About Brian Sioson — Hi, I'm Brian. I've taught IELTS for 15 years and scored Band 9.0 across all four sections.
I built Lexis because IELTS preparation in this country deserves better. AI is fast. But the feedback that actually moves your score forward comes from a human expert who has done the test and taught it.
Brian Sioson is an IELTS Band 9.0 scorer with 15 years of English-teaching experience and the founder of Lexis, the Philippines' premium IELTS and PTE Academic preparation platform.
- IELTS Band 9.0 across all four sections: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking
- 15 years of IELTS teaching experience
- 8,000+ students coached through Lexis and associated programmes
- Founder of Lexis Review & Tutorial Center; operator of IELTS test centres in the Philippines
- Lead designer of all Lexis IELTS and PTE Academic preparation materials
The story
My journey
The first exam
I took the IELTS to apply for a scholarship overseas. The master's degree didn't happen, but I scored Band 9.0 in Writing on my first attempt. Back then, a perfect writing score was rare, and that result landed me my first job as an IELTS instructor.
From one student to thousands
What started as an unexpected detour became a career. I taught at Niner Review Center and developed and authored their training application. I later founded Lexis Review & Tutorial Center, which operates IELTS test centres in the Philippines, including the Makati centre with the British Council Philippines.
Online programmes
Through online training programmes, I've helped more than eight thousand students prepare for and pass the IELTS. The patterns repeat, the mistakes repeat, and the methods get sharper every year. That experience is what Lexis is built on.
"Helping people pass their English exams has been the most fulfilling work of my life."
Philosophy
My method
"We teach you how to ace the exam based on what the raters are actually looking for."
Practical, not idealistic
People have weaknesses. Time is limited. Perfection isn't always possible. We give no-nonsense, high-impact instruction that works within real constraints.
Strategy over memorisation
Grammar and vocabulary alone won't carry you. We train you on what the raters look for: structure, assessment criteria, and how to perform under pressure.
We've taken the test ourselves
No matter how talented you are, if you don't conform to the criteria and the raters can't grade you against the rubric, you won't get the score you deserve. We know exactly what is being assessed.
The problem
Why I built Lexis
"Even if AI assesses accurately, it will never match the nuanced feedback that a human can give."
Unreliable resources
The internet is plagued with pirated, copied, and recycled test materials. They give false feedback and lead students down the wrong path.
100% original content
Every passage, prompt, and audio track on Lexis is created by our team. Nothing is recycled. You practise with material that reflects the real test.
Human experts on board
IELTS is still a human-rated exam. Our instructors review your writing and speaking because that is the one thing that genuinely moves your score.
Principles
What I believe about test prep
AI is a tool, not a teacher
AI gives you instant grading, lets you practise at scale, and highlights patterns. We use it heavily. But it cannot tell you why your argument falls apart in paragraph three, or that your pronunciation shifts when you're nervous in Part 3 of Speaking. That requires a human.
Original materials build real skills
When you train on original passages and prompts, you build the skill of handling unfamiliar material under pressure. That is the actual skill the IELTS tests. Not memorising answers from Cambridge screenshots half the internet already knows.
No shortcuts, but a smarter way
There's no shortcut to passing the IELTS. But there is deliberate, focused practice: take a mock, review the feedback, understand where you lost marks, fix it for the next attempt. Every feature on Lexis exists to make that cycle faster and more effective.