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IELTS
What is IELTS
IELTS is the International English Language Testing System, the world's most popular English language test.
It is designed to determine the level of English skills of people whose first language is not English. IELTS is the most demanded test of English for study and immigration, being taken by more than 2 million people each year.
IELTS is jointly owned by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge English Language Assessment through more than 1,000 test centres and locations in over 140 countries.
Academic vs. General
There are two versions of IELTS: Academic and General.
- Certificate of Academic IELTS is used for admission to schools, colleges and universities in English-speaking countries.
- The certificate General Training IELTS (and sometimes Academic IELTS) is mandatory for all who wish to immigrate to or work in UK, Canada, Australia, USA, New Zealand, etc.
IELTS consists of 4 parts:
- Listening
- Reading
- Writing
- Speaking
The total time of IELTS is 2 hours 45 minutes.
The listening, reading and writing parts are completed in one sitting in a common exam auditorium, while the speaking part is taken individually with an examiner on the same day or up to week before or after the other tests.
Listening and Speaking modules are the same for Academic and General Training IELTS, while Reading and Writing modules are different.
All the parts are evaluated on a scale from 0 to 9 points. The total score is counted as arithmetic mean of the four section scores.
Each IELTS score corresponds to some level of English proficiency. Bands are described as follows:
| Band | Description |
|---|---|
| 9.0 | Expert user |
| 8.0 | Very good user |
| 7.0 | Good user |
| 6.0 | Competent user |
| 5.0 | Modest user |
IELTS Listening
IELTS Listening test is made to assess you listening abilities.
| Time | 40 minutes |
| Questions | 40 |
| Sections | 4 |
- This module is the same for Academic and General IELTS.
- The Listening module takes 40 minutes: 30 min for testing and 10 min for transferring your answers to the answer sheet.
- There are 40 questions in Listening module, with 10 questions in each section. Sections get increasingly difficult.
Section 1: conversation between 2 speakers about everyday situations.
This is the easiest section. Speaker talks quite slowly, making pauses. The key information is usually repeated.
Section 2: a monologue about everyday situations.
Speaker talks quite slowly, but makes less pauses than in previous section.
Section 3: conversation between 2, 3 or 4 speakers about educational or training situations.
This section is harder than the two previous, speakers discuss topics at a faster pace and sometimes use advanced vocabulary.
Section 4: a monologue on academic subject.
It is the most difficult section. There is no break in the middle, the speaker talks quite quickly and uses a wide range of vocabulary.
IELTS Listening score
| Raw score (out of 40) | 39-40 | 37-38 | 35-36 | 32-34 | 30-31 | 26-29 | 23-25 | 18-22 | 16-17 | 13-15 | 10-12 | 8-10 | 6-7 | 4-5 |
| Band score | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 7.5 | 7 | 6.5 | 6 | 5.5 | 5 | 4.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 2.5 |
Types of questions on IELTS Listening:
- multiple choice
- short-answer questions
- sentence completion
- notes, summary, plan, diagram, table or chart completion
- labelling a diagram which has numbered parts
- classification
- matching
IELTS Reading
- This module takes 60 minutes and has 3 sections.
- Each section has from 10 to 17 questions, making 40 questions in total.
- Questions become more difficult throughout the test.
IELTS Academic Reading information
- Texts are taken from books, journals, newspapers, magazines and web-sites that cover academic topics for non-specialist audience.
- All three sections contain 2,150-2,750 words in total.
- One of the sections may contain graphs, charts, illustrations or other non-verbal material.
- If text contains some unknown or special vocabulary, the glossary will be given in the end of the text.
| Raw score (out of 40) | 39-40 | 37-38 | 35-36 | 33-34 | 30-32 | 27-29 | 23-26 | 19-22 | 15-18 | 13-14 | 10-12 | 8-9 | 6-7 | 4-5 |
| Band score | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 7.5 | 7 | 6.5 | 6 | 5.5 | 5 | 4.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 2.5 |
IELTS General Reading information
Section 1: 2-3 short texts about dealing with everyday topics, such as timetables, announcements, booklets, newspapers, advertisements. This section is the easiest, it tests your ability to understand the most common types of texts while living in English-speaking environment.
Section 2: 2 texts about work, for example job descriptions, job application, work contracts, wage and working conditions, training courses.
Section 3: 1 text on a topic of general interest from a book, newspaper, magazine or online resource.
- All texts deal with topics that a person needs to know when living in an English-speaking environment.
- All texts contain 2,150-2,750 words in total, getting increasingly difficult through the test.
| Raw score (out of 40) | 40 | 39 | 37-38 | 36 | 34-35 | 32-33 | 30-31 | 27-29 | 23-26 | 19-22 | 15-18 | 12-14 | 9-11 | 6-8 |
| Band score | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 7.5 | 7 | 6.5 | 6 | 5.5 | 5 | 4.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 2.5 |
IELTS Writing
IELTS Writing test is made to assess your writing skills and techniques.
There are two IELTS Writing modules: Academic and General.
If you plan to study abroad, then you should take IELTS Academic module. And if you wish to work abroad, then you should take IELTS General module.
In Academic Writing task 1 you're asked to describe a graph, chart or diagram. And in General Writing task 1 you have to write a letter to someone. In Writing task 2 you have to write an essay on a given topic.
| Time | 60 minutes |
| Sections | 2 |
IELTS Academic Writing
| № | Task | Words minimum | Recommended time |
| Task 1 | Describe a graph, table, chart or diagram | 150 words | 20 minutes |
| Task 2 | Write an essay giving your opinion and justifying it | 250 words | 40 minutes |
IELTS General Writing
| № | Task | Words minimum | Recommended time |
| Task 1 | Write a letter on a given topic | 150 words | 20 minutes |
| Task 2 | Write an essay giving your opinion and justifying it | 250 words | 40 minutes |
IELTS Speaking
IELTS Speaking test is the fourth section of IELTS test. It is the same for Academic and General IELTS.
| Time | 10-15 minutes |
| Sections | 3 |
Section 1: introduction and interview (4–5 minutes). First of all, the examiner will ask you to tell your name and show your passport. After you introduce yourself to the examiner, you will be asked some questions on general topics, such as work, studies, home, family, interests etc.
Section 2: long turn (3–4 minutes). You will be given a task card about a particular topic. You will have 1 minute to prepare a monologue on the given topic. Then you return the task card to the examiner and talk about the topic for 2 minutes. After your talk the examiner may ask you a few questions.
Section 3: discussions (4–5 minutes). The third section involves a discussion between the examiner and the test taker, generally on questions relating to the theme which they have already spoken about in Section 2.