The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a test that measures the language proficiency of people who want to study or work in environments where English is used as a language of communication. An easy-to-use 9-band scale clearly identifies proficiency level, from non-user (band score 1) through to expert (band score 9).
Test format
The IELTS test assesses your abilities in all four skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking – in under three hours. The total test time is 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Listening, Reading and Writing must be completed on the same day, with no breaks in between them. The order in which these tests are taken may vary.
The Speaking test will either be after a break on the same day as the other three tests, or up to a week before or after the other tests. This will depend on your test centre.
Listening: 30 minutes
You will listen to four recorded texts, monologues and conversations by a range of native speakers, and write your answers to a series of questions.
These include questions that test your ability to understand main ideas and detailed factual information, ability to understand the opinions and attitudes of speakers, ability to understand the purpose of an utterance and the ability to follow the development of ideas.
A variety of voices and native-speaker accents are used and each section is heard only once.
Section 1 A conversation between two people set in an everyday social context.
Section 2 A monologue set in an everyday social context, e.g. a speech about local facilities.
Section 3 A conversation between up to four people set in an educational or training context, e.g. a university tutor and a student discussing an assignment.
Section 4 A monologue on an academic subject, e.g. a university lecture.
Academic Reading: 60 minutes
The Reading component consists of 40 questions. A variety of question types is used in order to test a wide range of reading skills. These include reading for gist, reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument and recognising writers' opinions, attitudes and purpose.
The Academic version includes three long texts which range from the descriptive and factual to the discursive and analytical. The texts are authentic and are taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers. These have been selected for a non-specialist audience but are appropriate for people entering university courses or seeking professional registration.
Academic Writing: 60 minutes
The Writing component of IELTS Academic includes two tasks. Topics are of general interest to, and suitable for test takers entering undergraduate and postgraduate studies or seeking professional registration.
Task 1. You will be presented with a graph, table, chart or diagram and asked to describe, summarise or explain the information in your own words. You may be asked to describe and explain data, describe the stages of a process, how something works or describe an object or event.
Task 2. You will be asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. Responses to both tasks must be in a formal style.
Speaking: 11–14 minutes
The Speaking component assesses your use of spoken English, and takes between 11 and 14 minutes to complete. Every test is recorded. The Speaking component is delivered in such a way that it does not allow people to rehearse set responses beforehand.
Part 1. The examiner will ask you general questions about yourself and a range of familiar topics, such as home, family, work, studies and interests. This part lasts between 4 and 5 minutes.
Part 2. You will be given a card which asks you to talk about a particular topic. You will have 1 minute to prepare before speaking for up to 2 minutes. The examiner will then ask one or two questions on the same topic to finish this part of the test.
Part 3. You will be asked further questions connected to the topic in Part 2. These questions will give you the opportunity to discuss more abstract ideas and issues. This part of the test lasts between 4 and 5 minutes.
Find a test centre near you:
https://www.britishcouncil.org/exam
