IELTS has two formats. Academic IELTS is for students who want to pursue undergraduate or postgraduate studies in an English speaking country. Candidates seeking professional registration may also have to take this test.
General Training IELTS is for candidates who would like to migrate to the UK, Australia, New Zealand or Canada. Those interested in studying below the degree level may also have to take this test.
Both modules have four components and they are taken in the following order.
Listening module
It consists of 4 parts with 10 questions each. You have 30 minutes to answer 40 questions.
The first part is usually a conversation between two people and the second part is a monologue. The third part is a conversation between 3 or 4 people and the fourth part is a monologue. While the first 2 recordings are concerned with social situations, the last two have training or academic contexts.
You have to answer the questions as you hear the recording. Note that the recording is played only once. You will get 10 minutes at the end to transfer your answers to the answer sheet. In the Listening module, you will hear a variety of voices and accents. Sometimes, you may even hear non-native English accents such as Spanish or German. While no specialist knowledge is required to answer the questions in the Listening module, you should be able to understand a variety of social and academic topics. Each question in the Listening module carries one mark.
The Listening and Speaking tests are the same for both Academic and General Training candidates.
Reading module
The reading test consists of 3 sections with 40 questions. You have to read three passages taken from various sources like magazines, newspapers, books and journals. It takes about 60 minutes. A variety of questions are asked. Each question in the Reading module carries 1 mark. In the General Training reading module, some of the passages could be taken from information booklets, catalogues etc.
Writing Module
The writing test consists of two parts. If you are taking the Academic module, the first part is to write a report at least 150 words. You have to describe data given in the form of a table, graph, diagram, map or flowchart. The second task is to write an essay of at least 250 words. The task rubric will contain a point of view, a problem or an argument. You have to offer a solution to the problem, defend or oppose the given point of view, express your opinion or compare the advantages and disadvantages of a particular situation or development.
For candidates taking the General Training IELTS, the first task is to write a letter of at least 150 words. The second task is to write an essay. The Writing module takes 60 minutes. Note that task 2 carries twice as many marks as task 1. It is not recommended to spend more than 20 minutes on task 1.
Speaking Module
The Speaking module consists of three parts. It takes between 11 and 14 minutes.
Part 1
The candidate will be asked a few general questions about themselves.
Part 2
The candidate will be given a topic card with some questions. They have to speak on the given topic for 1 or 2 minutes. They have 1 minute to prepare their speech. They can make notes if they want.
Part 3
The examiner will have a discussion with the candidate on abstract ideas related to the topic in Part 2.
The Speaking test assesses the candidate’s ability to speak fluently and coherently. Their grammatical range, lexical resources and pronunciation are also taken into account while calculating their band score.
