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How lessons work for someone in Surabaya
Every lesson is online. Band Booster has no classroom or centre in Surabaya and runs no group classes: Mike teaches you alone, live on Google Meet, in English rather than Bahasa Indonesia. He holds the Cambridge CELTA, teaches every session himself from Hanoi, and in his own IELTS scored 7.5 overall and 8.5 in Speaking. About Mike has more.
Pricing, payment and booking steps are covered on the Indonesia page. In short, the booking page shows your price in rupiah before you pay, although a PayPal payment is charged in US dollars, with the exact amount shown before you confirm. There is no subscription or package, and a paid 30-minute trial is available once per student, on a first booking.
A session can cover Listening, Reading, Writing (Task 1 and Task 2) or Speaking (Parts 1, 2 and 3), alone or mixed; see IELTS Speaking coaching, the Speaking page for Indonesia and IELTS Writing feedback. No band is promised: progress depends on your starting point and the work you do between sessions.
Time zone: Surabaya and Hanoi
According to the city government's website, Surabaya is the capital of East Java province, and two of the Surabaya addresses on IDP's list name Jawa Timur or East Java. The IANA time zone database lists Java and Sumatra in the Asia/Jakarta zone, WIB, at UTC+7, with no daylight saving rules. Its Ho Chi Minh entry for Vietnam is also UTC+7 with no daylight saving rules, and IANA says it agrees with all of Vietnam since 1975, so Hanoi, being in Vietnam, is UTC+7 too.
None of these sources says in so many words that Surabaya is in WIB; this page takes East Java to be part of Java and so reads it as WIB, the same offset as Hanoi. On that reading the difference is zero hours all year: 19:00 in Hanoi is 19:00 in Surabaya. The calendar on the booking page shows every slot in your own time zone, so there is nothing to convert, and no particular hours are promised.
IELTS test centres in Surabaya: what IDP and the British Council list
IDP's Indonesia test-centre list shows three venues in Surabaya. The British Council's Indonesia pages show one. The One Skill Retake marks below come from IDP's list; the computer tags come from each venue's own IDP page, where only the sessions displayed were read.
| Listed by | Venue as listed | Address as listed | What the pages show |
|---|---|---|---|
| IDP | IDP West Surabaya | Ruko Puncak Bukit Golf Blok B Unit Q, Jl. Mayjend Yono Soewoyo | Sessions read were tagged IELTS on computer (not all checked); One Skill Retake marked available |
| IDP | IDP East Surabaya | Ruko Mega Galaxy Blok 14C 3A | Sessions read were tagged IELTS on computer (not all checked); One Skill Retake marked available |
| IDP's list | A language institute on IDP's list, Surabaya | 4th floor, Jl. Dinoyo 48A | Sessions read were tagged computer (not all checked); One Skill Retake marked available |
| British Council | A language institute on the British Council's list | Jl. Ngagel Jaya No. 8 | Surabaya is listed among its IELTS on Computer cities |
Band Booster IELTS is a private tutor, not the exam board or a test centre. It does not register students, set exam fees or choose test dates, and it is not affiliated with IDP or the British Council. The venue facts here come from the providers' pages for Indonesia, read in October 2026, and quote no fees or test dates because those change. Venues other than IDP's own are described by type and address, not by name, because Band Booster does not name schools or language centres; the names are on the providers' pages linked here. Band Booster does not rate or compare venues.
- Names differ by language. IDP's English pages say West and East Surabaya; its Indonesian-language pages say Surabaya Barat and Surabaya Timur. They are the same two venues.
- The third IDP venue is listed, not described. IDP's IELTS on computer page names the two IDP venues (as Surabaya Barat and Surabaya Timur) but not the third, and the pages read do not state who runs it, although the ielts.org finder card and IDP's session listings carry its name with an "IDP IELTS Indonesia" prefix. This page therefore calls it a venue on IDP's list rather than saying who runs it.
- The British Council. Its dates, fees and locations page lists Surabaya among its IELTS on Computer cities, and its locations page names the venue. The British Council Indonesia pages read do not say whether that venue offers One Skill Retake or Writing on Paper. The ielts.org test-centre finder listed the British Council's Surabaya venue on three separate cards on 22 October 2026, all tagged Computer and two also tagged One Skill Retake, none tagged Paper or UKVI Approved, so check the tag for your session.
