A Beginner’s Guide to IELTS Test Format

IELTS is one of the most trusted English proficiency tests in the world. In the IELTS test, students are tested based on four components: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. There are two different IELTS modules ie Academic and General Training. The IELTS Academic is suited for aspirants who wish to study undergraduate or postgraduate courses or seeking professional registration. IELTS The General Training is suited for aspirants who wish to migrate to an English-speaking country or work.

IELTS Exam Highlights

• IELTS score is considered by the majority of the universities in English-speaking countries such as the US, UK, Canada, Australia, etc.
• Professional bodies also consider the test results, immigration authorities across the world.
• It is recognized in more than 140 countries.
• The IELTS tests are conducted 48 times a year and the student has the flexibility to postpone their exam date.
• The IELTS test takes less than 3 hours and the results are published after 12-13 days.
• The test helps the candidates to improve their English language proficiency skills and succeed in their studies and work.

IELTS Exam Pattern

The Listening, Reading, and Writing of the IELTS syllabus are conducted on the same day one after another without any breaks between them. The speaking test can either be scheduled on the afternoon of the same day or any time within seven days after the tests. The candidates are contacted by the IELTS test center with details regarding the speaking test.

IELTS Reading

The IELTS reading section is different for both the Academic and General Training sections.

IELTS Academic Reading Paper:

• The topics of this paper are of general interest to candidates at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.
• The texts in the paper are taken from books, magazines, newspapers, online resources, and journals that are written for a non-specialist audience.
• The texts may be written in different styles such as narrative, argumentative or descriptive forms.
• The texts may contain graphs, illustrations, or diagrams. One of the texts contains a detailed logical argument.
• In case the text uses any technical vocabulary, a simple dictionary meaning will be provided.
• The candidates need to transfer answers to an answer sheet during the hour given for the reading test.
• The candidates should be careful in making no mistakes such as incorrect spelling and grammar as they can lose marks.

IELTS General Training Reading Paper:

• In General Training Reading Paper, there are three sections. Section one contains two or three short texts. Section two contains two texts and in section three, there is one long text. The difficulty raises with each section.
• The texts in section one deal with everyday topics and they involve the conversations that take place while living in an English-speaking country. The texts are taken from notices, advertisements, etc.
• The texts in section two deal with work-related topics such as job descriptions, training materials, staff development, and contracts, etc.
• The texts in section three deal with a topic of general interest. The writing style in this section is descriptive and instructive. The texts are taken from newspapers, books, magazines, etc.

IELTS Writing

The IELTS writing section is different for both the Academic and General Training sections.

IELTS Academic Writing Paper:

• In IELTS Academic Writing Paper, there are two writing tasks.
• In Task 1, the candidates have to describe visual information in their own words from the given chart, graph, or table. The candidates have to write at least 150 words in 20 minutes.
• In Task 2, the candidates have to discuss their point of view, argument, or the problem related to the text given. The candidates have to write at least 250 words in 40 minutes.
• The answers in both the tasks must be written using full sentences. The candidates should not write answers in bullet points.
• The writing tasks are tested on four assessment criteria such as task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource and grammatical range, and accuracy of the candidates.

IELTS General Training Writing Paper:

• There are two tasks in IELTS General Training Paper and both of them have to be completed by the candidates.
• In Task 1, the candidates have to respond to a situation either by writing a letter asking for information or explaining a situation. The candidates need to write at least 150 words in 20 minutes.
• In Task 2, the candidates have to discuss their point of view, argument, or problem-related to the text given. The candidates need to write at least 250 words in 40 minutes.

IELTS Listening

The IELTS Listening section is similar for both the Academic and General Training sections.

IELTS Academic and General Training Listening Paper:

• The IELTS Academic Listening Paper has four parts and consists of 10 questions in each part.
• Parts one and two deal with everyday social situations. For instance, a conversation between two speakers in Part one can involve conversations about travel plan and in Part 2, only one person make conversation related to local facilities.
• Parts three and four deal with educational and training situations. For instance, in part 3, the conversation can be between two speakers like a university student discussion guided by a tutor. In part 4, there is only one person who speaks on an academic subject.
• The candidates can only listen to conversation recordings once. Different accents such as British, Australian, New Zealand, etc are used to test the candidate’s proficiency.

IELTS Speaking

IELTS Academic and General Training Speaking Paper:

• The IELTS General Training Speaking test involves a face-to-face interview between the candidate and an examiner in a closed room.
• The speaking test is recorded.
• There are three parts to the speaking test and each part follows a specific pattern of the task to examine the speaking ability of the candidates in different ways.
• The candidates in the speaking tests are marked based on fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and Pronunciation.