Who teaches you: Mike
Mike is a CELTA-certified teacher based in Hanoi, Vietnam. He teaches every session himself, one-to-one and live on Google Meet, in English. In his own IELTS test he scored 7.5 overall and 8.5 in Speaking. See About Mike.
Band Booster IELTS is a coaching service, not a test provider: it does not book tests, set exam fees or issue results.
How one-to-one online lessons work from Los Angeles
A regular lesson lasts 60 minutes, with feedback during the lesson rather than days later, and can concentrate on one skill or mix all four. Speaking is practised in the real three-part format (Speaking coaching, or the Speaking tutor page for the USA), and Writing Task 1 and Task 2 are marked against the public band descriptors (Writing feedback).
Booking works as it does across the United States, and the online IELTS tutor page for the USA sets out the booking steps. In short: the booking page shows your price in your own currency before you pay, there is no subscription or package, a paid 30-minute trial can be taken once per student on a first booking, and no band is guaranteed.
Hanoi is 14 or 15 hours ahead of Los Angeles
The IANA time zone database lists America/Los_Angeles with a standard offset of UTC-8 and the US daylight saving rules. NIST gives Pacific standard time as UTC-8 and Pacific daylight time as UTC-7. The IANA database lists Vietnam on UTC+7 with no daylight saving.
So Hanoi is 15 hours ahead of Los Angeles on standard time and 14 hours ahead on daylight time. Only Los Angeles changes its clocks, so a slot at a fixed Hanoi time moves by an hour on your clock twice a year. This page prints no clock-change dates.
| Hanoi (UTC+7) | Los Angeles, standard time (UTC-8) | Los Angeles, daylight time (UTC-7) |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | 17:00, the day before | 18:00, the day before |
| 09:00 | 18:00, the day before | 19:00, the day before |
| 20:00 | 05:00, same date | 06:00, same date |
| 21:00 | 06:00, same date | 07:00, same date |
This table is a conversion, not a list of open slots. The booking calendar shows the open slots in your own time zone, Mike's calendar decides which are open, and no hours are promised.
Is there an IELTS test centre in the Los Angeles area?
This section draws on ielts.org and IDP pages read in October 2026, so confirm it there before you plan. ielts.org says IELTS USA oversees the delivery of IELTS tests in the United States (About IELTS USA), and its IELTS in the USA page links to the test centre finder. Band Booster takes no part in booking the test.
What the finder shows for the Los Angeles area
When this page was written, the finder named no centre in the city of Los Angeles itself. It tags one centre as Los Angeles Metro, at a college in Walnut, California, and that centre has its own page on ielts.org. That page gave the address as 1100 N. Grand Ave, Bldg. 40, Room 102, Walnut, California 91789. The other California centres listed were in San Francisco and San Diego. ielts.org gives no travel distance and neither does this page, so check the address before you decide.
What the Walnut centre page lists
The centre's page lists IELTS Academic and General Training, both on computer, and no Writing on Paper or IELTS for UKVI. The page has a Book A Test button that leads to a separate registration site for that centre, and it shows contact details for questions. A missing entry does not prove something is unavailable, so ask the centre before you rely on it.
Is there a UKVI test in Los Angeles?
The IELTS USA page names one centre as offering the only UKVI testing in the US, and the finder's UKVI filter showed a single centre, in Arlington, Virginia. Neither shows a UKVI test in Los Angeles or Walnut. ielts.org says UK Visas and Immigration will only accept tests taken in person at an IELTS for UKVI test centre, so check what it asks for.
Before you book: three questions for the centre
- Which delivery will you sit? The Walnut page lists computer testing only. A 5 March 2026 notice on ielts.org says that from mid-2026 IELTS will no longer be offered as a paper-based test, with timelines varying by market. Ask which format applies on your date and whether Writing is typed or written on paper.
- Is One Skill Retake offered? ielts.org says to check that your centre offers it before you book the full test. When this page was written, the finder's One Skill Retake filter returned no US centres, which may not reflect what a centre offers, so treat it as unconfirmed here. Also ask the organisation you apply to whether it accepts a retake result, and see One Skill Retake or full retake.
- Is IELTS Online an option? ielts.org says IELTS Online is offered in some countries and that receiving organisations decide whether to accept it. The IELTS USA page does not mention it, and the US centre entries in the finder list only computer options, 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 and this page cannot say it is open in Los Angeles.
For the national picture, including results timing, see computer-delivered IELTS in the United States.
Check before you plan. The test fee is not charged by Band Booster, and fees and dates change, so this page gives no fee, test date or score requirement. Fees and dates are on ielts.org and at the centre, and the body that asks for your result decides which test and score it needs.
Which test: Academic or General Training?
ielts.org's test types page describes Academic as assessing readiness to begin studying in English and General Training as assessing everyday English in social and workplace settings; Speaking and Listening are the same in both. It tells candidates to check entry requirements before choosing. See Academic or General Training and IELTS scores for study abroad.
What to practise before test day
ielts.org's Academic test pages give these timings. General Training Reading and Writing differ, so check ielts.org's General Training pages too.
- Listening: about 30 minutes, 40 questions in 4 parts, played once.
- Reading: 60 minutes, 40 questions.
- Writing: 60 minutes. Task 1 is at least 150 words in about 20 minutes and Task 2 at least 250 words in about 40 minutes. Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1 in the Writing band.
- Speaking: 11 to 14 minutes in three parts, described by ielts.org as a face-to-face interview with an examiner. Part 2 is a long turn with one minute to prepare.
General teaching advice, not guidance from ielts.org: practise Speaking aloud with another person, because the test is a live interview with an examiner; write both Writing tasks in one timed 60-minute sitting, typed if your centre tests on computer; and give Task 2 the larger share of the time.
Using ielts.org's preparation materials alongside lessons
ielts.org's sample test questions page offers practice papers for Academic and General Training at no charge, and its preparation resources page also lists courses, apps, webinars, videos, books and articles.
As general teaching advice, do a timed section on your own, then bring your Writing answer or your questions to a lesson. Mike marks Writing against the public band descriptors with feedback during the session, and a Speaking lesson lets you practise Parts 1 to 3 with someone who responds. Between lessons, the band score calculator shows how four skill scores average into an overall band, and the Speaking Part 2 timer times a long turn.
Are there IELTS classes in Los Angeles?
This page lists no classes in Los Angeles, and Band Booster runs none: lessons are one-to-one and online. If a fixed weekly timetable or classmates matter most to you, a class run by another provider may suit you better. One-to-one lessons let you choose what each lesson covers, but they depend on which slots are open in Mike's calendar. How to choose an online IELTS tutor goes further.