All About IELTS

  1. What is IELTS test?

The IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is a globally recognized English language proficiency test designed to assess the language skills of people who want to study, work, or migrate to countries where English is the primary language of communication.

  1. Why take IELTS?

IELTS is taken for various purposes, such as …

  1. General recognition

IELTS is the world’s most popular English proficiency test. It is accepted by more than 9,000 organisations worldwide. So after taking IELTS your level of English will be confirmed and recognized worldwide!

You can see the official list of organizations that accept IELTS.

  1. Education

IELTS is required to study:

  1. in the universities and colleges of UK, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand;
  2. in other universities where subjects are taught in English;
  3. on the foundation program.
  1. Work

IELTS is usually required to work:

  1. in English-speaking countries;
  2. in organizations where knowledge of English is important.
  1. Immigration

IELTS is required for immigration in UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

  1. Types of IELTS Tests
  2. IELTS Academic
    • For those applying for higher education or professional registration.
    • Tests if you’re ready to study in English at a university level.
  1. IELTS General Training
    • For work experience, training programs, or migration purposes.
    • Focuses on basic survival skills in broad social and workplace contexts.
  2. Test Format

Total test time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Section

Time

Details

Listening

~30 minutes

4 sections, 40 questions; recorded conversations and monologues.

Reading

60 minutes

3 sections, 40 questions; academic or general texts.

Writing

60 minutes

2 tasks (e.g., essay, letter, report)

Speaking

11–14 minutes

Face-to-face interview with an examiner.

NB: The Listening, Reading, and Writing parts are completed on the same day, with no breaks. Speaking may be scheduled on the same day or within 7 days before or after.

  1. IELTS Scoring
  • Band score from 1 to 9 (1 = Non-user, 9 = Expert)
  • You receive a score for each section and an overall band score.
  1. IELTS Listening score

Each of the 40 questions is worth 1 point. Depending on how many points you gain, you can receive a score from 0 to 9 points for the Listening Section. The following conversion table applies to calculate your 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:

  1. multiple choice
  2. short-answer questions
  3. sentence completion
  4. notes, summary, plan, diagram, table or chart completion
  5. labelling a diagram which has numbered parts
  6. classification
  7. matching
  8. How to prepare for IELTS Listening?

The key point in preparation for IELTS Listening test is practice. It’s a very good strategy to listen to English speech as often as you can.

  1. You may watch your favourite TV programs in English, listen and translate English songs, watch English YouTube videos.
  2. But most importantly, you should complete listening tests of each section and analyse your mistakes.
  3. After that, you should complete different types of IELTS Listening questions. This way you’ll develop your own techniques for answering various types of Listening questions.
  4. IELTS Reading Information

Both General and Academic IELTS Reading tests have 3 sections with 40 questions in total. IELTS Reading test lasts 1 hour.

Time

60 minutes

Questions

40

Sections

3

 IELTS Academic Reading information:

  1. a) Texts are taken from books, journals, newspapers, magazines and web-sites that cover academic topics for non-specialist audience.
  2. b) All three sections contain 2,150-2,750 words in total.
  3. c) One of the sections may contain graphs, charts, illustrations or other non-verbal material.
  4. d) If text contains some unknown or special vocabulary, the glossary will be given in the end of the text.

IELTS Academic Reading marking scheme

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

Each of the 40 questions is worth 1 point. Depending on how many points you gain, you can receive a score from 0 to 9 points for the Reading Section. To determine your IELTS Academic Reading score, the following conversion table applies:

Types of questions on IELTS Reading:

  • multiple choice
  • True/false/not given
  • short-answer questions
  • sentence completion
  • notes, summary, plan, diagram, table or chart completion
  • classification
  • matching paragraphs

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.

 IELTS General Reading marking scheme

Each of the 40 questions is worth 1 point. Depending on how many points you gain, you can receive a score from 0 to 9 points for the Reading Section. To calculate your IELTS General Reading score, the following conversion table applies:

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

  1. IELTS Writing Information

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.

Time

60 minutes

Sections

2

IELTS Writing test lasts 1 hour and consists of 2 parts: task 1 and task 2. Writing task 1 is different for Academic and General IELTS, but Writing task 2 is the same for both modules.

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.

IELTS Academic Writing

IELTS Academic Writing module lasts 60 minutes and has 2 tasks, which must both be completed. Although it is recommended to spend approximately 20 minutes on task 1 and about 40 minutes on task 2, you can divide your time between two sections the way you prefer.

№

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 General Writing module lasts 60 minutes and has 2 tasks, which must both be completed. Although it is recommended to spend approximately 20 minutes on task 1 and about 40 minutes on task 2, you can divide your time between two sections the way you prefer.

IELTS Speaking

In this section you will find all information you need about IELTS Speaking test. You will also see full IELTS Speaking sample with explanations, find useful links for IELTS Speaking practice, advanced vocabulary and IELTS Speaking tips.

  1. 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

IELTS speaking test is a face-to-face interview between the test taker and the examiner, which lasts from 10 to 15 minutes and has 3 sections.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

How to prepare for IELTS Speaking?

You may encounter different types of questions on IELTS Speaking, for example your topics may include work, studies, accommodation, food, weather, health, hobbies, relationships and so on.

The best way to prepare for IELTS Speaking test is to—-

  1. read a lot of speaking questions and try answering them.
  2. Learn a lot of advanced speaking vocabulary.
  3. practise answering IELTS Speaking questions, using vocabulary that you’ve learnt.
  4. read more IELTS Speaking samples with answers, adopt new phrases and vocabulary in your speech.