IELTS Simon Review 2026: Are the Ebooks and Videos Worth It?

Another review we write with respect. Simon is a former IELTS examiner whose daily lessons have taught a generation of candidates one liberating idea: stop trying to sound impressive, start being clear. If IELTS advice had a hall of fame, his "simple but correct" philosophy would be in it.

The question is not whether Simon knows the test — an ex-examiner plainly does. It is what his materials can and cannot do for you in 2026, and what to pair them with.

Same honesty standard as this whole series: only publicly known facts (lesson style, ebook format, budget-friendly one-time pricing tier), no invented sales figures or score claims. What follows is an assessment of the method's real power and its real boundaries.

What Is IELTS Simon?

IELTS Simon (ielts-simon.com) is a lesson library by Simon, a former examiner and IELTS teacher. The site publishes short daily lessons across all four skills, with legendary depth on Writing Task 1 and Task 2: full essays built sentence by sentence, with commentary on why each choice scores.

Alongside the free lessons sit paid ebooks (notably on Writing Task 1 and Task 2) and video courses that systematise the method. The through-line is consistency: one voice, one method, refined over years of teaching.

See the wider landscape in our best IELTS platforms 2026 and alternatives guide.

Genuine Strengths

Examiner-informed credibility. Advice from someone who actually applied the band descriptors carries weight. Simon's explanations of what examiners notice — and what they ignore — cut through years of forum mythology ("you must use passive voice," "never use contractions").

The simplicity doctrine. His core message — clear structure, natural vocabulary, short correct sentences over long broken ones — is genuinely the fastest route from 6.0 to 7.0 for most writers. Complexity-first teaching keeps students stuck; Simon un-sticks them.

Sentence-level worked examples. Watching an ex-examiner build an essay line by line, explaining each decision, teaches the thinking behind Band 9, not just the final text. Few resources do this so transparently.

Exceptional value. The free lessons alone justify daily visits; the ebooks are low-cost by test-prep standards. Cost-per-insight is among the best in IELTS prep.

Consistency of method. One teacher, one philosophy, no contradictions. Multi-author platforms sometimes teach three essay structures in three lessons; Simon never confuses you.

Genuine Limits

One-way materials. Lessons, ebooks and videos all share the same boundary: they show expert output but never judge yours. Your Task 2 may feel Simon-style while leaking Task Response — only external feedback reveals it.

Minimal exam simulation. There are no full timed mocks, no computer-delivered interface practice, no analytics. Given how much band loss comes from timing (see our exam-day guide), this gap matters near test date.

Simplicity has a ceiling. "Simple but correct" reliably earns 7.0–7.5. Candidates chasing 8.0+ in Writing need wider range — sophisticated cohesion, precise less-common lexis used naturally — which requires personalised diagnosis beyond a general method.

Self-study discipline required. Daily lessons reward daily readers. Without schedules, reminders or tracking, inconsistent studiers drift — a structured mock routine helps.

Strengths	Limits
Ex-examiner credibility on descriptors	No marking or scoring of your work
Simplicity method that un-sticks Band 6 writers	No timed mocks or performance analytics
Transparent sentence-level worked examples	Method ceiling around 7.0–7.5 without personalisation
Outstanding value; rich free content	Requires self-discipline; no tracking
One consistent philosophy, zero contradictions	Less on computer-delivered practice

Pricing (General Terms Only)

The website lessons are free, and the ebooks and video courses sit at a budget-friendly tier — typically one-time purchases rather than subscriptions. That makes Simon's paid materials among the lowest-risk purchases in IELTS prep. Check the official site for current titles and prices.

Who Should Pick IELTS Simon?

• Band 6.0–6.5 writers whose essays are overcomplicated and under-organised — the core audience.
• Myth-busting seekers confused by contradictory forum advice who want an examiner's straight answers.
• Budget learners who want maximum insight per pound, dollar or rupee.
• Daily-lesson habitualists who build routine around short regular study.