- Lists change. Confirm the address, date and format with the provider before you travel.
Format and Speaking at the Surabaya venues
The Surabaya sessions read on IDP's Surabaya page were tagged as IELTS on computer, with Writing on computer, but not all sessions were read, and IDP's pages are not fully consistent about paper, so confirm the format shown for your date. The British Council lists Surabaya for IELTS on Computer and says it no longer offers IELTS on paper in Indonesia from 21 June 2026. For the wider switch, see computer-delivered IELTS in Indonesia.
On computer, ielts.org's ways-to-take page says Speaking is a face-to-face session with a trained examiner, while its Guide for Test Takers says face to face or via video call. IDP's English Speaking page says face to face, but its Indonesian-language Speaking page says face to face or by video call. British Council Indonesia's pages are not consistent either: its IELTS on computer page says Speaking is live with an examiner, while its Academic page says its test centres deliver Speaking by video call and its General Training page says some of its test centres do. The pages read do not say which method applies at any Surabaya venue, and the British Council's test-day page adds that Speaking may fall on a different day from the other sections, with advance notice. Check how and when your Speaking test is held when you book.
One Skill Retake, IELTS Online and UKVI in Surabaya
IDP's list marks all three Surabaya venues on it "One Skill Retake available". IDP's own One Skill Retake page names no city, so the list is where to check. ielts.org advises confirming that your centre offers it before you book the full test, and asking whoever receives your result whether they accept it. See One Skill Retake or a full retake.
Two more points. IELTS Online, the at-home test, is not currently available in Indonesia: the British Council says it does not provide it there, and IDP Indonesia's IELTS Online page says it is no longer available, although another line describes registration as paused. For IELTS for UKVI, the British Council's UKVI page names two Jakarta locations (an office building in Senopati and a centre in Puri Indah, West Jakarta) and no Surabaya venue, and none of the Surabaya cards on the ielts.org finder carried a UKVI Approved tag on 22 October 2026. If a visa route needs IELTS for UKVI, confirm with IDP or the British Council before you book.
Preparing for test day: the providers' practice tests and your lessons
Both providers' Indonesia sites offer on-screen practice, as read in October 2026: IDP's familiarisation tests (Listening, Academic Reading and Academic Writing; IDP says they are untimed and that the highlighting and note-taking functions differ from the real test) and the British Council's IELTS on computer familiarisation test (Listening, Reading and Writing, 2 hours 30 minutes in all, in Academic and General Training versions). The steps below are general teaching advice, not guidance from IDP or the British Council.
- Do one section on screen with your own timer running, and note where you run short of time. Check your Listening and Reading answers to see where you lose marks.
- Type a Writing answer under the real limit and bring it to a lesson. Writing is 60 minutes, Task 1 needs at least 150 words, and Task 2 needs at least 250 and counts twice as much. Mike marks it against the public band descriptors and gives feedback during the session.
- Practise Speaking aloud. ielts.org describes a recorded interview with an examiner in three parts, 11 to 14 minutes in all, with one minute to prepare in Part 2. A lesson follows that format; the Speaking Part 2 timer helps between lessons.
- Practise Listening with each recording played once only, as ielts.org says the real test does, so you get used to not hearing it again.
Sitting General Training? IDP's practice page lists Academic Reading and Academic Writing, while the British Council's offers both versions. Unsure which test you need? Ask whoever receives your result, and see IELTS Academic vs General Training. The band score calculator shows how four skill scores average into an overall band.
One-to-one lessons or a class in Surabaya?
If you are searching for IELTS classes in Surabaya, this is one-to-one online coaching, with no centre and no group class. A class can suit you better if you want a fixed weekly timetable or classmates; one-to-one lessons are shaped around one student but depend on which slots are open in Mike's calendar. No band is guaranteed in either format. See private tutor versus group course (written for Hanoi) and how to choose an online IELTS tutor.
IELTS score requirements for study and LPDP scholarships
British Council Indonesia's IELTS page says IELTS is accepted as evidence of English language proficiency for higher education and global migration; whoever receives your result decides which test and score they need. IDP Indonesia's article, in Indonesian, on English requirements for the LPDP scholarship (Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan) lists IELTS among eligible tests and says each 2026 programme has its own minimum score. It is IDP's summary, not LPDP's page, so check LPDP's current guide. For other destinations, see IELTS scores for study abroad.