Complete IELTS Bands 5–6.5 Student's Book with Answers with CD-ROM Paperback – Student Edition, 19 Jan. 2012

nice paper

This book is for use in IELTS prep courses, hence the name Student's Book (and Workbook)For the version with answer key, CD-ROM and Audio CDs, you need to find the Student's Pack - in this case i think ISBN 978-0521179539. To prevent mistakes it is helpful to look for keywords like 'self-study' or 'Audio CD included' in the description.

The book is good, but I can't believe that you need to expend £35 in the class audio to complete all the activities; without it you have a kind of nice guide to the IELTS exam with 40% of the activities to do.The worst of all this is that, because they (the business of Cambridge University Press) know that you need it, they sell it at an absurd price: £35!!!DON'T BUY this book if you are studying on your own or you are not attending any preparation course.

This review is NOT about the content of the materials in question since I've not had time to evaluate them properly, although my first impressions are highly favourable.The low rating is in solidarity with the previous reviewers comments regarding how the materials are marketed. There are two components in question here: first the Students Book and secondly the Audio CDs. On their own, neither of these two products are of much value. Common-sense dictates the Audio CDs should be an integral part of the Student Book and stored inside the reverse cover. The single product then sold at the market price. Instead, the inside back cover of the Student Book contains a CD Rom. The latter does NOT contain the essential audio files required to make sense of the book. Instead the CD Rom contains non-essential multi-media files that are of value but NOT essential. The price of the essential Audio files sold separately? A staggering £35.My advice would be to factor in the cost of the separate Audio CDs BEFORE purchasing the Students Book and consider if the total cost is what you are prepared to pay. The Workbook, understandably sold separately, does contain the Audio Files required for the Workbook exercises and this CD is attached to the inside of the back cover. So why the inconsistency?