Pair with judged practice if your exam is within two months — method without mocks is theory without a match.

For the direct comparison, see Band9Prep vs IELTS Simon.

How to Study With Simon (Method Into Muscle Memory)

Simon's lessons are short, which makes them easy to read and easy to waste — ten lessons skimmed equal zero lessons learned. The fix is a strict routine. One lesson, one skill, one day: read a single lesson (say, on structuring a Task 1 overview), summarise its rule in one sentence in your notebook, and then immediately produce the thing — write two overviews from fresh charts that same session.

Copy the master deliberately. Take one of Simon's Band 9 essays and type it out by hand, pausing after each paragraph to name its function. Then hide it and rebuild the same essay structure on a new question. This feels slow; it is the fastest known way to absorb paragraph logic, and two weeks of it visibly changes disorganised writers.

Track your simplicity metrics. Simon's doctrine is measurable: average sentence length, number of paragraphs, position of your opinion. Review each essay against three checks — clear position throughout, one central idea per paragraph, no memorised phrases — before submitting it for feedback. When feedback confirms your Task Response and Cohesion are stable at 7.0+, then layer in wider vocabulary and complex structures for the push higher. And verify monthly with a full mock: method that collapses under the clock is not yet learned.

How to Use Simon's Method Alongside Scored Practice

Simon's lessons teach the pattern; only judged practice tells you whether you reproduced it. The combination that works best is a four-week loop: study the method, produce under timing, get feedback, then repair exactly one weakness before the next cycle.

Week 1 — Foundations. Read the Task 2 structure lessons (introduction, paragraphing, conclusion) plus one Task 1 lesson on overviews. Summarise each rule in a single sentence in your notebook. Then write three short pieces untimed: two Task 1 overviews and one Task 2 body paragraph. Submit one Task 2 essay for scored feedback at the end of the week and note which criterion (Task Response, Cohesion, Lexis, Grammar) scores lowest — that single criterion becomes next week's repair target.

Week 2 — Task Response and structure. Re-read Simon's lessons on answering the question fully and planning positions. Write two full Task 2 essays under light timing (50 minutes rather than 40) and one Task 1 report. Compare each against the three simplicity checks from the previous section, then submit both Task 2 essays for feedback. Your goal this week is not a higher overall band but a stable Task Response score: a clear position held from introduction to conclusion with fully extended ideas.

Week 3 — Timed pressure. Shift to exam timing: one full Task 1 + Task 2 set (60 minutes total) midweek plus one more Task 2 at the weekend. Before each, re-read one Simon lesson on the exact question type you drew (opinion, discussion, problem-solution). Verify with a full mock: method that collapses under the clock is not yet learned, so treat any criterion that drops more than half a band under timing as the week's lesson, not a failure.

Week 4 — Repair and confirm. Spend the first half of the week only on the weakest criterion flagged by feedback — nothing else. If Cohesion lags, rebuild two old essays' linking paragraph by paragraph; if Grammar lags, rewrite error sentences rather than writing fresh essays. Finish with a second timed mock and compare criterion scores week-over-week, not just the overall band. If Task Response and Cohesion hold steady at your target across two timed attempts, the method has transferred; keep one Simon lesson per week as maintenance and put remaining hours into timed practice until test day (see our exam-day guide).

The rule throughout: never let study and practice drift more than a day apart. A lesson without a same-week essay is entertainment; an essay without a lesson behind it is guessing.

Verdict: Learn the Method From Simon, Prove It Under Pressure

Are the ebooks and videos worth it? At their price tier, for a stuck intermediate writer — yes, comfortably. Simon's method is the clearest path out of Band 6, and learning it from an ex-examiner beats learning it from forums.

Then close the loop: study the lesson in the morning, and in the evening write the essay in Band9Prep under timed conditions and get instant criterion-level feedback. Simon teaches you what good looks like; a practice layer tells you whether you produced it. That pairing is one of the highest-value combinations in IELTS prep.