The Leo Blog

Learn English, the way that actually works

Honest, practical guides on getting started, passing IELTS and Cambridge, reading real English, and choosing what to ignore.

Leo the lion cub with a navy backpack climbing three steps of increasing height, with a eucalyptus tree, red earth and low outback hills behind him English for work

Competent, Proficient or Superior English for Australian PR

Australian PR points: Competent English (IELTS 6 each) earns 0, Proficient (7 each) 10, Superior (8 each) 20. Only 0.6 % of overall 8.0 reports score 20.

· 7 min
Leo the lion cub sitting on a rug reading a thick old hardback, between two stacks of old books, with a reading lamp and a bookshelf behind him Learn by reading

Best classic books for English learners, measured

Leo measured the vocabulary of 21 classic novels: Emma, Alice and Pride and Prejudice are easiest; The Call of the Wild, though short, is near the hardest.

· 8 min
Leo the lion cub in a white doctor's coat with a stethoscope, reading a clipboard that shows four bars and a threshold line, in a calm hospital corridor English for work

IELTS for doctors: the GMC 7.5 rule, measured

The GMC wants IELTS Academic 7.5 overall and 7.0 in every skill, in one test. Only 5.7 % of possible 7.5 reports pass. Rules checked October 2026.

· 7 min
Leo the lion cub beside a suitcase, studying a score report with four bars of different heights, with Canadian pine forest and mountains behind him English for work

Express Entry CLB levels and the IELTS behind them

IRCC converts IELTS General Training to CLB skill by skill. CLB 7 means 6.0 in all four; CLB 9 needs 8.0 in listening. Official table, checked Sept 2026.

· 8 min
Leo the lion cub sitting on a rug reading an old hardcover book, with a few large glowing cards above him and many small faded cards drifting away Grammar

English irregular verbs: how many do you need?

In 2.1 million words of English novels, 30 irregular verbs cover 90 % of irregular past forms and 45 cover 95 %. The measured ranking, and the top 25.

· 8 min
Leo the lion cub at a desk holding a passport and a checklist with four empty boxes, with a London skyline and a red double-decker bus behind him English for work

What English level do you need for a UK visa?

Skilled Worker now needs B2, Student B2 or B1, a family visa A1, settlement B1. Plus the IELTS for UKVI score per skill for each level, checked Sept 2026.

· 8 min
Leo the lion holding an English certificate next to a calendar showing a two-year window Exams & scores

Do IELTS and TOEFL scores expire? Yes — but that is the wrong question

TOEFL and PTE scores expire after two years and cannot be sent. Cambridge certificates are valid indefinitely. Yet a Cambridge certificate can still be refused — because it is the receiving institution that decides.

· 8 min
Leo the lion in a nurse's uniform reviewing an IELTS score report against a checklist English for work

IELTS for nurses: the exact NMC requirement, and the myth of the overall 7.0

The NMC requires 7 in reading, listening and speaking and 6.5 in writing. It does not require an overall 7.0 — that rule does not exist in the guidance. Plus the two-sitting combination rule, quoted.

· 9 min
Leo the lion comparing an IELTS band scale with the CEFR ladder from A1 to C2 Exams & scores

IELTS to CEFR: the official conversion table (and what it will not tell you)

IELTS publishes an official CEFR alignment: 7–7.5 is C1, 5.5–6.5 is B2, 4–5 is B1. It also says one-to-one comparison is not possible. Here is the real table, dated and sourced.

· 8 min
Leo the lion examining an IELTS score report with four skill scores of different heights Exams & scores

What is a good IELTS score? We enumerated all 130,321 of them

There are exactly 130,321 possible IELTS score reports. 4,255 of them are an overall 7.0, and only 15 of those meet the UK nursing requirement. A good score is a shape, not a number.

· 9 min
Leo the lion comparing four English exam score reports side by side Exams & scores

IELTS vs TOEFL vs PTE vs Duolingo: TOEFL changed its scale in 2026

Since 21 January 2026 TOEFL iBT reports on a 1–6 scale, not 0–120. ETS now publishes an official TOEFL–IELTS–CEFR table. Here are the four tests compared on scale, validity and what they actually measure.

· 10 min