IELTS
The English test for study, work and migration: Academic and General Training.
IELTS tests listening, reading, writing and speaking in English. Universities in the UK, Australia, Canada and many other countries accept it, and so do migration authorities. Most students take IELTS Academic.
Overview
IELTS is one of the most widely accepted English tests in the world. Universities use it to check that students can follow lectures and write assignments in English, and migration authorities in several countries use it as part of visa and residence applications. Make sure you book the right version: Academic for university study, General Training for most work and migration purposes.
Because there is no pass mark, preparation starts with a target. Find out the overall band your university or authority asks for, and whether it also sets a minimum for each part, since many do. Listening and Reading are marked against a fixed number of correct answers, so practice and timing make a clear difference. Writing and Speaking are marked by trained examiners using published criteria, which means you can learn exactly what they look for: answering the whole task, organising your ideas and using a good range of vocabulary and grammar.
The four parts
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Listening About 30 minutes
Four recordings and 40 questions. The same in both versions.
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Reading 60 minutes
Three texts and 40 questions. The texts differ between Academic and General Training.
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Writing 60 minutes
Two tasks: a short report or letter of about 150 words, and an essay of about 250 words.
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Speaking 11 to 14 minutes
A three-part conversation with an examiner, sometimes on another day.
How it's scored
Each part gets a band from 1 to 9. Your overall band is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band. There is no pass or fail: universities and employers set the band they need, often 6.5 or 7 for university study.
How to prepare
- Find out the band your university asks for, overall and in each part.
- Practise reading with a strict 20 minutes per text.
- In writing, answer every part of the task: missing part of it costs more than small grammar mistakes.
- Record yourself answering speaking questions and listen back.
Official pages
Dates, registration and fees change from year to year, so check them on the official pages.
