Collocations with Standard in IELTS: A List to Boost Your Score

Kasturika Samanta

6 min read

Updated On Nov 07, 2025

Improve your vocabulary by learning top collocations with standard in IELTS. Learn how to use them in context with meaning, clear examples, and exercises designed to boost accuracy, fluency, and overall lexical range for IELTS band scores of 7 and above.

Lists of Collocations with Standard in IELTS to Boost Your Score
Notes
Standard Collocation for IELTS: Practice Exercises
Answer Keys for Practice Exercises with Standard Collocations

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In academic English and IELTS contexts, the word ‘standard’ plays a crucial role in expressing quality, expectations, and comparison. Therefore, understanding and applying accurate collocations with standard in IELTS can significantly enhance coherence, lexical resource, and grammatical accuracy, three key IELTS scoring criteria.

In this blog, we will explore various standard collocations, categorized into verbs, adjectives, nouns, prepositions, and other important expressions, to help you enrich your IELTS vocabulary.

Lists of Collocations with Standard in IELTS to Boost Your Score

When you are describing education, living conditions, or professional practices in IELTS, the way you use standard colloquialisms reflects your ability to think critically and express evaluations precisely.

Therefore, we will explore lists of the top important collocations for IELTS related to standard in the tables below, along with their meaning and example sentences.

Verb + Standard Collocations

These verb collocations show how standards are maintained, improved, or compared. They are common in IELTS Writing Task 2 essays discussing education systems, healthcare, environmental protection, or industrial output.

Verb + Standard	Meaning	Example Sentence
Fall below a standard	to not reach the expected level or quality	The service in many hospitals has fallen below the required standard.
Maintain a standard	to keep something at a particular quality level	Teachers must maintain a high standard of instruction throughout the term.
Raise a standard	to improve the level of quality or performance	The government aims to raise educational standards nationwide.
Enjoy a standard	to experience a certain quality or level	Citizens of developed countries enjoy a higher standard of living.
Reach a standard	to achieve a particular level or benchmark	Students must reach a specific standard to qualify for university admission.
Set a standard	to establish a model or benchmark for others	His innovative research set a new standard in the field of medicine.

Standard + of + Noun Collocations

These collocations describe the type or domain in which a particular standard applies, making them perfect for IELTS Writing essays about social systems, healthcare, or working conditions.

Standard + of + Noun	Meaning	Example Sentence
Standard of behaviour	accepted level of moral or social conduct	The standard of behaviour among students has improved remarkably.
Standard of care	level of attention or service provided	Medical professionals are expected to meet a high standard of care.
Standard of hygiene	level of cleanliness and sanitation	Restaurants are regularly inspected to ensure a good standard of hygiene.
Standard of singing	quality of vocal performance	The choir’s standard of singing impressed the entire audience.
Standard of living	quality of life based on income and comfort	The standard of living has risen significantly over the past decade.
Standard of workmanship	quality of skill and labour in making something	The standard of workmanship in the new buildings is exceptional.

Common Adjective + Standard Collocations

These combinations express how high, low, or modern a standard is. They are frequently used in IELTS Speaking and Writing to describe changes, quality levels, or evaluation criteria.

Adjective + Standard	Meaning	Example Sentence
Approved standard	officially accepted quality level	The new safety measures meet the approved standard for construction sites.
Falling standard	declining level of quality	Many experts are concerned about falling educational standards.
High standard	excellent level of performance or quality	This company consistently produces goods of a high standard.
Low standard	poor level of quality	Tourists complained about the low standard of accommodation.
Minimum standard	the lowest acceptable quality or level	All workers must meet the minimum standard of safety training.
Modern standard	based on current methods or technology	The new hospitals are built according to modern medical standards.
Same standard	equal level or benchmark	Both candidates were judged by the same standard of performance.
Usual standard	typical or expected level of quality	The food at the restaurant was not up to its usual standard.

Expressions with Prepositions

Collocations of ‘standard’ with prepositions make your language sound natural and fluent. They are often used in IELTS Speaking to express opinions or comparisons naturally.

Expression	Meaning	Example Sentence
Standard of	referring to the level or quality of something	The standard of education varies greatly between rural and urban areas.
Standard to	used to compare levels	This device is not up to the required standard to pass inspection.
Up to standard	meeting expectations	The work wasn’t up to standard, so it had to be redone.
Below standard	lower than expected or required	The hotel’s facilities were below standard.
By standard	according to a particular measure	By international standards, the country’s healthcare is excellent.
In standard form	presented in a regular or accepted way	All reports must be written in standard academic format.

Notes

In 2-8 you can also say ‘by today’s standards’:
- By today’s standards, Shakespeare was a rich man.
Note the use of safety standards and moral standards:
- The airline’s maintenance programme did not conform to the high safety standards set by the industry.
- The Minister did not live up to the high moral standards expected of him.
If someone has ‘double standards’, they are guilty of condemning something, while doing it themselves.

Standard Collocation for IELTS: Practice Exercises

To improve your understanding and application of standard collocations in IELTS, practice the following exercises.

Exercise A: Use the correct form of these verbs.

fall	maintain	raise
enjoy	reach	set

Our job is not just to______standards–our job is to make sure they improve!
He failed to______the required standard, and did not qualify for the race.
Do you think that reducing class sizes would______standards in our primary schools?
It’s hard for others to come up to the standards our head of department ___________ for herself.
The standard of service has___________ steadily since the company was taken over a year ago. It’s now so bad, something will have to be done.
Today most people in this country___________ a standard of living which their parents could only dream about.

Exercise B: Complete the sentences with these adjectives.

approved	falling	high	low
minimum	modern	same	usual

My boss demands extremely______standards from the people that work for him. In fact some people think he is unrealistic.
I was disappointed when I took some friends to my favourite restaurant and neither the food nor the service were up to the______standard.
Not everyone judges success by the______standards. Unlike you, I think that happiness is more important than the size of your car.
Parents are always complaining about______standards in schools.
A number of Britain’s beaches fail to meet the______standards laid down by the EU.
This special mark shows that the product conforms to an______industry standard.
We decided that it would be our first and last trip to the island. The hotels and restaurants were all of a very______standard.
By______standards, the plumbing in our hotel was totally inadequate!

Exercise C: Complete the sentences below with these nouns.

behaviour	care	hygiene
singing	living	workmanship

Some countries simply don’t provide proper standards of______for the elderly.
Inspectors criticised the kitchen staff for poor standards of______.
I had my windows replaced, but I’m not very pleased with the standard of______.
There’s been a progressive increase in the standard of______over the last five years. People are now much better off.
The school insists on strict standards of______on school trips.
Although it was an amateur production, the standard of______was excellent.

Exercise D: Use these prepositions in the sentences:

below

The work has been done______a professional standard.
Students will be sent home if their behaviour falls______an acceptable standard.
The first computers were very slow______today’s standards.
Universities deny that there has been a decline______academic standards.
The report is highly critical______safety standards at the factory.
The teacher said that my essay was not______to standard and that I would have to do it again.

Answer Keys for Practice Exercises with Standard Collocations

Ex A:

maintain
reach
raise
sets
fallen
enjoy

Ex B:

high
usual
same
falling
minimum
approved
low
modern

Ex C:

care
hygiene
workmanship
living
behaviour
singing

Ex D:

to
below
by
in
of
up

To conclude, collocations with standard frequently appear in IELTS essays and speaking questions, especially when discussing topics like education quality, work ethics, living conditions, or public health. So, master standard collocations, as they add precision and appropriacy, and IELTS examiners reward candidates who can express nuanced ideas using natural collocational patterns with a top IELTS band score.

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