaking is taken face-to-face or via video call, and none of the ielts.org, IDP or British Council pages read says that video-call Speaking is used, or excluded, at the Houston centre, so ask the centre how Speaking is run on your date. The computer-delivered IELTS in the USA page covers format, results and practice for the whole country.
Other centres in Texas
The finder listed 27 US centres when checked in October 2026, three of them in Texas: Houston, Fort Worth (computer, and computer with Writing on Paper) and Austin (computer only). It listed no other Texas centre. This page states no distances or travel times between the cities.
One Skill Retake, IELTS for UKVI and IELTS Online in Houston
- One Skill Retake. ielts.org's One Skill Retake page says you can retake one of the four skills within 60 days of a full IELTS on computer test, once per original test, at a centre that offers it, and advises checking that your centre offers it before you book the full test. With the finder's One Skill Retake filter ticked, no US centre and no Houston centre appeared when checked. That is not a confirmation either way, so ask the centre first. See One Skill Retake or a full retake.
- IELTS for UKVI. The Houston page lists no UKVI test. The IELTS USA page says one centre offers the only UKVI testing in the US, and the finder's UKVI Approved filter returned a single US centre, at an address in Arlington, Virginia.
- IELTS Online. ielts.org's ways to take IELTS page says IELTS Online is offered in some countries, and its IELTS Online page invites readers to check whether it is available in their own country but does not mention the United States. The IELTS USA page does not mention IELTS Online, and the Houston centre page lists no online option, but IDP's global article on IELTS for the USA says you may also be able to take IELTS Online from home, so the providers' pages differ. This page therefore cannot say it is open to you in Houston.
Houston organisations listed as accepting IELTS
ielts.org's Who accepts IELTS? directory, filtered to Houston, Texas, spread its entries over three result pages when checked in October 2026. Counting them gives 18 organisations: 17 typed as Education and one typed as an employer. The directory shows no total, so that count is this page's own and may change. The names are on the directory page, which you can filter by city.
The listing gives no score or test type, so this page states none. Each organisation sets its own requirement, which can change, so read it on the organisation's own page and ask whether it wants Academic or General Training. Organisations outside the city may be listed under their own city, and nothing here means Band Booster has any link with those listed.
Before test day: ielts.org practice material and where lessons fit
According to ielts.org, Academic and General Training share Listening and Speaking and differ in Reading and Writing. Its sample test questions page offers sample questions and answers for Academic, General Training and IELTS for UKVI Life Skills, and describes the practice papers as available at no charge.
These are teaching suggestions, and no band is promised:
- Choose your Writing mode early. The centre page lists Computer and Computer (Writing on Paper) as separate options, so practise Writing the way you will sit it: typed against a 60-minute timer, or handwritten.
- Use the ielts.org sample questions for self-study, time yourself, and bring the question types that cost you marks to a lesson.
- Keep Speaking live. A lesson runs Parts 1, 2 and 3 in the real format with feedback during the session, and the Speaking Part 2 timer helps you time a long turn between lessons.
- Get Writing marked. Mike marks Task 1 and Task 2 against the public band descriptors, and the band score calculator shows how four skill scores average into an overall band.
One-to-one online, or a class in Houston?
This page covers one-to-one online tuition, not classroom courses in Houston. A class can suit you if you want a fixed timetable, classmates or lessons in person; one-to-one lessons depend on which slots are open in Mike's calendar. How to choose an online IELTS tutor lists questions to compare any tutor.